| Shifting
the Focus From Quantity to Quality |
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| Education
for all is not the same thing as quality education for all.
Countries approaching full primary-school coverage increasingly
realize that the pursuit of education for all should encompass
the pursuit of excellence. |
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Governments from China to Brazil are now talking about quality,
a concept which covers everything from the physical condition
of schools to better teacher training and from the availability
of textbooks to more parental involvement. There is also increased
focus on pupil’s needs before and after the primary school years. |
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| “In
our rush for numbers, quality missed out,” says Bangladesh’s
education minister, Abu Sharaf Hifzul Kader Sadique. His country
has made great strides in literacy, but difficulties in quality
remain. Despite its remarkable advances, China admits to the
same problem: “The overall quality of school teachers leaves
much to be desired,” said Lu Fuyuan, deputy education minister,
citing the difficulty in reaching remote areas. Bangladesh and
China are not alone. Brazil, Malawi, and Mexico, along with
most countries that have made major strides towards education
for all, now wish to match increased access with quality. |
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| Today,
however, in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and
the Caribbean, less than three out of four pupils reach grade
5. In terms of measuring efficiency, their school systems are
wasting up to a third of their resources on repeaters and drop-outs. |
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The
quest for better quality can be tackled in various ways. One
way is by recognizing that learning begins at birth. In the
past ten years there has been a steady growth of early childhood
education all over the world. “The brain development that occurs
during the early years is critical to lifelong learning,” says
Judith Evans, a specialist in early childhood care and development.
Early childhood education, research shows, results in increased
mental agility, regular school attendance, less repetition and
drop-out and improved academic skills. According to the World
Bank, a dollar invested in early childhood education yields
a higher rate of return than a dollar invested in secondary
or higher education. Early childhood education is particularly
effective in the poorest communities, where it informs and empowers
parents too. |
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Poorly prepared teachers are one of the main causes of low-quality
education. Having achieved 96 per cent primary school enrolment,
Brazil is now concentrating efforts on improving the quality
of instruction, as almost half of the country’s pupils are
one year behind and repeat one or more classes. A recent nationwide
study showed that pupils of teachers with university-level
education made much faster progress than those whose teachers
lack it. Today only about half of the 1.5 million teachers
in state primary schools in Brazil have a higher-education
qualification.
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Paradoxically, as some countries are upgrading teacher training,
others are watching as qualified, talented teachers desert
the profession for better-paid work in computers or tourism;
a brain drain provoked by low status and even lower salaries.
“Male primary-school teachers who are heads of families are
as rare as stars in the daytime,” remarks Mongolian teacher
Tzerendozhin Urtnasan, who describes his salary as “a pittance”.
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"Pupils
today must
not only learn to read,
write and count, they
must also learn to think critically and creatively, work
co-operatively with others, integrate different subjects,
become skilled in the use of new technologies and learn behaviour
appropriate to citizens of a civilized society."
Errol Miller, Professor of Education in Jamaica.
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The school environment also affects the quality of learning:
when adequate, it can have a positive impact on attendance and
success rates. The opposite is also true. A UNESCO/UNICEF study
in fourteen least developed countries in Asia and Africa found
that between 35 and 90 per cent of schools needed repairing
or rebuilding. Many had no furniture or running water. Most
developing countries face seri-ous problems in producing and
distributing appropriate textbooks and teaching materials, from
mathematical instruments to maps. |
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“School systems are becoming obsolete sooner than we realize,”
warns Victor Ordońez, an expert on basic education. Because
educa-tion systems have been so slow to adapt to economic crises
and other factors that erode quality, the question must be asked
if what is taught is relevant any more. When education programmes
exist out of context, without a bearing on the surrounding job
market, or on the local culture, sooner or later they lose their
“clients”. |
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Drop-out and repetition are the most glaring consequences of
poor quality. A quarter of the 96 million pupils who entered
school for the first time in 1995 are likely to abandon their
schooling before grade 5. By failing to be sensitive to the
needs of many ordinary and low-achieving pupils, schools cease
to be truly open and accessible to all. Access, then, is where
quality meets equality. |
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“Many countries have adopted ‘standard’ models of education
for all which pay little or no attention to country-specific
issues,” remarks Vinayagum Chinapah of UNESCO. Perhaps this
is why many parents do not see education as a sound investment
that directly improves household welfare. This is gradually
changing. The community learning centre model in Africa, Asia
and other regions is a success precisely because it is rooted
in community life and culture, caters to local learning needs
and uses local languages. Experts agree that pupils should first
learn to read in their native tongue before transferring their
reading skills to a second language. From now to 2006, several
African states will be introducing national languages as a medium
of instruction in the first three years of schooling, a change
which promises to improve quality |
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Many external factors influence the quality of educa-tion,
not least the pupils’ social status and state of health. “Quality
education is not only about having good quality teachers and
materials,” says Sheldon Shaeffer of UNICEF. “It is also about
the quality of the learners. Children need to be healthy, well-nourished
and ready to learn.” |
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