Thursday, 26 June 2014 00:00
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AS the debate continues over the goals and targets of the post-2015 development agenda, new data show that the world will not fulfil one of the most basic commitments: to get every child in school by 2015.
According to latest UNESCO data, nearly 58 million children of primary school age (typically between six and 11 years of age) were not enrolled in school in 2012. Many of them will probably never enter a classroom.
The momentum to reach out-of-school children has slowed considerably in recent years, with the global primary out-of-school rate stuck at 9% since 2007. This marks a stark contrast to progress at the start of the decade, when the international community pledged to achieve universal primary education. The standstill at the global level is the result of opposing trends: a significant decline in the number of out-of-school children in certain countries due to important policy initiatives, and a rising school-age population in sub-Saharan Africa.
Progress has slowed mainly because the number of children out of school in sub-Saharan Africa remained at about 30 million between 2007 and 2012. As a result, the share of the world’s out-of-school children living in sub-Saharan Africa has increased to more than one-half of the total in the most recent years with data.
By contrast, South and West Asia has made considerable gains, reducing the number of out-of-school children by two-thirds from 34 million in 2000 to 10 million in 2012. The share of girls in the total number of out-of-school children in South and West Asia fell from two-thirds in 2000 to less than one-half in 2012.
While access to education has been improving globally, there has been little progress in reducing the rate at which children leave school before reaching the last grade of primary education. This is a problem common to Sri Lanka as well. Despite primary enrolment being above 90%, it is unclear how many of these students remain in school till their Ordinary Levels or higher. Globally about 135 million children began primary school in 2012, but if current trends continue 34 million children (some older than the official school age) will leave school before reaching the last grade of primary.
The early school leaving rate of 25% has remained at the same level as in 2000. To achieve universal primary education, new interventions are required to reduce this rate. Sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia have the highest rates of early school leaving. Across these regions, more than one in every three students who started primary school in 2012 will not make it to the last grade.
While the world on average appears to have lost steam in its effort to ensure that all children are in school, some countries have demonstrated that rapid progress is possible. Nepal, Burundi, Rwanda, Cambodia, Viet Nam and Ghana are among the countries swimming against the tide. They have abolished fees for primary education and doubled public expenditure in education. Across all these nations UNESCO observed a strong political will that nearly halved their population of uneducated children.
A few good numbers must not make policymakers complacent; ensuring students stay in school and get good quality education is an agenda for all time.
