EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This document, based mainly on national reports and statistical questionnaires, reviews progress in the nine high-population countries towards the goal of Education for All (EFA). In section I, it is shown that there has been a considerable improvement in most countries since the convening of the World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien, Thailand, in March 1990. In fact, 1990 appears in retrospect to have been A turning point. Enrolment in primary education has increased by over 40 million students during the last three years. In addition, major efforts are underway in several countries to improve educational quality.
Population growth continues to retard progress in the achievement of EFA. Between 1980 and 1993, as noted in section II, the number of children of primary-school age in the nine countries increased by 56 million. Although enrolment of the school-age population grew even more rapidly, increasing by 86 million, this was insufficient to accommodate all children. Hence, there are still an estimated 42 million out-of-school children in the nine countries, a majority of them girls. Education, especially of women, has been repeatedly demonstrated to reduce fertility and child mortality rates. Several of the nine countries have either already made the 'demographic transition' from high to moderate or low birthrates, or are in the process of doing so. This, it is emphasized, is essential in improving the long-term education and development prospects of high- population countries.
A number of essential steps in the process of achieving EFA are discussed in section III in reference to the situation in the nine countries. It is noted that large and populous countries face challenges of both scale and diversity. Experience suggests that EFA is best handled by placing responsibility for programme implementation at the community or local level. Scale, however, not only imposes problems, but presents opportunities. Large countries are, for example, in a particularly privileged position to use and benefit from modern communication media. This possibility has been recognized and is being acted upon by most countries. It is shown that, since 1990, at least seven of the nine countries have significantly increased their spending on EFA. Governments have also endeavoured to build partnerships by inviting communities and non-governmental organizations, including religious institutions, to participate actively in the EFA movement. While, in most countries, the resources provided by international partners have been relatively modest in relationship to the overall national effort, they have played a catalytic role by supporting educational reform and programmes directed to the most disadvantaged parts of the population.
Section IV presents an overview of the components of the education system most critically involved in the pursuit of EFA: primary schooling, literacy and other programmes for adolescents and adults, and early childhood care and education (ECCE). These are not, it is insisted, isolated elements, but interacting parts of an overall system. Education takes place not in a vacuum, but
in society and culture and has to be understood, planned and analyzed within this context.
The situation concerning primary education, analyzed in section V, varies considerably from country to country. There are good prospects, if current efforts are sustained, that six of the nine countries could enroll over 90 per cent of primary school-age children before the end of the century. In the remaining three countries, this goal could be achieved in the first years of the 21st century. Several countries are seeking to increase capacity and to meet the special needs of out-of-school children through non-formal primary education programmes and by co-operating with religious authorities in the operation of schools in mosques, churches and temples. Gender, although but one of many sources of disparity, remains by far the greatest and most general. Enrolment of girls varies in the nine countries from a low of 34 per cent of total enrolment to a high of 49 per cent.
While experience suggests that perseverance and constancy of purpose are essential to achieving Universal Primary Education (UPE), there is also an urgent need for reforms and innovations. This is especially the case as concerns difficult-to-reach or difficult-to- serve children. Education for such children has to respond to their particular situations or problems. The education systems in many of the nine countries experience extremely high drop-out and repetition rates. Improvements in internal efficiency, through reduction of drop-out and repetition, would not only improve learning, but also enable existing institutions to serve millions of additional children. The quality and relevance of learning and the level of achievement are growing concerns to educators and parents in all countries. These concerns have engendered efforts to improve the learning process by restraining teachers, reforming curricula, making better provision for educational supplies, and scores of related measures. Following an overall analysis of the situation in the nine countries, major developments in each country are reviewed. Particular attention is given in these reviews to educational reforms and innovations.
Section VI examines programmes for adolescents and adults. It is noted that while illiteracy is receding slowly in most countries, the number of literates is growing rapidly, mainly as a result of the extension of primary education. In addition to illiterate adolescents and adults, programmes are increasingly serving the semi-literate and newly literate, many of whom are school drop-outs. There is also a growing demand for general and especially vocational education programmes. As rates of illiteracy are considerably higher among women than among men, programmes to serve women should be accorded priority. Following an overview of the situation, major trends and developments in each of the nine countries are reviewed.
Early childhood care and education, whether provided in the home, community or a school-based programme, is essential to the well-being and future educational success of the child.
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Section VII emphasizes that the first two years of life are critical in the development of the brain and nervous system. If proper nutrition, health care and stimulation are not provided during this period, irreparable damage may result. The review of national experiences indicates a trend toward community-based programmes and a growing emphasis upon the education and training of parents, especially mothers, in ways of promoting the care and development of the young child. Preschool programmes are also being expanded in most countries as a means for preparing disadvantaged children to succeed in school.
The conclusion, section VIII, recalls the origins of the EPA movement: the growing recognition, among policy-makers and the general public alike, that nothing is more important to the progress of individuals and societies than the development of human competence through education and training. This realization was the cause, not the consequence, of the convening of the World Conference on Education for All that gave birth to the EPA movement. Now, nearly four years on, the movement is well underway and its first fruits are full of promise.
Table of Contents
Page
I. EPA: The Turning Point 1
II. Education and Demography: A Critical
Interaction 4
III. EPA: The Process 8
IV. The Components of EPA: An Overview 15
V. Towards universal Primary Education 17
1. Identification and Analysis of Issues 17
2. Action in Primary Education 30
Bangladesh 30
Brazil 32
China 33
Egypt 35
India 36
Indonesia 38
Mexico 40
Nigeria 42
Pakistan 44
VI. Programmes for Adolescents and Adults 48
1. Identification and Analysis of issues 48
2. Summary of Action for Adolescents and
Adults 52
VII. Early Childhood Care and Education 60
1. Identification and Analysis of Issues 60
2. Summary of Action for Early Childhood
Care and Education 61
VIII. Summing up 64
Annex
Figures and Tables
Page Page
Figure 1 1 Table 1 2
Figure 2 6 Table 2 4
Figure 3 12 Table 3 18
Figure 4 24 Table 4 19
Figure 5 26 Table 5 20
Figure 6 27 Table 6 21
Figure 7 48 Table 7 22
Figure 8 49 Table 8 51