The Post-2015 Development Agenda and ASEAN Integration: Implications for the Future of Education in Southeast Asia Sheldon Shaeffer SEAMEO Consultant
Challenges for the Future How can we ensure that all children are ready for school and that all schools are ready for children? How can we ensure that schools actively look for children not in school and help them enroll and succeed rather than push them out so they fail? How can we ensure that schools prepare children for the challenges of the 21 st century? How can we ensure that education systems help reinforce diversity (e.g., languages and cultures) rather than destroy it?
2015: A Turning Point? A New Beginning?l A new Education for All framework, targets, and strategies Korea, May, 2015 A new Millennium/Sustainable Development agenda and goals United Nations General Assembly, September, 2015 An integrated Community of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with related economic, socio-cultural, and politicalsecurity communities -- December, 2015
Towards Education for All Jomtien the World Conference on Education for All, 1990, with six dimensions national EFA committees formed and EFA action plans and programmes formulated donors and some governments increased their funding to education data were collected a bit more systematically and reliably some progress was made towards the Jomtien goals but to a large part, its vision was not realised.
Towards Education for All Dakar - The World Education Forum, 2000, with six goals a greater focus on gender, quality, equity, and learning and life skills greater national ownership of the EFA process and goals more government and donor funding the greater participation of non-government organisations (NGOs) a greater focus on monitoring and assessing progress towards the goals (the Global Monitoring Report)
Achievement: Education for All Goal 1: ECCE GER 50% globally; 57% East Asia (Thailand 100%, Cambodia 13%) much higher for urban, elite populations Goal 2: UPE NER globally 90%; 57 million still out of school (127 million through lower secondary education) NER for East Asia 96% but Timor Leste, the Philippines, and Thailand with rates lower than 90% high repetition and drop-out rates: over 25% drop out in the Philippines, Timor Leste, Cambodia, and Lao PDR
Achievements: Education for All Goal 3: Learning and skills for youth -- globally, 69 million adolescents are out of school and youth unemployment is growing Southeast Asia secondary enrolment rate of 62% attendance and completion rates still often linked to social-economic status, ethnicity, sex, and location percentage of students in secondary school who attend TVET programmes only 8%
Achievement: Education for All Goal 4: Adult literacy global adult literacy rate of 84% (with 774 million people illiterate) but the real number is much higher Goal 5: Gender parity -- East Asia near gender parity at all levels of education in many countries in Southeast Asia, boys are underachieving; the GPI for tertiary education is 108.8 in favour of girls but many disparities in favour of males continue. Goal 6: Quality -- Globally, perhaps 250 million children after four years of school do not have basic reading, writing, and arithmetic skills
Education for All Post-2015? Possible goal: Ensure equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all by 2030. Specific objectives relate to: basic education (from ECCE to lower secondary) post-basic education including tertiary quality and relevant teaching and learning youth and adult literacy skills for life and work Thus: a new EFA agenda integrated into an international development framework and promoting an overarching goal with (1) global objectives, targets, and indicators and (2) specific targets and indicators at national level
The MDGs and SDGs in SE Asia Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education Enrollment in primary education Off-track: Philippines, Timor Leste (no data from Myanmar) Reaching the last grade Off-track: Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Philippines (no data from Thailand and Timor Leste) Completion of primary school Off-track: Laos, Philippines, Timor Leste (no data from Thailand)
The MDGs and SDGs in SE Asia Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women Ratios of girls to boys in primary school all achieved Ratios of girls to boys in secondary school Off-track: Lao PDR (no data from Vietnam) Ratios of girls to boys in tertiary education Off-track: Cambodia and Timor Leste
The MDGs/SDGs Post-2015 The process of developing a new set of post- 2015 international development goals has been lengthy, inclusive, and intense: dozens of organisations (UN, bilateral, private sector, academic, nongovernmental) hundreds of conferences, seminars, and workshops hundreds of reports and at least 150 recommendations in regard to draft goals and targets related to the post-2015 agenda 12
The MDGs/SDGs Post-2015 Proposals for a goal related to education in the future post-2015 agenda focus on: equity the reduction of disparities quality education lifelong learning effective learning for all children and youth for life and livelihood good learning outcomes How would these issues be prioritised in various possible scenarios for the future? 13
ASEAN Integration and Education The human development strategy of the Social-Cultural Community Blueprint says: ASEAN will provide equitable access to human development opportunities and promote and invest in education and lifelong learning human resource training and capacity building innovation and entrepreneurship the use of English ICT and applied science and technology in socio-economic activities 14
ASEAN Integration and Education Actions to advance and prioritise education include: universal access to primary education the improved quality and adaptability of education, including technical/vocational/skills training education national skills frameworks increased ICT literacy equal access to education for women/girls teaching of common values/cultural heritage courses on ASEAN studies learning of ASEAN languages proficiency for ASEAN citizens in English early child care and development science and technology for sustainable development 15
ASEAN Integration and Education Other strategies and blueprints link education to: social justice and rights environmental sustainability an ASEAN identity the appreciation of political systems, cultures, and the history of ASEAN nations the understanding of the principles of democracy among ASEAN youth core competencies and the mutual recognition of the qualifications of professionals and skilled labour to facilitate movement across the region 16
Drivers for the future development of education in Southeast Asia Demographic change absolute growth, greater urbanisation, and an ageing population Economic growth but an increase exclusion and disparities within and between the ASEAN 6 and CLMV countries Between 2005 and 2011, inequality decreased slightly in Cambodia, Viet Nam, the Philippines, and Thailand but grew in Lao PDR, Indonesia, and Malaysia. 17
Drivers for the future development of education in Southeast Asia Environmental degradation and unsustainability climate change, rising sea levels, and the loss of natural resources Emergencies (conflicts and disasters) their impact on education and education s role in prevention, mitigation, and response ICT expansion but a growing digital divide Governance decentralisation but also instability and corruption Social-cultural diversity less diversity, less tolerance, and the need to create a Southeast Asian citizen 18
Policies for future scenarios? Including the excluded through: expanded ECCE programmes the reduction of repetition/drop-out rates special efforts directed at the most excluded: remote, rural populations, the urban poor, and girls (or boys) the genuine inclusion of learners with disabilities the use of mother tongue as the initial language of literacy bridging to mastery of the national and international languages 19
Policies for future scenarios? Improving quality through: a coherent, seamless educational framework for children aged (say) 3-8 a simplified and more relevant primary school curriculum the serious, comprehensive reform of the entire teacher development and management process teacher education focused on enhancing teaching-learning practices and promoting a genuinely child-centred approach 20
Policies for future scenarios? Expanding secondary and tertiary education, equitably and of good quality Linking education more closely to the world of work: responding to growing youth populations and the narrowing and down-sizing of labour markets promoting the migration of students and labour (both skilled and unskilled) developing common competency frameworks and standards, credit transfer systems, and the mutual recognition of certificates, diplomas, and degree. 21
Policies for the future scenarios: emerging/new trends Demographic changes and an increasingly ageing population the need for lifelong learning The scandal of early learning many education systems are failing their students children are not ready to learn when they enter school schools are not ready to respond to the needs and backgrounds of their students The loss of cultural/linguistic diversity ensuring education enriches rather than represses such diversity 22
Emerging/new trends The need for 21 st century skills -- education in the knowledge, skills, and values related to: moral education e.g., character education, values education, democracy education international and intercultural education global citizenship critical thinking, teamwork, problem-solving creativity and entrepreneurship media, ICT, and financial literacy conflict sensitisation, peacebuilding, social cohesion, and respect for diversity the mitigation of climate change and the 23 reduction of disaster risks