Education funding: Copenhagen conference and Bangladesh
slower economic recovery in the US and t | Wednesday, 21 December 2011
slower economic recovery in the US and t
Prof Quazi Faruque Ahmed With an estimated 67 million children across the globe still looking for spots in schools, the outcomes of the last month's Copenhagen Conference dedicated to education funding are encouraging. In fact, the Global Campaign for Education (GCE), a multi-country platform of education development stakeholders, has hailed the conference. GCE and its members spent much of the last few months working on the Global Partnership for Education's replenishment event, which was also held in the Danish capital. The event aimed to secure $8.0 billion dollars in new multilateral and bilateral commitments from donor countries over the next 3 years (with a target of $1.8-$2.5 billion of that being for the multilateral GPE fund). The event also targeted an increase in domestic funding for education from developing countries. Prior to the event, GCE members worked both nationally and globally through advocacy and public campaigning. Members of the countries such as Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Canada, Denmark, France, Gambia, Germany, Haiti, Japan, Kenya, Malawi, Mongolia, Nepal, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Somaliland, Spain, Timor Leste, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe were incredibly active through a combination of ministerial meetings, letter-writing to envoys of donor countries and the World Bank as well as physically representing the campaign during the event itself. The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) asked for donor governments to urgently scale up funding to global education over the next three years by making: * contributions to the Education for All Fund of US$2.5 billion. * bilateral, private sector, civil society and multilateral additional commitments to basic education of US$5.5 billion. * policy commitments from all members that ensure the delivery of reliable funding, quality education in all states and a concerted effort on girls' education and improved learning outcomes. * increased domestic financing for basic education from developing countries. Over 250 delegates from around 60 countries participated in the pledging sessions as well as in seminars organised by civil society and by the private sector which include: Fund the Future: Delivering Education Rights Now (co-ordinated by GCE), Making Girls' Education Rights a Reality (co-ordinated by Plan International) , Quality Teachers for All: Overcoming the Teacher Shortage and Meeting Training Challenges (co-ordinated by Education International) and Education in Fragile States: Ensuring that No Child is Left Behind. Outcomes of the event: i) The GPE announced at the end of the event that just over $1.5b was achieved in multilateral contributions over the pledging period (approximately $0.5 b). The GPE has also extended its pledging period to three years, during which it is hoped that the $2.5b target will be achieved. ii) The major contributors were the UK and Australian governments, which between them contributed over 40 per cent of the total. iii) Of the $1.5b, certain amounts had previously been pledged but not yet disbursed, including almost $111 million from the UK government. Similarly, the carry-over from the former FTI Catalytic Fund was included within the total. iv) The US contributed for the first time, with a $20 million pledge. v) Both the UK and the US are set to review figures with the possibility of increasing their contributions before the end of the pledging period. vi) During the event Germany announced $6.6 million, but since then the German Parliament has increased this to $8 million. vii) Denmark, while pledging $201 million, has increased its contribution by transferring its bilateral aid to the multilateral fund. viii) Contributions from countries facing significant domestic economic challenges such as Spain and Italy fell as thought. ix) Again, as expected, the Netherlands contribution dropped due to the shift away from education as a priority following the national elections of 2010, leaving a contribution of $167 million. x) Developing countries announced a total of $2b in domestic budget allocations towards education. xi) Civil society groups pledged almost $2b in support through aid and infrastructural support with Education International announcing the development of a new teacher-focused campaign working with GCE. xii) A total for bilateral aid was not announced. In addition to the GPE announcement, GCE has called for the support of the following ten key principles for the transformation of aid to education: "1. Pay a fair share for basic education: low income governments dedicate 8.9 per cent of budget, but donors only allocate 4.1 per cent of aid to basic education. Both should work towards 10 per cent. 2. Untie aid and ensure technical assistance: aid to education must not be tied to the donor- it should focus on the MDGs and the EFA Goals. 3. Harmonise aid behind government plans and increase use of the Global Partnership for Education. 4. Use the most aligned aid modalities: the Global Partnership for Education should commit to sector budget support and encourage its partners to do so too. 5. Deliver predictable aid to basic education and focus on teachers: donors should make commitments for at least 3 years, preferably to 2015. 6. Ensure country ownership and civil society engagement: more must be done to increase the accountability of governments to their own citizens. 7. Focus on Education For All and on education rights and recognise the inter-dependencies within the 6 EFA goals and the indivisibility of education rights. 8. Address strategic issues in domestic financing of education: make the case for education with Ministries of Finance and the IMF. 9. Deliver on promises: making pledges is easy, but they must be delivered in practice. 10. Build a true Global Partnership for Education. We must create a stronger, more independent, more equal, more global and more ambitious partnership." Bangladesh scenario The Outcome of Copenhagen conference on Global Partnership in Education (GPE) has relevance to Bangladesh context where education is undergoing changes not only for introduction of pre-primary education in the existing primary schools and midday meal, but also for implementation of the Education Policy-2010 which covers post-primary and tertiary education as well. Bangladesh is still a low income country with substantial poverty, inequality and deprivation. An estimated 60 million people are living below the poverty line. Most of the labour force is engaged in informal low productivity and low-income jobs. The access to secondary and tertiary education is limited. Quality of education at all levels needs to be improved. Education sector allocations currently hovers at about 2.3 percent of GDP and 14 per cent of total public expenditure which is higher in different developing and under developed /least developed countries. Present & future challenges Overall there are more than 17 million students at the primary level, and over 8.0 million at the secondary level. Enrolments at the tertiary level are relatively small but growing very rapidly. At the time of independence there were only 10 universities. Today there are 85 universities in the country, of which 31 are public and 54 are private universities. There are 2,355 colleges under the National University which offer both undergraduate and graduate level courses, withthe intake reaching more than one million. l Secondary enrollment rate is 41 per cent, which means that 59 per cent of all secondary school age children in Bangladesh are for one reason or another inhibited from making a transition to secondary school. l Large number of girls drop out of school, resulting in significant gender gaps in both primary and secondary school completion, and low entry into tertiary education (36 per cent girls). l Large gaps in educational attainment between rich and poor continue to present major challenges, as do children living in remote locations, ethnic minorities and the disabled. The chief reasons for problems in the access, dropout and equity issues: lingering poor quality of primary education, poverty, child labour and gender discrimination. The issue of low quality of education in Bangladesh. The low quality of education is a serious problem Bangladesh faces in the secondary and tertiary education sector due to low physical facilities. Inappropriateness of curricula and pedagogy. Low capacity of the teachers. Lack of standards. Strategy for education in the Sixth Five Year Plan Proposed targets: The political pledge of the Government reflected in Vision 2021 and Education Policy 2010 provides the framework for determining objectives, priorities and strategies for the education sector in the sixth plan: l Achievement of universal primary education, extending this stage to grade 8. l Elimination of illiteracy.l Closing the education gap between the poor and rich. l Removing disparity in allocation of fund and resources: between rural and urban, male and female, general and technical education and between government and non-government educational institutions and students. l Creating a new generation equipped with technical skills and scientific knowledge. l Separate pay structure/ better remunerations for teachers to attract meritorious persons in teaching profession. l Overall improvement of quality and equity in education. Related targets pertinent to education l Building Digital Bangladesh. l Empowering local government as the engine for delivering services and carrying out development activities. l Ensuring equal status for women in all spheres of society and state, and creating gainful employment for the labor force. Strategies for the quantitative goal in education l Improve infrastructure by constructing/upgrading classrooms and labs, teacher and student hostels, water and sanitation facilities, and playground to facilitate admission of more students and provide a better learning environment. l Ensure sufficient number of teachers at all levels including for preprimary l Recruitment and training of female teachers at all levels to fulfill the existing quotas. l Provide stipend and other financial support to the poor and especially to the female students to encourage enrollment, retention and completion. l Provide teaching and learning aids, facilities to increase the pupil's interest over education and to modernise the education environment. l Provide computers to make the students competent with the modern world of ICT and to make them fit for the present day job market. l Establish technical schools at Upazila levels. l Establish science and technology universities at greater district levels. The qualitative goal targeting in education l Modernisation of curricula, texts, pedagogy and examination techniques giving more importance to science subjects and mathematics at the secondary level. l Introduction of ICT and technical education at all secondary levels, while encouraging equal participation of girls in technical education. l Improvement of capacity for teachers to promote quality teaching. l Provide computer trained teachers and subject based teachers especially for science and mathematics. l Modernisation of Madrasa education with the changes in society and reduce the gap of existing facilities for secondary education, between general education and Madrasa education. l Quality enhancement at university education through improvement of pedagogy and educational environment. l Strengthen gender and region-based monitoring, analysis and reporting. Improving Education Financing Several important features of education financing in Bangladesh need attention. A low-cost and low-yield system.Significant household contribution and opportunity for complementarities.High incentive expenditures in primary and secondary education.Lack of equity in educational financing. Available estimates indicate that achieving universal elementary education up to eighth grade and participation of 50 percent of the eligible age-group in secondary education by 2018 will require public allocation to education to be raised to 4 percent of GDP. Quality improvement, at all levels of education, will require additional resources. This will require a very substantial increase in the allocation of budget for education in the next five to six years. Innovative ways will also be needed to improve the quality of spending. The equity and financing constraints will be better reconciled by carefully examining options. Controversy over government data It is true that there is enough controversy over the authenticity of the data provided by the government, past and present. Even there is variation of figures in the same ministry among its different divisions and directorates. Yet it is more or less accepted that about two million new faces enter the job market every year in Bangladesh. Given the fact that the manpower market, particularly that of the raw or unskilled persons, is shrinking day by day in foreign countries, the present government has approved a Skill Development Policy after a long two years. The present government, which has been able to formulate and implement a new education policy, having minimum controversy in comparison with the past, lays more emphasis on practice, rather than theoretical exercises and bookish knowledge. Establishment of technical school in each and every sub district or upazilla, introduction of vocational courses in general education as well, and establishment of vocational higher education institution like the Textile University. But what about the think tanks in higher education? To what extent technical and vocational education is accepted in the arena of higher education, specifically in the universities? Admittedly, Dhaka University has introduced few subjects catering to the needs of the job market, though private universities are already in the lead in this field. However, there are criticisms against many of the private universities for indulging in money-making only, leaving aside research-based areas and disciplines such as engineering, medicine, etc. Again what about National University which has the largest enrollment of more than a million students under its umbrella? Is there any visible breakthrough with regard to updating its curriculum in line with the needs of the job market both at home and abroad? In my view, the basic issue in education in Bangladesh is the attitude and mindset of all those concerned with education, which include policy makers, policy execution planners, national leadership, teachers, guardians and all stake holders. In this connection, the question may be raised: how we look at education and what we expect from education? Does it mean acquisition of knowledge only? Our universities are expected to be the highest seats of learning and research. What purpose they are serving in terms of employment? Are they aware of a wobbly global job market on the heels of a slower economic recovery in the US and the Eurozone debt crisis? The writer is Chief Coordinator of National Front of Teachers & Employees, Bangladesh. He can be reached at: [email protected]
Prof Quazi Faruque Ahmed With an estimated 67 million children across the globe still looking for spots in schools, the outcomes of the last month's Copenhagen Conference dedicated to education funding are encouraging. In fact, the Global Campaign for Education (GCE), a multi-country platform of education development stakeholders, has hailed the conference. GCE and its members spent much of the last few months working on the Global Partnership for Education's replenishment event, which was also held in the Danish capital. The event aimed to secure $8.0 billion dollars in new multilateral and bilateral commitments from donor countries over the next 3 years (with a target of $1.8-$2.5 billion of that being for the multilateral GPE fund). The event also targeted an increase in domestic funding for education from developing countries. Prior to the event, GCE members worked both nationally and globally through advocacy and public campaigning. Members of the countries such as Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Canada, Denmark, France, Gambia, Germany, Haiti, Japan, Kenya, Malawi, Mongolia, Nepal, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Somaliland, Spain, Timor Leste, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe were incredibly active through a combination of ministerial meetings, letter-writing to envoys of donor countries and the World Bank as well as physically representing the campaign during the event itself. The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) asked for donor governments to urgently scale up funding to global education over the next three years by making: * contributions to the Education for All Fund of US$2.5 billion. * bilateral, private sector, civil society and multilateral additional commitments to basic education of US$5.5 billion. * policy commitments from all members that ensure the delivery of reliable funding, quality education in all states and a concerted effort on girls' education and improved learning outcomes. * increased domestic financing for basic education from developing countries. Over 250 delegates from around 60 countries participated in the pledging sessions as well as in seminars organised by civil society and by the private sector which include: Fund the Future: Delivering Education Rights Now (co-ordinated by GCE), Making Girls' Education Rights a Reality (co-ordinated by Plan International) , Quality Teachers for All: Overcoming the Teacher Shortage and Meeting Training Challenges (co-ordinated by Education International) and Education in Fragile States: Ensuring that No Child is Left Behind. Outcomes of the event: i) The GPE announced at the end of the event that just over $1.5b was achieved in multilateral contributions over the pledging period (approximately $0.5 b). The GPE has also extended its pledging period to three years, during which it is hoped that the $2.5b target will be achieved. ii) The major contributors were the UK and Australian governments, which between them contributed over 40 per cent of the total. iii) Of the $1.5b, certain amounts had previously been pledged but not yet disbursed, including almost $111 million from the UK government. Similarly, the carry-over from the former FTI Catalytic Fund was included within the total. iv) The US contributed for the first time, with a $20 million pledge. v) Both the UK and the US are set to review figures with the possibility of increasing their contributions before the end of the pledging period. vi) During the event Germany announced $6.6 million, but since then the German Parliament has increased this to $8 million. vii) Denmark, while pledging $201 million, has increased its contribution by transferring its bilateral aid to the multilateral fund. viii) Contributions from countries facing significant domestic economic challenges such as Spain and Italy fell as thought. ix) Again, as expected, the Netherlands contribution dropped due to the shift away from education as a priority following the national elections of 2010, leaving a contribution of $167 million. x) Developing countries announced a total of $2b in domestic budget allocations towards education. xi) Civil society groups pledged almost $2b in support through aid and infrastructural support with Education International announcing the development of a new teacher-focused campaign working with GCE. xii) A total for bilateral aid was not announced. In addition to the GPE announcement, GCE has called for the support of the following ten key principles for the transformation of aid to education: "1. Pay a fair share for basic education: low income governments dedicate 8.9 per cent of budget, but donors only allocate 4.1 per cent of aid to basic education. Both should work towards 10 per cent. 2. Untie aid and ensure technical assistance: aid to education must not be tied to the donor- it should focus on the MDGs and the EFA Goals. 3. Harmonise aid behind government plans and increase use of the Global Partnership for Education. 4. Use the most aligned aid modalities: the Global Partnership for Education should commit to sector budget support and encourage its partners to do so too. 5. Deliver predictable aid to basic education and focus on teachers: donors should make commitments for at least 3 years, preferably to 2015. 6. Ensure country ownership and civil society engagement: more must be done to increase the accountability of governments to their own citizens. 7. Focus on Education For All and on education rights and recognise the inter-dependencies within the 6 EFA goals and the indivisibility of education rights. 8. Address strategic issues in domestic financing of education: make the case for education with Ministries of Finance and the IMF. 9. Deliver on promises: making pledges is easy, but they must be delivered in practice. 10. Build a true Global Partnership for Education. We must create a stronger, more independent, more equal, more global and more ambitious partnership." Bangladesh scenario The Outcome of Copenhagen conference on Global Partnership in Education (GPE) has relevance to Bangladesh context where education is undergoing changes not only for introduction of pre-primary education in the existing primary schools and midday meal, but also for implementation of the Education Policy-2010 which covers post-primary and tertiary education as well. Bangladesh is still a low income country with substantial poverty, inequality and deprivation. An estimated 60 million people are living below the poverty line. Most of the labour force is engaged in informal low productivity and low-income jobs. The access to secondary and tertiary education is limited. Quality of education at all levels needs to be improved. Education sector allocations currently hovers at about 2.3 percent of GDP and 14 per cent of total public expenditure which is higher in different developing and under developed /least developed countries. Present & future challenges Overall there are more than 17 million students at the primary level, and over 8.0 million at the secondary level. Enrolments at the tertiary level are relatively small but growing very rapidly. At the time of independence there were only 10 universities. Today there are 85 universities in the country, of which 31 are public and 54 are private universities. There are 2,355 colleges under the National University which offer both undergraduate and graduate level courses, withthe intake reaching more than one million. l Secondary enrollment rate is 41 per cent, which means that 59 per cent of all secondary school age children in Bangladesh are for one reason or another inhibited from making a transition to secondary school. l Large number of girls drop out of school, resulting in significant gender gaps in both primary and secondary school completion, and low entry into tertiary education (36 per cent girls). l Large gaps in educational attainment between rich and poor continue to present major challenges, as do children living in remote locations, ethnic minorities and the disabled. The chief reasons for problems in the access, dropout and equity issues: lingering poor quality of primary education, poverty, child labour and gender discrimination. The issue of low quality of education in Bangladesh. The low quality of education is a serious problem Bangladesh faces in the secondary and tertiary education sector due to low physical facilities. Inappropriateness of curricula and pedagogy. Low capacity of the teachers. Lack of standards. Strategy for education in the Sixth Five Year Plan Proposed targets: The political pledge of the Government reflected in Vision 2021 and Education Policy 2010 provides the framework for determining objectives, priorities and strategies for the education sector in the sixth plan: l Achievement of universal primary education, extending this stage to grade 8. l Elimination of illiteracy.l Closing the education gap between the poor and rich. l Removing disparity in allocation of fund and resources: between rural and urban, male and female, general and technical education and between government and non-government educational institutions and students. l Creating a new generation equipped with technical skills and scientific knowledge. l Separate pay structure/ better remunerations for teachers to attract meritorious persons in teaching profession. l Overall improvement of quality and equity in education. Related targets pertinent to education l Building Digital Bangladesh. l Empowering local government as the engine for delivering services and carrying out development activities. l Ensuring equal status for women in all spheres of society and state, and creating gainful employment for the labor force. Strategies for the quantitative goal in education l Improve infrastructure by constructing/upgrading classrooms and labs, teacher and student hostels, water and sanitation facilities, and playground to facilitate admission of more students and provide a better learning environment. l Ensure sufficient number of teachers at all levels including for preprimary l Recruitment and training of female teachers at all levels to fulfill the existing quotas. l Provide stipend and other financial support to the poor and especially to the female students to encourage enrollment, retention and completion. l Provide teaching and learning aids, facilities to increase the pupil's interest over education and to modernise the education environment. l Provide computers to make the students competent with the modern world of ICT and to make them fit for the present day job market. l Establish technical schools at Upazila levels. l Establish science and technology universities at greater district levels. The qualitative goal targeting in education l Modernisation of curricula, texts, pedagogy and examination techniques giving more importance to science subjects and mathematics at the secondary level. l Introduction of ICT and technical education at all secondary levels, while encouraging equal participation of girls in technical education. l Improvement of capacity for teachers to promote quality teaching. l Provide computer trained teachers and subject based teachers especially for science and mathematics. l Modernisation of Madrasa education with the changes in society and reduce the gap of existing facilities for secondary education, between general education and Madrasa education. l Quality enhancement at university education through improvement of pedagogy and educational environment. l Strengthen gender and region-based monitoring, analysis and reporting. Improving Education Financing Several important features of education financing in Bangladesh need attention. A low-cost and low-yield system.Significant household contribution and opportunity for complementarities.High incentive expenditures in primary and secondary education.Lack of equity in educational financing. Available estimates indicate that achieving universal elementary education up to eighth grade and participation of 50 percent of the eligible age-group in secondary education by 2018 will require public allocation to education to be raised to 4 percent of GDP. Quality improvement, at all levels of education, will require additional resources. This will require a very substantial increase in the allocation of budget for education in the next five to six years. Innovative ways will also be needed to improve the quality of spending. The equity and financing constraints will be better reconciled by carefully examining options. Controversy over government data It is true that there is enough controversy over the authenticity of the data provided by the government, past and present. Even there is variation of figures in the same ministry among its different divisions and directorates. Yet it is more or less accepted that about two million new faces enter the job market every year in Bangladesh. Given the fact that the manpower market, particularly that of the raw or unskilled persons, is shrinking day by day in foreign countries, the present government has approved a Skill Development Policy after a long two years. The present government, which has been able to formulate and implement a new education policy, having minimum controversy in comparison with the past, lays more emphasis on practice, rather than theoretical exercises and bookish knowledge. Establishment of technical school in each and every sub district or upazilla, introduction of vocational courses in general education as well, and establishment of vocational higher education institution like the Textile University. But what about the think tanks in higher education? To what extent technical and vocational education is accepted in the arena of higher education, specifically in the universities? Admittedly, Dhaka University has introduced few subjects catering to the needs of the job market, though private universities are already in the lead in this field. However, there are criticisms against many of the private universities for indulging in money-making only, leaving aside research-based areas and disciplines such as engineering, medicine, etc. Again what about National University which has the largest enrollment of more than a million students under its umbrella? Is there any visible breakthrough with regard to updating its curriculum in line with the needs of the job market both at home and abroad? In my view, the basic issue in education in Bangladesh is the attitude and mindset of all those concerned with education, which include policy makers, policy execution planners, national leadership, teachers, guardians and all stake holders. In this connection, the question may be raised: how we look at education and what we expect from education? Does it mean acquisition of knowledge only? Our universities are expected to be the highest seats of learning and research. What purpose they are serving in terms of employment? Are they aware of a wobbly global job market on the heels of a slower economic recovery in the US and the Eurozone debt crisis? The writer is Chief Coordinator of National Front of Teachers & Employees, Bangladesh. He can be reached at: [email protected]