Education Progress and Challenges: quality and equity

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1 EU High-Level Conference on Education and Development From Challenges to Opportunities Thursday, 23 May 2013 Concept Note The Broad Context: the role of education in development Education is a driver of inclusive growth and poverty reduction, and vital to the achievement of broader development goals. If all children in low-income countries could read, it is estimated that poverty could drop by 12%. 1 In low-income countries, every extra year of education adds about 10 % to a person's income on average, and even more for women. 2 Education is a human right recognised in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and by many conventions and international declarations ever since. Impacts of education on other sectors are clearly evident. From early childhood through to adulthood, equitable and quality education provides individuals, females and males, with the skills to boost progress in health, nutrition, employment, environment, peacebuilding and governance. Having access to early and sustained quality learning opportunities can reduce deeply entrenched inequalities that begin before birth. Education encourages good health practices, leading to lower maternal and child mortality, and improved nutrition and overall health. Education contributes to lower birth rates. Educated parents are more likely to send their children to school and to help them with their studies. Education helps to break cycles of violence. Education is key to nation-building, and reduces the likelihood of conflict. Education can facilitate positive and transformative change in conflict-affected societies. Education is a prerequisite for democratic development and active citizenship. Education is correlated with multiple forms of civic and social engagement, such as participation in labour unions, community activities or politics. Education also has the transformational power to turn the course of human development from poverty to raising living standards for all. To do that education must be relevant not only to today s challenges but it must also equip people to cope with the changing circumstances of development as we look beyond Education Progress and Challenges: quality and equity There has been impressive progress in increasing access to education since Improvements towards the international education goals, namely Education for All (EFA) and the education Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), have been notable, especially in low-income countries: 81% of children were enrolled in primary education in 2010, compared to 59% in Yet, this development has not been equitable. In recent years, progress towards universal primary education has been slowing down; particularly in fragile and conflict-affected countries where 42% of the world's out-of-school children live. While gender parity in primary 1 UNESCO (2010), Education for All Global Monitoring Report UNESCO (2008), Education for All Global Monitoring Report All figures from UNESCO (2012), Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2012.

2 education is close to being achieved, only one in five adolescent girls is enrolled in secondary education. Deep and persistent disparities (e.g. due to ethnicity, language, health, sex, wealth, place of residence or other factors) act as a strong barrier to accessing and completing education. In 2010, more than 61 million children worldwide were not enrolled in primary education and another 71 million children were not in lower secondary education. Much more attention needs to be given to reach the most marginalised children. Girls in particular face significant barriers to accessing and completing education in many regions of the world. While some global progress has been made in improving gender parity in primary education, marginalisation based on gender and compounded by other intersecting forms of discrimination prevents large numbers of adolescent girls from transitioning to secondary education. The quality of learning also remains insufficient and a great concern for many countries. Many children who enter school are often unable to complete even one cycle of school or leave without essential numeracy or literacy skills. Only 60% of children in low-income countries successfully completed primary education in 2009 and, in 2010, more than 120 million 15-to-24 year-olds lacked basic literacy skills. At the same time, quality education goes beyond conveying basic numeracy and literacy skills. A clear definition of quality education needs to capture the differing needs of learners and values like non-discrimination, gender equality and respect for human rights. Putting greater emphasis on equitable and quality learning for all in the broad post-2015 development agenda is needed to deliver sustainable results in education and beyond. The past 15 years have shown that spending time in the classroom is not a sufficient measure of educational success. Rather, education reforms and policies need to focus on and address equity and quality issues in access, progression and completion as a condition for broader development. The current MDG framework has a limited focus on primary education. The future framework must take a holistic approach and focus on the life-long learning opportunities across the life cycle. The new framework must give further attention to the areas that came to be neglected under the current process, such as adult literacy, early childhood education, secondary education, vocational and non-formal education. Equitable access to quality learning that responds to the needs of the learners is a challenge for all countries, which require strong national education systems, but especially those furthest from reaching the current international education goals. Many countries face a broader context of fragility or conflict that impacts the receipt of development aid, establishing good governance, and the delivery of quality public services. Providing children with quality learning environments in such contexts goes beyond building classrooms and increasing the availability of learning materials. Governments need to implement context-appropriate strategies and evidence-based programming based on robust conflict analyses, with sufficient financial and technical resources, and build a shared vision among stakeholders. In order to complete the unfinished business of the MDGs and to make progress within the post-2015 framework, there should be sufficient investment in education and efficient use and monitoring of resources. Therefore, governance and financing issues must play an important role in post-2015 discussions. 2

3 Supporting the Education Agenda: from challenges to opportunities As the international community maps out a new global framework for development beyond 2015, it is critical that education, and equitable and quality learning in particular, reinforces its status as the foundation and the key driver of social and economic progress. Education advocates need to develop a cohesive international education agenda to advance equitable learning opportunities in the broader development agenda. The European Union supports this international resolve. The latest EU Policy for Development: Increasing the Impact of EU Development Policy: an Agenda for Change 4 reaffirms EU commitment to supporting education in partner countries through its various instruments based on countries needs, capacities, commitments and performance and potential EU impact. In particular it highlights the importance of education as part of our support for social inclusion and human development quality education to give young people the knowledge and skills to be active members of an evolving society. The recent EC Communication: A Decent Life for All: Ending poverty and giving the world a sustainable future 5 emphasizes the need to deliver on the unfinished business of the current MDG agenda, but also to go beyond the present framework and to move from purely quantitative goals to address quality and inequalities. The Communication also recognizes the role education plays in eradication of hunger and improving food security, health and wellbeing. The international education community needs to rise to the challenge of mobilising the required political commitment and leadership to make improved learning a reality for all children. The recently created United Nations Global Education First Initiative underscores the importance of universal access to education and quality learning to reinforce poverty reduction goals. A number of processes and debates organised during spring 2013 are providing important lessons for both accelerating progress up to 2015 and building consensus on the way education will be addressed in a post-2015 development framework. These include: The Global Thematic Consultation on Education in the post-2015 Development Agenda meeting (Dakar, March), proposed Equitable quality lifelong education and learning for all as the overarching education goal and identified a number of priorities, most prominently, access, quality and equity. The 3 rd Meeting of African, Caribbean and Pacific States Ministers of Education (Brussels, 8-11 April) made several recommendations on Education in the post 2015 development agenda towards ensuring more equitable levels of achievement across the populations of ACP countries. The High-Level Symposium on Conflict-Sensitive Education (Paris, 8 April) launched a set of International Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) tools and harmonisation strategies to ensure that conflict prevention is integrated into education policies, programmes and investment. It called upon the humanitarian and development sectors to collaborate more effectively. The Learning for All Ministerial meeting, co-hosted by the World Bank, the UN Secretary General and the UN Special Envoy for Education (Washington, 18 April) focussed on critical education challenges and actions in eight countries to accelerate progress towards the global education goals by _communication_a_decent_life_for_all_post_2015_en.pdf 3

4 Building on this joint work, the EU is organizing a High-Level Conference on Education and Development: from challenges to opportunities on 23 May 2013 in Brussels. It is set at an opportune time to build on these important global events on education and development to move the international debate forward in the lead-up to the September 2013 UN General Assembly and post-2015 agenda. The EU Conference will be an important opportunity to foster a political level dialogue around education, how partner countries and the international community can work together to deepen the focus on quality learning outcomes for all children and contribute to building a consensus around the role of education in a broader development framework. The conference will recognise that while the post-2015 development agenda is important, work in partner countries is on-going and must continue to accelerate, not least in those countries presently off-track to achieving the MDGs. One of the lessons learned both from the MDGs and EFA goals is that there was insufficient national participation in developing the goals and consequently a limited sense of ownership and accountability within national systems for results. The post-2015 agenda should be countrydriven, reaffirming the importance of national ownership and strong civil society involvement. National ownership must be at the heart of any future framework and any framework of goals should support national priorities. Involvement of communities and citizens both in the post framework s design and implementation and the monitoring of government progress towards commitments made will also be crucial. Particularly, as young people make up the majority of the world s population, children and youth should be consulted in the development of the new framework and be meaningfully involved in its implementation. Focus of the Conference (i) (ii) Advocacy for education and strengthened support to partner countries, in particular to the most off-track in reaching international education goals. Consider the central role that education must play in the post-2015 sustainable development agenda, as presently being considered by the UN High-Level Panel and the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development. Bring forward the debate and clarity as to exactly how the post-2015 agenda can make a real step forward in ensuring a universal quality education for all, with a focus on equity issues. Specific Objectives Provide a high-level platform for partner countries and development partners to exchange policies, experiences and challenges in enabling equitable and quality learning in education. Identify specific ways to better support the provision of equitable, quality education for all children and youth, particularly to the countries currently most off-track from international education goals. Engage with and influence the broad development community to raise the importance of equitable and quality learning for all, and establish links to poverty reduction debates in the context of the post-2015 development agenda. 4

5 Suggested Outcomes Chairman s conclusions on the role of education in the post-2015 development framework and on equitable and quality learning, including recommendations for the United Nations High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda and for the upcoming UN General Assembly. Policy commitments, including EU support under next programming cycle and any additional commitments. Draft Programme The Conference will bring together education and development ministers from partner countries, EU Member States and other development partners, as well as education and development experts/practitioners from the non-governmental sector. Influencing the broader development debate around the post-2015 goals requires bringing together education and noneducation experts and providing a meaningful opportunity for dialogue and exchange. The organisation of the conference and the diversity of panellists and invitees will broaden the education debate, while focusing on critical challenges and opportunities around the theme of equitable access to quality learning. The conference will be organised around three main sessions: Opening session: In the opening session several keynote speakers will take the floor to address the state of play of education and make the case for education in the broader development agenda. Plenary Panel 1: Building better and more equitable education systems together. On the path to resilient development. The panel will bring together recent country experience and good practices in support of expanding quality learning opportunities for all, with a particular focus on transitioning situations and fragility contexts. The session will examine specific education challenges, challenges linked to broader governance and development, and solutions that promise results over the medium to longer term (including through more inclusive and accountable education institutions, and developing capacity for better teaching/learning). This session will also address the challenging issue of providing access to education during and in the aftermath of crises. Plenary Panel 2: The role of education in the post-2015 framework: Reaching equitable and quality learning for all: Looking into combined efforts of donors and partner countries, the panel will draw on lessons from the past 15 years of advancing education in developing countries and recent consultations on the post-2015 framework. Discussions will address how to build the future role of education and how aid can best support country reform and implementation efforts. As part of this, it will look at strategies to link with broader governance, economic and social development, and address critical bottlenecks to improving quality and equity in education. 5