• Education:
• Background

Background

The Commonwealth Secretariat’s priorities in education focus on two of the eight millennium development goals: achieving universal primary education and eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education.

In 2000, Commonwealth countries signed up to these MDGs. These goals were a world commitment to ensure that every child in every country will complete primary school by 2015; and that girls will be enrolled at the same rates as boys in primary, secondary and post-secondary education by 2015 at them latest.

Commonwealth Education Ministers in 2003 reaffirmed the significance of these goals, emphasising the “importance of mobilising a broad range of Commonwealth resources in meeting educational targets by 2015, as a contribution to social reconstruction in the Commonwealth”.

The 2006 review of Commonwealth countries performance in education against the MDGs concluded that, while trends are broadly positive, many countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are not on track to reach the education MDGs by 2015.

Out-of-school children

An estimated 30 million children are out of primary school in Commonwealth countries according to the latest statistics (2004), accounting for 35 per cent of the world’s total. 57 percent of these children are girls.

Though progress is being made, these figures are challenging, hence achieving UPE remains a serious Commonwealth challenge. Commonwealth countries increased primary enrolment from 213 to 253 million between 1999 and 2004. Ninety cent of this progress was made in five countries: India, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, and the United Republic of Tanzania.

Prospects for 2015: Commonwealth countries and progress towards the MDGs in education and Education for All (EFA) goals

The trends in the Commonwealth are diverse. While some are broadly positive, there is much to be done between now and 2015.

Universal Primary Education - (Using Net Enrolment Rate (NER) data for 43 Commonwealth countries in 2004:

- Twelve Commonwealth countries have a primary NER of over 95%. They have achieved UPE or are close to it.

- Thirteen countries are within five points of 95 per cent. Three of them are Bangladesh, Guyana and Tanzania have registered significant rates of progress in recent years.

- Thirteen countries have an NER between 75% and 90%. Seven of these have shown a strong positive movement over the past five years. Excepting India these are all African countries. But there are five countries which registered a negative trend.

- Five countries have more than a quarter of their school age population which is out of school all of which have increased their NERs over the past five years.

Gender parity in primary and secondary school enrolment:

- Nineteen countries had achieved parity in both primary and secondary enrolments in 2004 or were moving towards one or both of the parity targets.

This group includes high income countries with low income countries that

have made major efforts in recent years to increase levels of enrolment.

- Thirteen countries have achieved parity at the primary level or are moving towards equality but have moved away from parity at the secondary level. This is a diverse group of largely middle or high income countries where there are particular issues around retaining boys in the secondary system.

- Seven countries are experiencing some move away from parity at the primary level but exhibit a move towards parity at the secondary level.

- One country, Kenya experienced a move away from parity at both levels based on 1999-2004 data (although this period excludes the massive upsurge in primary level enrolments at the beginning of 2005).

The 2005 global gender parity target was missed although there is some encouragement from the fact that the majority of Commonwealth countries have achieved the primary parity target or are moving in the right direction. But the rates of change suggest that further strong policy actions will be needed if the 2005 target is to be totally achieved by 2015. There is a substantive body of knowledge and comparative experience regarding the policy measures that make a difference.