Strong foundations Early childhood care and education UNGEI meeting Cairo 12 November 2006 Education for All Dakar Goals and Millennium Development Goals EFA Goals 1.
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Strong foundations Early childhood care and education UNGEI meeting Cairo 12 November 2006 Education for All Dakar Goals and Millennium Development Goals EFA Goals 1. Expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education 2. Universal primary education by 2015 3. Learning and life skills programmes for youth and adults 4. 50% increase in adult literacy rates by 2015 5. Gender parity by 2005 and gender equality by 2015 MDGs 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger 2. Achieve universal primary education 3. Promote gender equality and empower women 4. Reduce child mortality, and other health goals 5. Improve maternal health 6. Improving quality of education No country in need should be denied international assistance 1 EFA: Where do we stand? Out of 125 countries, 47 have achieved the EFA goals. Countries showing the greatest progress are in the lowest scoring group Excludes many countries far from goals, e.g. those in conflict Far from EFA (EDI below 0.80) Sub-Saharan Africa Arab States 19 4 Central Asia East Asia/Pacific South and West Asia 2 3 N. America /West. Europe Latin America/Caribbean Central/Eastern Europe Total 28 Intermediate position (EDI between 0.80 and 0.94) EFA achieved or close (EDI between 0.95 and 1.00) 8 11 2 6 1 2 18 2 1 1 4 3 17 6 15 50 47 2 More and more children are starting school 1999 2004 Arab States Sharp increases in Grade 1 access in SubSaharan Africa and South and West Asia Central/East. Europe N. America/ West. Europe East Asia/ Pacific Central Asia Sub-Saharan Africa Latin America/ Caribbean South/West Asia 80 100 120 140 Gross intake rate in primary education (%) 3 Trend benefiting girls Arab States Global gender parity index up Central/Eastern Europe from 0.92 in 1999 to 0.94 in 2004 Central Asia Rapid progress in countries with low enrolment ratios and East Asia/Pacific high gender disparities Latin America/Caribbean Mauritania, Malawi, Qatar and North America/ Western Europe Uganda among countries that achieved gender parity between South/West Asia 1999 and 2004 Sub-Saharan Africa 0.80 0.90 1.00 1.10 Gender Parity Index in Gross Intake Rate in primary education 4 Gender parity in primary About two-thirds of countries out of 181 with data have achieved gender parity in primary education Gaps still concentrated in Arab States, South and West Asia and Sub Saharan Africa: roughly 90 girls for every 100 boys Primary education GPI in GER 1.1 1.0 Gender parity 0.9 0.8 1999 2004 0.7 Sub-Saharan Arab States South/West Latin America Centr./East. N. America/ Africa Asia Caribbean Europe West. Europe Central Asia East Asia/ Pacific 5 77 million children still not in school Drop of 20 million since 1999, mainly in South Asia 117 girls out of school for every 100 boys Marked exclusion in Arab States and South and West Asia But rural residence, household poverty and mother’s lack of education are more determining factors Central Asia female male Central/Eastern Europe Latin America/ Caribbean Arab States East Asia/ Pacific South/West Asia Sub-Saharan Africa 0 5 10 15 20 25 Out-of-school children, million 6 Who is out-of-school? Rural, poor, uneducated mother Male 47 53 Female Enrolled but dropped out (9%) 18 Urban Rural 82 Richest 40% Expected to enter late (31%) 23 Poorest 60% 77 Mother with some education Expected to never enrol (60%) 25 Mother with no education 75 0 20 40 60 80 100 Distribution of out-of-school children (percentage) 2001 Out-of-school children by schooling experience 7 Belarus Nicaragua Ecuador Guatemala Colombia Panama Bolivia Dominica Costa Rica Barbados Nepal Bangladesh Lao P. D. Myanmar Survival rates to last grade (%) Mongolia Azerbaijan Tajikistan Kazakhstan Mauritania Morocco Saudi Algeria Lebanon Oman Kuwait 0 Rwanda Burundi Lesotho Madagascar Ghana Swaziland Benin Niger Togo Eritrea Mali Cape Verde Cameroon Mauritius Too few pupils complete primary school In addition to increasing access, improving retention is a key to reducing out-of-school children 100 80 60 40 20 Cohort completion rates (%) 8 Primary cohort completion rate (%) 0 Arab States Central Asia East Asia Pacific Panama Latin America Caribbean South West Asia Eritrea Mauritius Cameroon U. R. Tanzania Cape Verde Mali Togo Benin Swaziland Ghana Niger Burundi Rwanda Bangladesh Nepal Barbados Dominica Costa Rica Male Bolivia Ecuador Colombia Guatemala Nicaragua Myanmar Lao PDR Kazakhstan Tajikistan Oman Kuwait Lebanon Algeria Morocco Palestinian Mauritania Girls’ better completion Almost everywhere except Sub-Saharan Africa, girls are more likely to stay in primary school longer than boys Female 100 80 60 40 20 Sub-Saharan Africa 9 Needed: more trained teachers Slight improvement in pupil-teacher ratios in most regions between 1999 and 2004 Only slight increase in % of trained teachers Sub-Saharan Africa needs to recruit at least 1.6 million more teachers to reach UPE by 2015 Serious shortages in rural areas Too few female teachers in countries with low enrolment of girls 10 pre-primary primary Sub-Saharan Africa Recruiting female teachers South/West Asia North America/ Western Europe In pre-primary nearly all teachers are women Latin America Caribbean Lack of primary school female teachers in regions where largest gender disparities persist East Asia Pacific Central Asia Central/Eastern Europe Arab States 40 60 80 100 % Female teachers 11 Secondary parity Only one-third of countries have achieved parity at the secondary level Gender differences greater than in primary education Low secondary enrolment ratios: disparities at expense of girls High secondary enrolment ratios: disparities at the expense of boys Secondary education GPI in GER 1.1 1.0 Gender parity 0.9 0.8 0.7 1999 . 2004 Sub-Saharan Arab States South/West Latin America Centr./East N. America/ Central Asia Africa Asia Caribbean Europe West. Europe East Asia/ Pacific 12 Continued barriers to schooling Multiple sources of exclusion must be overcome through educational and financial support Poverty Direct and indirect costs of education: stipends, scholarships to increase access Distance to school Language and ethnicity School environment Social exclusion Cultural barriers: role in home and in society 13 Towards gender equality Gender parity in education does not always mean gender equality Public policy must promote equal rights and treatment of girls Reducing gender bias in curricula and textbooks Gender sensitive teacher training and classroom pedagogy Confronting sexual violence and harassment 14 Literacy remains elusive D.R.Congo Women illiterates Total illiterates Afghanistan Morocco Iran, Isl. Rep. One in five adults – 781 million – lack basic literacy skills – one in four women Egypt Brazil Indonesia Ethiopia The vast majority live in South and West Asia, subSaharan Africa and East Asia Pakistan Bangladesh China India - 100 200 300 All adult illiterates 2000-2004 (millions) 15 The ECCE imperative: Young children under threat Child born in developing world has 40% chance of living in extreme poverty 31% of children in developing countries moderately or severely stunted 10.5 million under-5 children die each year, most from preventable diseases High under-5 mortality rates in sub-Saharan Africa and South/West Asia Each day 1,800 children infected with HIV Children in emergency, conflict and post-conflict situations highly vulnerable 16 ECCE: strong foundations “Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children” Rights UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Development Poverty reduction and the MDG health and education goals Education Future participation and achievement Equity Reducing social inequality 17 Thinking comprehensively Nutrition Holistic programmes encompass: Nutrition Health and hygiene Physical and emotional development Social skills Education 18 Early childhood, nutrition and education Nutrition and Education Reinforce Each Other Iron, nutrition, deworming and psycho-social stimulation impact on learning Combining nutrition and education has larger and longer-lasting impact In some cases, impact higher for girls Early Childhood Participation Improves Later Education Access to primary school on time, especially for girls Retention in primary school Lower repetition Better language development Higher achievement 19 Acting early pays off ‘It is a rare public policy initiative that promotes fairness and social justice and at the same time promotes productivity in the economy and in society at large. Investing in disadvantaged young children is such a policy.’ James Heckman, Nobel economics prizewinner Most rigorous studies on benefits come from developed countries U.S. High/Scope Perry study of low-income African-American children higher IQ at age 5 enhanced success at school higher earning at age 40 High returns to programmes in India, Egypt, Colombia, Bolivia Returns greatest for poorest and most disadvantaged children 20 A diverse field Ages 0 to 2 Organized / non-formal care and education Support to parents / Parental leave Ages 3+ Pre-primary and non-formal education for 3+ Ages 0 to 8 Informal provision by parents or extended family, at home, family or community settings Providers Governments Private Sector (high private provision in Africa and Arab States, relatively high in Latin America/Caribbean) International NGOs Community-based organizations 21 Programmes for the under-3s The lack of programmes for the under-3s partly reflects assumptions about women’s domestic role, out of step with current realities World Arab States Central/East. Europe Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia/Pacific South/West Asia L. America/Carib. Central Asia N. America/W. Europe 0% 50% Countries with at least one formal programme for children under 3 in 2005 (%) 100% 22 Regional trends in pre-primary A three-fold increase in pre-primary enrolments over 30 years More than 1 in 3 children now enrolled but huge regional differences Gross enrolments ratios in pre-primary (%) 80 Developed/transition countries 70 60 Latin America/Caribbean 50 40 East Asia/Pacific 30 South and West Asia 20 Arab States 10 Sub-Saharan Africa 0 1971 1976 1981 1986 1991 1999 2004 23 Drivers for ECCE Historical forces Industrialization and demand for women workers From private charity to public responsibility More women at work outside agriculture Strongly associated with participation in pre-school programmes Migration and urbanization Changing household structures Fewer extended families More one-parent households Research on child development 24 Women in labour force drives ECCE provision High female employment generates demand for ECCE Arab States South/West Asia Sub-Saharan Africa 20% 26% 31% Latin America/Caribbean 41% East Asia/Pacific 41% Central Asia 47% Central/Eastern Europe 47% Share of women employed in non-agricultural sector 25 Trinidad/Tobago Poverty limits access Colombia Viet Nam Venezuela India Lesotho Haiti Mongolia Nicaragua Kenya Cameroon Higher attendance Philippines for children from Sierra Leone Madagascar richer households Azerbaijan Myanmar Bolivia Lower attendance Egypt Senegal among poor who Rwanda would benefit most Uganda Tajikistan Lao PDR Poorer households U. R. Tanzania Richer households D. R. Congo Niger 0 20 40 60 Attendance rates (%) 80 26 The gender factor Gender parity line Arab States The gender gap in early Central/East. Europe childhood programme enrolments is small in most countries Central Asia East Asia/ Pacific Notable improvement in Arab States but disparities higher than South/West Asia at other education levels N. America/ West. Europe Afghanistan, Morocco, Pakistan Sub-Saharan Africa and Yemen have lowest GPIs in pre-primary Latin America/ Caribbean 0.8 0.9 GPI in GER in pre-primary education 1.0 1.1 27 Why the policy neglect? Early childhood is still not a priority in many developing countries Slow response to social and economic trends Role of the family vs role of the state: unclear boundaries Diversity of sector makes coordination difficult Child development research results not well known Lack of rigorous studies in developing countries Governments prioritize primary education International aid focuses on other education levels 28 Strong policies for young children: What is needed? Policy Environment Top-level political endorsement A national early childhood policy grouping multiple players A lead agency to coordinate early childhood policies Integration in national development plans and PRSPs Policy Elements Staffing, training and standards for all providers Explicit provision for disadvantaged and vulnerable Partnerships: NGOs, private sector and international agencies Financing: higher spending, targeting and more aid 30 Challenging gender stereotypes ISSUES Do pre-school programmes promote gender specific expectations? Teaching materials and games often promote gender stereotypes – building blocks vs housekeeping corner! Different treatment by teachers POLICIES Changing curriculum and teacher attitudes Changes in staffing policy: encouraging more men to work in EC programmes More women in administrative and leadership conditions Delegations to investigate gender equality in pre-schools (Sweden) Incentives for schools promoting gender equality 31 Promoting school readiness ECCE can ease the transition to primary schooling, especially for girls Mother tongue instruction Good communications between schools and parents, involving parents as resource people Integration of ECCE with primary curriculum (Jamaica, France, Guyana) Connections between teaching and learning styles (Pakistan programme) Continuity between home and school (home visits, readiness programmes) Special support for disadvantaged children who have not followed preschool (Guatemala) 32 Financing ECCE: Finding the balance How to allocate limited resources to children most in need? Funding is public and private Income targeting Less than 10% of public education spending goes to pre-primary Geographical targeting (remote areas,urban slums) Even in OECD countries, parents’ share can run up to 60% Targeting specific groups: disabled, those in emergency situations Universal coverage + extra support to disadvantaged children (OECD) A universal policy with targeted spending on most disadvantaged? 33 ECCE: A low priority for donors Japan EC United Kingdom Germany Almost all donors allocate to pre-primary France Netherlands less than 10% of what they give to primary Denmark UNDP Italy Canada Bilateral donors give priority to centre- Ireland Belgium based programmes for children from age 3 Luxembourg Portugal Norway New Zealand UNICEF Australia Finland Spain 0 5 10 15 Aid to ECCE as % of aid to primary education 34 Action Now! Clear progress but more effort is needed 1. Act on all goals: early childhood, literacy and primary school with gender integrated in all policies 2. Act with urgency: 2005 gender parity target missed 3. Emphasize equity and inclusion, with consistent focus on gender 4. Increase public spending, and focus it better 5. Increase aid to basic education, and allocate where most needed 6. Move ECCE up national and international agendas 7. Increase public financing for ECCE, and target it 8. Upgrade the ECCE workforce: better training and pay, more women in leadership positions 35 Contact Information EFA Global Monitoring Report Team c/o UNESCO 7, place de Fontenoy 75352 Paris 07 France [email protected] www.efareport.unesco.org