Education is not only a fundamental human right, but also a driver of economic and social development. Citing education’s positive impact on income, health, democracy, governance, tolerance, conflict resolution, and environmental protection, “education transforms lives,” the GMR concluded.
The Asia-Pacific region, especially East Asia and the Pacific, demonstrates the power of education. For instance, the annual growth in income per capita between 1965 and 2010 was 3.4% in East Asia and the Pacific, while it was only 0.8% in sub-Saharan Africa. The difference in initial levels of education among the population can explain about half of the differences in growth rates over those 45 years. At the same time, the data suggest that for education to have its full impact, it has to be delivered with equity. For instance, the number of average years spent in school for Viet Nam and Pakistan were similar in 2005 (4.9 years in Viet Nam and 4.5 years in Pakistan). However, access to education was unequally distributed in Pakistan with more than 50% of the population living without having received formal education, compared to only 8% in Viet Nam. Differences in the distribution of education between Viet Nam and Pakistan can explain the 60% of the per capita income growth between 2005 and 2010 during which Viet Nam surpassed Pakistan in per capita income. If Pakistan were to have a similar distribution of education as Viet Nam, its average growth in per capita income over this period would have increased by 1.7%.
However, bringing more children into school is not enough. Some countries are facing a “learning crisis” where the quality of education is low and students’ learning achievements are dismal. Among the 650 million primary school age children worldwide, more than 250 million children are failing to learn the basics of reading. While more than 80% of primary school age children in East Asia and the Pacific reach the 4th grade, more than 30% of primary school age children in South and West Asia do not. More alarming is the case in South and West Asia where approximately half of the students who enter grade 4 do not have basic reading skills, compared to approximately 5% in East Asia and the Pacific.
The disadvantaged populations are most likely to be affected because of the lack of trained teachers, inappropriate infrastructure and insufficient teaching and learning materials. In rural India and Pakistan for instance, poor girls (10-11 years old) are least likely to be able to do basic calculations. Other factors such as the language spoken at home, also affect students’ likelihood to obtain basic skills in school where the medium of instruction is different. The 2011 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) results indicate that in the Islamic Republic of Iran, only half of the students whose home language is not Farsi could reach the minimum learning standard, while over 80% of Farsi speaking students passed the threshold.
How can we overcome the learning crisis? This year’s GMR focuses on teaching and learning, which are keys to quality education. Since the quality of an education system is only as good as the quality of its teachers, ensuring a good teaching force that is supported by well-managed education systems, is one of the keys to solving the learning crisis. However, the teacher shortage is a persisting challenge, especially in South and West Asia. To achieve universal primary education by 2015, the Asia-Pacific region needs 213,000 new primary school teachers, of which 130,000 are needed for South and West Asia. Additionally, 1.4 million new lower secondary school teachers are needed to achieve universal basic education (primary and lower secondary education) by 2020. The teacher shortage is only one of the many challenges education systems in Asia-Pacific face. Uneven distribution of teachers, lack of incentives to attract and retain the best teachers, and dysfunctional governance systems are some of the issues that compromise the quality of education.
The evidence laid out by the GMR demonstrates that the learning crisis will have a lasting negative impact on generations to come. Education should be centrally secured in the post-2015 development framework and policy-makers need to commit to taking urgent actions to make quality education a national priority.
For more information, please contact Malisa Santigul [m.santigul(at)unesco.org] at the Asia and Pacific Programme of Education for All Unit and Satoko Yano [s.yano(at)unesco.org] at the Education Policy and Reform Unit.
Written by Satoko Yano [s.yano(at)unesco.org]
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