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| Viewpoint |
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 Many
regional technical advisory groups (RTAGs) are expressing their
concern about the short deadline of the EFA 2000 Assessment.
They are also worried about the technical assistance required
to come up with reliable and up-to-date data. To this there
is only one thing to say: Keep up the good work but try to work
a little faster. |
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| It
is important that RTAGs do their utmost to help countries submit
good country EFA reports. These reports are the basic building
blocks of the EFA 2000 Assessment and without them the regional
and global Assessment cannot be a success. |
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| Final
reports are due in September 1999, and it is from them that
will be produced a regional synthesis, and after that a global
synthesis. Ahead of the September deadline, many countries are
producing draft reports which will be reviewed and improved
amongst colleagues at sub-regional workshops in May and June.
|
| |
| Most
countries, it must be said, are already a little late in preparing
their reports, and a special effort now needs to be made. At
the time of writing, East Asia and the Arab States appear to
be way ahead in the reporting process; Africa, the Caribbean,
Latin America and South West Asia are now beginning to pick
up speed; while Europe and Central Asia have been slowly getting
started. We are hoping for a special effort from the world's
nine high-population countries. |
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| It
is important to remember that the EFA Assessment is an activity
of all countries around the world. It is not a programme of
UNESCO, nor even of the Jomtien partner agencies. So there is
very much depending on the work being undertaken by governments. |
| |
| Countries
that have difficulties in meeting the September deadline are
encouraged to consult the Suggested Outline for Country EFA
Reports, as well as the General and Technical Guidelines published
by the EFA Forum Secretariat. The relevant RTAGs must also be
asked for special technical assistance. Only together will we
succeed in this ambitious exercise. |
| |
| Warren
Mellor Co-ordinator of national and regional EFA 2000 Assessment
activities |
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| 139
countries in EFA Assessment |
| |
| Halfway
through the global EFA 2000 Assessment exercise there is reason
for optimism, according to Svein Osttveit, Executive Secretary
of the Education for All Forum. |
| |
| Today,
139 countries have appointed national co-ordinators to design
and carry out the assessment of progress made and problems encountered
in basic education in the past decade. Moreover, ten regional
technical advisory groups (RTAGs) are working hard to co-ordinate
regional assessment activities and mobilize resources. "After
a slow start the EFA 2000 Assessment is now gaining ground in
all regions in the world," says Osttveit. |
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| He
notes, however, that progress is uneven between regions. Nearly
all countries in the Arab States, Latin America, the Caribbean,
East Asia, and South and Western Asia, and the Pacific have
appointed national co-ordinators. This is the case for only
half of the countries in Europe, Central Asia, Southern and
Eastern Africa and Western and Central Africa. |
| |
| The
RTAGs are doing a great effort to get all countries involved
in this ambitious global exercise. In most regions, the five
convenors of the EFA Forum (UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF and
the World Bank) take an active part in the RTAGs. They provide
financial support, organize workshops and offer technical assistance
at country level through mobile teams, local consultants, agency
missions, and resource mobilization. |
| |
| Several
development banks are also involved in the Assessment whereas
few non-governmental organizations so far have been involved
in the exercise. The EFA Forum has now sent a letter to all
RTAGs and national co-ordinators stressing the need to involve
more NGOs in the Assessment process. |
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| Regional
workshops advise countries |
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| Most
countries are now hastening to complete the first draft of the
country EFA reports. But the task is huge and the problems many..
|
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| In
the next few months, most RTAGs are organizing regional and
sub-regional workshops to inform about the eighteen indicators
of the EFA 2000 Assessment, to improve data collection and to
discuss draft reports. The workshop will also ensure that the
presentation of reports is uniform throughout the region. |
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| Reports
should be presented on paper and in electronic form, preferably
with colour covers, tables, graphs and maps. Country reports
are due in September 1999. |
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| Participants
in the regional workshops are mainly government appointed national
co-ordinators. Governments, which have yet to appoint national
assessment teams, will be requested to nominate a participant
who will thereafter be appointed national co-ordinator. |
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| EFA
2000 Assessments around the world |
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The
Pacific
All fourteen countries in the Pacific have appointed national
co-ordinators. However, it is not easy to co-ordinate Assessment
activities in a region that covers close to 30 per cent of the
Earth's surface and is bigger than any other region in the world.
The response of the RTAG in the Pacific is a mobile team consisting
of two women who support and advice each national team.
|
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| The
mobile team started out in Samoa. The usual air route problems
in the North meant that the only way to cover Kiribat and the
Republic of Marshall Islands without adding another week to
their schedule was for the team to separate and do one country
each. Then they moved to Tuvalu and Nauru and now they are on
their way to the Solomons. |
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| The
aim is to have all draft country reports finished by mid-May
for a sub-regional workshop to look at progress and further
develop the reports. The workshop will take place from 24 to
26 May 1999. |
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| Regional
Co-ordinator: UNESCO Apia, Edna Tait P.O. Box 5766, Matautu,
Apia, Western Samoa Tel: (685) 24276; Fax: (685) 22253 E-mail:
e.tait@unesco.org
|
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Western
and Central Africa
So far, only thirteen out of twenty-three countries in this
region have appointed national co-ordinators. One of the first
activities of the RTAG was to send out an information kit to
all countries. A training workshop for all national co-ordinators
will take place from 14 to 24 June in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
Countries that have not yet appointed co-ordinators will also
be invited. The RTAG publishes a bi-monthly newsletter on the
EFA 2000 Assessment process in the region. |
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| Countries
with no national Assessment team are Benin, Burkina Faso, the
Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia,
Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali and Sierra Leone.
|
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| Regional
Co-ordinator: UNESCO BREDA, Pai Obanya 2 Avenue Roume, BP 3311,
Dakar, Senegal Tel: (221) 823 5082, Fax: (221) 823 8393. E-mail:
m.cabral@unesco.org
|
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Southern
and Eastern Africa
Only ten out of twenty-two countries in this region have appointed
national co-ordinators. In the last few months focus has been
on awareness raising and advocacy to stimulate the appointment
of more national co-ordinators. However, the RTAG reports that
"with the tension building up in some countries, we might not
be able to see them as active partners in the EFA 2000 Assessment".
At the technical level the region benefits from the presence
of the National Educational Statistics Information System (NESIS)
programme that has established teams in almost all countries
of the region. |
| |
| The
aims and activities of the EFA 2000 exercise were discussed
at two meetings held in the region in January 1999. With the
assistance of UNICEF, directors of planning/statistical offices
from most African countries were invited to the annual meeting
of the ADEA Working Group on Educational Statistics, as well
as to the meeting of the NESIS capacity-building network.
|
| |
| At
present, the RTAG is organizing a number of sub-regional capacity-
building workshops to discuss and prepare country EFA reports.
From 31 May to 11 June, a regional workshop in Nyanga, Zimbabwe
will focus on analysing and presenting collected data. In addition,
a number of thematic studies are being prepared, highlighting
specific challenges that Africa is facing, in particular the
challenge of living with HIV/AIDS. |
| |
| Countries
with no national EFA 2000 Assessment team are Angola, Botswana,
Comoros, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda,
Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles and Somalia. |
| |
| Regional
Co-ordinator: UNESCO Harare, K. C Tung P.O. Box HG 435, Highlands,
Harare, Zimbabwe Tel: (263) 477 6114, Fax: (263) 477 6055 E-mail:
a.vogelaar@unesco.org. |
| |
The
Arab States
Sixteen out of twenty countries in the Arab region have appointed
national EFA 2000 Assessment teams. Three sub-regional workshops
for national co-ordinators and members of the technical sub-group
will be held in May in Rabat (with ISESCO), in Damascus (in
collaboration with the Department of Literacy in Syria) and
in one of the Gulf countries. |
| |
| A
workshop, held in late January, gave an indication of the task
ahead. Countries came face to face with the fact that education
systems in the region are not optimally organized to respond
to the assessment's requirements. Their data, to take just one
example, are not broken down by gender although this is required
for most of the eighteen core indicators, on which the major
part of the Assessment is based. |
| |
| A
case study on the Syrian women's association is planned and
Tunisia and Morocco will carry out sample surveys on learning
achievement and conditions of teaching and learning. |
| |
| Countries
with no national EFA 2000 Assessment team are Djibouti, the
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates..
|
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| Regional
Co-ordinator: UNESCO Beirut, Victor Billeh P.O. Box 5244, Cite
Sportive Avenue, Beirut, Lebanon Tel: (961) 183 0013, Fax: (961)
182 4854 E-mail: v.billeh@unesco.org. |
| |
South
and West Asia
This region consists of nine countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
Bhutan, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Maldives, Nepal,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka. All except Afghanistan have appointed
national Assessment co-ordinators and most of them have established
a National Assessment Group as well as a Technical Support Group.
Obtaining reliable data for the Assessment is a problem in all
countries owing to the lack of effective data gathering. However,
countries were working hard to finalize EFA draft reports by
the end of April. |
| |
| Several
countries are also undertaking case studies on subjects relevant
to EFA. India is undertaking twenty-two case studies, which
will provide more information to interpret the quantitative
trends and qualitative development of EFA in each state. A national
workshop to review India's draft report was organized in April.
Nepal is also undertaking five case studies to enrich its main
report. Pakistan and Bangladesh have completed the first draft
of their EFA report. A sub-regional meeting to review progress
in the region is scheduled for 25-27 May. |
| |
| In
Afghanistan, UNESCO and UNICEF are trying to find the best method
to collect reliable data and information about the situation
in this war-torn country. UNDP is providing financial support.
The work will probably be commissioned from various NGOs working
in Afghanistan. |
| |
| Regional
Co-ordinator: UNESCO Delhi, Moegiadi 8 Poorvi Marg, Vasant Vihar,
New Delhi 110057, India Tel: (911) 1614 1437. Fax: (911) 1614
3351 E-mail: moegiadi@unesco.org.
|
| |
East
Asia
The EFA 2000 Assessment is well underway in most of the twelve
East Asian countries. National Assessment teams in Cambodia,
China, Japan, the People's Democratic Republic Lao, Malaysia,
the Republic of Korea, Thailand, the Philippines and Viet Nam
expect to complete draft reports by April or May. Assessment
activities are slower to take off in Indonesia and Myanmar.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has nominated a national
EFA co-ordinator. |
| |
| National
Assessment teams have been invited to submit to the RTAG their
requests for technical assistance. |
| |
| A
workshop for national co-ordinators, technical co-ordinators
and United Nations agencies active in the Assessment will be
held in Bangkok from 17 to 20 May. Countries were asked to send
their draft EFA reports to reach UNESCO Bangkok no later than
1 May. An international consultant and the RTAG will review
the reports prior to the workshop. |
| |
| Regional
Co-ordinator: UNESCO PROAP, Victor Ordoñez Prakanong Post Office,
Box 967, Bangkok 10110, Thailand Tel: (662) 391 8471. Fax: (662)
910 866 E-mail: v.jensen@unesco.org. |
| |
Central
Asia
All but one of the nine countries in Central Asia are former
states of the Soviet Union. National Assessment groups have
been established in Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia
and Uzbekistan, where national workshops were held in late March
and in the beginning of April. |
| |
| A
sub-regional workshop is planned to take place in Almaty from
3 to 7 May. Participants from China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan,
Mongolia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan will be trained in
order to prepare surveys on conditions of teaching and learning
in primary schools in the respective countries. |
| |
| Countries
with no national EFA 2000 Assessment team are Azerbaijan, Georgia,
Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. |
| |
| Regional
Co-ordinator: UNESCO Almaty, Jorge Sequeira c/o KIMEP, 4 Abaia
Avenue, Almaty 408100, Kazakhstan Tel: (732) 7264 0771. Fax:
(732) 7264 2661 E-mail: j.sequeira@unesco.org. |
| |
Europe
and Northern America
The main concern in this region is the countries in Eastern
and Central Europe. Today, sixteen out of twenty Central and
Eastern European countries have appointed national co-ordinators.
However, four countries in the Balkans are affected by war and
will face severe problems participating in the exercise. |
| |
| Some
twelve countries will meet in a sub-regional workshop in Bucharest
from 3 to 5 May. The aim is to present and discuss the content
of country EFA reports and identify the extent and nature of
technical assistance needed by individual countries. |
| |
| The
RTAG is also trying to boost the participation of countries
in Western Europe and North America. Today, only six out of
twenty-six countries have appointed national co-ordinators in
this sub-region. |
| |
| Countries
with no national Assessment team are Andorra, Belgium, Canada,
Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel,
Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Norway, Portugal, the Russian
Federation, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the United
Kingdom, the United States and Yugoslavia. |
| |
| Regional
Co-ordinator: EFA Forum Secretariat UNESCO Paris, 7, Place de
Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP, France Tel: (33) 1 4568 0835. Fax:
(33) 1 4568 5629 E-mail: o.holaas@unesco.org. |
| |
Latin
America
All countries but one (Panama) have appointed national Assessment
teams and draft country reports will be presented and analysed
at three sub-regional workshops scheduled for late June. In
order to facilitate data collection and avoid overlap, all countries
have received a package of data on education, collected by Latin
American Laboratory of Assessment of Quality in Education. |
| |
| Sub-regional
workshops will take place in Mexico City for the Central American
region (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua,
Panama, Cuba and the Dominican Republic), in Santiago for the
MERCOSUR region (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay)
and in Bogota or Quito for the Andean region (Bolivia, Colombia,
Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela). |
| |
| UNESCO
Santiago is co-ordinating one case study on non-formal early
childhood education in Cuba and another one on adult literacy
in Guatemala. Brazil is undertaking three case studies on education
for street children, an educational programme for poor children
and students with special needs. |
| |
| An
inter-agency technical sub-group has been formed in order to
formulate the objectives, agenda and methodology of the sub-regional
workshops and plan the strategy for the preparation of the regional
EFA meeting in Latin America. |
| |
| Regional
Co-ordinator: UNESCO OREALC, Ana Luiza Machado Pinheiro Enrique
Delpiano 2058, Casilla, 3187 Santiago, Chile Tel: (562) 655
1050. Fax: (562) 655 1046 E-mail: machado@unesco.cl |
| |
The
Caribbean
All twenty-two countries in this region have appointed national
co-ordinators. A three-day workshop was organized in the beginning
of March and all but one country were represented. A set of
Caribbean-Specific Guidelines was developed. The purpose of
these guidelines is to clarify the Guidelines provided by the
EFA Forum and to invite Caribbean countries to highlight specific
areas where data is scarce such as early childhood, literacy,
non-formal education, health and the use of media. The countries
also agreed on the structure and format of the country EFA reports,
and decided to conduct six regional case studies on non-formal
education, as well as a thematic monograph series. |
| |
| The
workshop revealed that the greatest support needed by countries
is more human resources for data collection, statistical analysis,
report writing, and coverage of non-formal education and early
childhood. A list of the specific needs expressed by each country
was made. |
| |
| Regional
Co-ordinator: UNESCO Kingston, Claudia Harvey P.O. Box 8203,
Kingston 5, Jamaica Tel: (187) 6929 7087. Fax: (187) 6929 8468
E-mail: c.harvey@unesco.org. |
| |
Planning
of regional EFA meetings
Regional EFA meetings are planned to take place all over the
world between November 1999 and February 2000. These meetings
will be organized by the RTAGs and will review statistical evidence
from country EFA reports and look at challenges in the years
to come. They will also formulate educational priorities and
strategies and present "best practices".. |
| |
| The
regional EFA meetings should first of all help to motivate decision-makers
and come forward with new commitments and ideas to accelerate
the EFA process. The meetings will also serve as a main input
to the World Education Forum in April 2000. |
| |
| The
EFA Forum Secretariat has asked RTAGs to decide on a venue,
dates, a provisional agenda, a list of invitees and financing
requirements before the end of May 1999. |
| |
| The
technical advisory group (TAG), established last year to advise
the EFA Forum Secretariat on the EFA 2000 Assessment, will meet
from 12 to 13 July 1999 to discuss the agenda of the regional
EFA meetings. It will also take stock of the EFA 2000 Assessment
and decide if specific action is needed. Members of the TAG
are staff of UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF and the World Bank.. |
| |
| EFA
Forum Steering Committee meets The Steering Committee of the
EFA Forum will hold its next meeting at UNESCO headquarters
in Paris from 7 to 8 June 1999. Main items on the agenda are
the status of the global EFA 2000 Assessment, the regional EFA
meetings to take place from November 1999 to February 2000,
and the World Education Forum planned for the last week of April
2000. The meeting will also discuss the future of the EFA movement.. |
| |
| The
Management Group of the Steering Committee will meet on 9 June
1999 to discuss the financial implications of the EFA 2000 Assessment
activities. |
| |
| |
| |
| Staff
members of the EFA Forum Secretariat: |
| |
Executive
Secretary:
Michael Lakin
Deputy Executive Secretaries:
Svein Osttveit, Ulrika Peppler Barry
Information Officer:
Anne Müller
Secretary:
Mary Konin |
| |
Assessment
co-ordination:
Warren Mellor (country assessment)
Vinayagum Chinapah (special surveys) |
| |
 |
| |
The Education
for All Newsflash is published by the Secretariat of the International
Consultative Forum on Education for All (EFA Forum). It is a
special information service for professionals involved in the
worldwide EFA 2000 Assessment (1998-2000). The assessment is
a major activity in the follow-up of the 1990 World Conference
on Education for All.
Editor: Anne Müller
Contact: The EFA Forum Secretariat, UNESCO, 7, Place de Fontenoy,
75352 Paris 07 SP, France.
Fax: (33) 1 4568 5629; E-mail: efa@unesco.org
Internet homepage: http://www.education.unesco.org/efa
|
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