Targeting Universal Primary Education

30 May 2006

Of the 680 million children of primary school age in developing countries, 103 million do not attend school, with 57 percent of these children girls and 74 percent living in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. More than 1/3rd of girls in South Asia never receive a formal education; adult women there have the lowest literacy rate in the world.

Although estimates vary widely, India alone is estimated to have 40 millionchildren out of school. In �Teach a Child, Transform a Nation� published in Washington, D.C., January 2004, the following snapshots of education are provided, which warn us about the scenario of educational development in this century:

� half of those who start primary school finish it �but in sub-Saharan Africa, 2 out of 3 do not
� 3/5th of out-of-school children are girls
� In year 2000, 21 countries had literacy rates of less than 50 percent
� 2/3rd of illiterate adults are women
� 1/4th of adults in the developing world �and 879 million people worldwide � cannot read or write.

No country has ever reached sustained economic growth without achieving near universal primary education. It has also been found that one year of additional education increases individual output by 4-7%. Education is no more concerned only with qualification and good job, rather it has a long-term impact on all sectors of development. A farmer with just four years of basic education is, on average, 8.7% more productive than a farmer with no education. Education, particularly for girls, is related to lower death rates and longer life expectancies.

The World Education Forum, held in Dakar, Senegal in April 2000, adopted 6 major goals for education, 2 of which also became Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) later in the same year. MDG 2 is �Achieve universal primary education� � to ensure that by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling. There are many hurdles to achieving the MDG target of all children receiving primary school education. While the globalisation process demands better educated and skilled labour, overall levels of education and skill-training remain low.

In 1999, about half the total population of South East Asia was illiterate. In the 1990s, over 40% of children did not reach grade 5. In 1998, the region continued to have mean years of schooling as low as 2.4 years. Sri Lanka was an exception at 7.2 years and mean years of schooling for boys in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal ranged from 2.9 - 3.5 years, for girls it was 0.9 to 1.2 years.

Let us have a look at the other side of the globe. During the socialist period the extent and quality of education in the EU countries were higher than in other countries with similar levels of economic development. Adult literacy was generally universal. The transition resulted in dramatic changes in the education systems of many countries. The education of thousands of children was severely disturbed due to ethnic strife, war, and civil unrest in the countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan.

In many countries, enrollment rates and public spending on education fell sharply. In many Eastern European and CIS countries, the education indicators recovered to pre-transition levels, but the UPE remains some way off for Albania, Armenia, Georgia, and Tajikistan. To improve education outcomes for this region, there needs to be greater focus on improving access and quality.

Targeting MDG 2

Attempts have been made to close large gender gaps in Benin, Chad, the Gambia, Guinea, and Mali. While Nepal and Pakistan remain far from UPE, Bangladesh has demonstrated significant improvement in enrollment rates. As a whole, Latin America is closer to universal primary education than any other developing region. Colombia and Brazil have made substantial progress, as has Barbados in the Caribbean, the other countries march steadily toward getting all children into school. The challenge in Latin America is more about the quality of education rather than the access. Girls are at a strong disadvantage, but gains have been made to close large gender gaps in Benin, Chad, the Gambia, Guinea, and Mali.

Although primary enrollment increased in the last decade, population growth rates have exceeded primary education expansion, leaving many countries with a growing number of out-of-school children. An estimate says that primary school enrollment is growing; nearly 90 million additional children entered school between 1990 and 1999. With improved primary school enrollment, adult illiteracy rates declined worldwide from 37 percent to 20 percent between 1970 and 2000. While 83 countries are on track to achieve this goal, 71 others are not.

ICT for primary education
ICTs can help overcome chronic shortage of facilities and teachers in an efficient and economic manner for many countries facing budgetary constraints. UNESCO estimates that an additional 15-35 million educated and trained teachers will be needed over the next decade if all countries are to achieve the MDG of universal primary education by 2015. ICT-based distance training can overcome the shortage of primary school teachers by accelerating instruction.

ICT can also supplement primary school teaching, thereby helping to overcome shortages. Through the traditional ICTs of radio and television, ICT could also be used to emphasise the importance of primary school attendance, particularly in areas with strong social or cultural barriers. Despite all the programmes to achieve MDG 2 in an ICT way, we should not forget about those underprivileged sections of the society who are still struggling for their breads in various corners of the globe.

Source:Disha More

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