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THE QUALITY IMPERATIVE

Education for All

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• The world is not on track to achieve the six EFA goals

• Without better quality, EFA is unattainable

• This report defines education quality, shows why it matters and indicates how it can be improved, particularly in poorer countries

• Achieving this and the other goals will require both policy change and more resources from the international community

Education for AllTHE QUALITY IMPERATIVE

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Progress towards UPE

NET ENROLMENT RATIOS IN PRIMARY EDUCATION

81.7% in 1990, 84% in 2001

Pace of change too slow to reach UPE by 2015

Net enrolment ratio:

85% in 2005, 87% in 2015

103.5 million out-of-school

children in 2001

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Central Asia N. AmericaW. Europe

LatinAmerica

Caribbean

Centr./ East.Europe

Arab States East AsiaPacif ic

South/ WestAsia

Sub-SaharanAfrica

Out-of-school children by region (in millions), 2001

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Girls’ enrolment lags behind boys’ in 40% of

countries at primary level

Disparities more extreme at secondary

and tertiary levels

57% of out of school children are girls

Gender Parity Index (F/M), 2001

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

South/WestAsia

Sub-SaharanAfrica

Arab States Centr/ East.Europe

LatinAmerica/Caribbean

Central Asia East Asia/Pacif ic

N. America/West. Europe

GP

I

primary secondary

Gender parity

Progress towards Gender Parity

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64% of adult illiterates are women

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2

World

South/West Asia

Arab States

Sub-Saharan Africa

East Asia/Pacif ic

Centr/East. Europe

Latin America/ Caribbean

N. America/West. Europe

Central Asia

Gender parity

GPI (F/M) in adult literacy, 2000-2004

800 million adults without literacy, 70% live in nine countries

Literacy and adult learning

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• Slow global progress: in the majority of countries, GER in pre-primary education is still below 50%

• Children from disadvantaged backgrounds more likely to be excluded

• Attendance rates considerably higher for urban children than those living in rural areas

A strong influence on future school performance

Progress towards ECCE

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• 41 countries have achieved or nearly achieved the four goals

• 51 countries have EDI values between 0.80 and 0.94. Almost half the countries in this category, most of them in Latin America, lag on the education quality goal

• 35 countries are very far from achieving the goals, with EDI values below 0.80. 22 are in Sub-Saharan Africa, plus Bangladesh, India and Pakistan

The EFA Development Index measures progress towards UPE, gender parity, literacy and quality

Overall progress

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“Improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills”

Education QualityGoal 6

Dakar Framework for Action, 2000

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• Cognitive development: reading, writing, numeracy

• Creative and emotional development and the promotion of attitudes and values necessary for effective life in the community

• better health, lower fertility, lower exposure to HIV/AIDS

• higher personal income

• stronger national growth

A good quality education encompasses:

A good quality education carries personal and social benefits:

The Quality Challenge

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Education and HIV/AIDS:Knowledge causes behaviour to change

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

HIV

pre

vale

nce

(%

)

No schooling

Primary

Secondary

HIV prevalence in rural Uganda (%) by education category, 1990-2001 (individuals aged 18-29)

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The Paradox:Test scores and changes in per pupil expenditures in OECD

Country Change in mathematics and science

score, 1970-94

Increase in real spending

per pupil, 1970-94

Increase in real GDP per capita, 1970-

94

Staff compensation

as % of current

expenditure on primary

education, 1995

Australia - 2.3 269.8 46.4 79New Zealand - 9.7 222.5 24.3 n.a.France - 6.6 211.6 60.7 79Italy 1.3 125.7 74.6 89Germany - 4.8 108.1 66.8 76J apan - 1.9 103.3 100.7 87United Kingdom - 8.2 76.7 58.3 70Belgium - 4.7 64.7 68 86Netherlands 1.7 36.3 52.9 78United States 0 33.1 70.5 80Sweden 4.3 28.5 35.1 56

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Expenditure Impact Production function studies, developing countries

InputsNumber of estimates

Statistically insignificant

(% )Positive Negative

PTR 30 27 27 46Teacher education 63 56 3 41Teacher experience 46 35 4 61Teacher salary 13 31 15 54Expenditure per pupil 12 50 0 50Facilities 34 65 9 26

Statistically significant (% )

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Studies show that more resources for:

• Low pupil-teacher ratios

• more and better textbooks

• time spent learning in school or at home

• teacher qualifications and experience

matter for quality

A wide range of evidence indicates that additional resources improve education quality, particularly where they are scare

Learning from the evidence

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• strong leadership

• emphasis on learning basic skills

• orderly and secure school environment

• high expectations of pupil attainment

• frequent assessment of progress

How resources are used is important for quality

Research on the characteristics of effective schools highlights the importance of the following factors:

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Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Senegal, South Africa and Sri Lanka

The report draws lessons from 11 “ambitious” and “high-performing” countries on the quality front

Rising to the challenge

have achieved universal access, give teachers high status, have explicit vision of education’s objectives and policy continuity over time

have introduced policies to expand access and address quality. Reforms focus on teachers, training, curriculum, management and achieving greater equity

The ambitious countries

The high-performing countries

Canada, Cuba, Finland and Republic of Korea

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• Stark regional inequalities: a child in Africa spends five to six fewer years in school than one in Western Europe

• Drop-out: in 30 out of 91 countries with data, less than 75% of children reach grade 5

• Large classrooms: pupil-teacher ratios on the rise in countries where education has expanded rapidly.

• Lack of teacher training and poor conditions of service hinder learning in many low-income countries.

In many low-income countries more than one third of children have limited reading skills even after

four to six years in school

Quality diagnosis highlights

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• Southern Africa: in 4 countries less than 10% and in 3 others around one-third or less of tested grade 6 students reach a ‘desirable level’ in reading

• Francophone Africa: in 6 countries, between 14% and 43% of grade 5 pupils have low achievement in French or mathematics

• OECD countries: between 2% and 10% of 15-year-olds have serious deficiencies in literacy skills, whereas in middle and low-income countries, between 20% and 50% do so

International assessments point to weak performance

Quality diagnosis: achievement tests

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Literacy scoresChanges between Sacmeq 1 and 2

Mauritius

Kenya

Average

Zanzibar (U.R. Tanzania)

Zambia

Namibia

Malawi

400

420

440

460

480

500

520

540

560

SACMEQ I 1995-1996 SACMEQ II 2000-2001

Mea

n s

core

s in

lit

erac

y

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Quantity versus quality in primary schooling

Study Country Cohort

% that has ever enrolled

(ages 6-14)

% that survived to

grade 5

% that achieved minimum mastery

NER in primary for the period before the test

SACMEQ Malawi 100 91 31 7 69(1995) Mauritius 100 99 98 52 99 Grade 6 Reading test Namibia 100 97 74 19 84

U. R.Tanzania 100 87 70 18 54

PIRLS (2001) Colombia 100 98 60 27 87Grade 4 Reading test Morocco 100 99 77 59 81

PASEC Burkina Faso 100 35 25 21 28(mid 1990s) Cameroon 100 88 45 33 73Grade 5 French test Côte d’Ivoire 100 65 45 38 49

Guinea 100 48 32 21 36Madagascar 100 78 31 20 63Senegal 100 48 42 25 51Togo 100 82 49 40 66

Quantitative versus qualitative indicators of participation in primary schooling

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Start with learners and take all actors into account

Towards better quality: a holistic approach

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Only one-third of students reach last grade of primary education where pupil/teacher ratios are high

Iraq

Mauritania

Cambodia

Bolivia

Colombia

Cuba

GuatemalaNicaragua

Bangladesh

India

Burkina Faso

Chad

Ethiopia

LesothoMadagascar

MalawiMozambique

Niger

Senegal

South Africa

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Survival to last grade (%)

PT

R

Primary education: pupil/teacher ratios and survival to the last grade, 2001

In the classroom: investing in teachers

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• In Africa, teacher earnings were lower in real terms in 2000 than they were in 1970

• Earnings often too low to provide an acceptable standard of living: less than $2 a day in Sierra Leone government schools, but even less in community schools

• Significant reductions from 1998-2001 in Argentina, Indonesia, Philippines, Tunisia and Uruguay

Real wages of teachers have declined relative to average incomes in low-income countries

Can conditions of service attract teachers?

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• Discovery-based pedagogies pioneered in many programmes are difficult to implement on national scale in resource-constrained contexts

• Structured teaching is a pragmatic option in low-income settings. Teacher presents material in small steps, checks student understanding and encourages interaction

• Regular assessment and feedback improves learning

Rigid chalk and talk pedagogy is widespread

In the classroom:pedagogical

renewal

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• Curriculum: relevant, balanced with carefully defined aims

• Instructional time: few countries reach recommended 850-1,000 hours/year

• Learning materials: strong impact on learning but small percentage of education spending goes to textbooks

• Language: Successful models start in mother tongue and make gradual transition to second or foreign language

• School environment: safety, health, sanitation for girls and boys, access for disabled

Other essentials that make the difference

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•Governance: school leadership, room for consultation between teachers, governments and other stakeholders on curriculum, employment and working conditions

•Participatory learning networks and professional advisory bodies to encourage sharing of best practice

•Combating corrupt practices: fraud in public tendering for school buildings and textbooks, nepotism and bribes in teacher appointment and examinations

•Equity: reducing regional and social inequalities advances education for all

Beyond the classroom: policies conducive to better quality

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• 6% of GNP recommended on education spending not reached in majority of countries

• Education spending higher in rich countries (5.1% of GNP) than in systems where access and quality remain a top challenge (under 4% in Africa and East Asia/Pacific)

• Spending increases in East Asia and Pacific and Latin American and Caribbean in late 1990s, but -24% in Philippines; -8% in Indonesia

In low income countries, increasing spending has a positive impact on learners’ cognitive achievement

National resources: finance and quality

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Argentina

Brazil

Chile

Indonesia

Peru

AustraliaAustria

Belgium

Canada

Czech Rep.Denmark

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Ireland

Italy

JapanRep. of Korea

Mexico

Norway

PolandPortugal

Spain

SwedenUK

USA

300

350

400

450

500

550

600

0 10 000 20 000 30 000 40 000 50 000 60 000 70 000 80 000 90 000

Cumulative education expenditure per pupil (PPP US$)

Av

era

ge

co

mb

ine

d li

tera

cy

sc

ore

Students in countries that invest more in education tend to have better literacy skills. In high-income

states, the impact of additional resources is less clear

National resources: finance and quality

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• The Dakar Pledge: No country seriously committed to education will be thwarted by lack of resources

• Bilateral and multilateral aid to basic education = $1.54 billion

• New pledges could increase aid to $3.2 billion

• This falls short of $5.6 billion additional resources to achieve UPE and gender parity goals

• Fast Track Initiative: total resources so far raised are tiny compared with requirements. Even in the first ten countries endorsed, a financing gap of $200 million remains

International commitments: the need for sustained investment

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• Eight donors account for 85% of bilateral aid to education

• All donors -except Finland - that give relatively high priority to education aid make post-secondary the most important level

• Fragmented programmes: donors disburse aid to an average 63 countries; recipient countries dealt on average with seven to twelve bilateral donors in 2001-2002

• Few studies link aid and better learning outcomes

Improving aid effectiveness

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Successful qualitative reforms require:

• Prime attention to quality of teaching profession

• Strong leading role by government

• A societal project for improving education

• Policy continuity over time

Wrapping up

EFA Global Monitoring Reportwww.efareport.unesco.org / efareport@unesco.org

Education quantity and quality are complements, not substitutes