Education:An Avalanche of Studies,

Little Studying

Steven Fiala, Stephanie Fry, Wendy Leith, Ben Switzer

“Placing every child in a classroom has never been more urgent than it is today. Under threat

from the pandemic, children must be able to turn to schools as places of learning, inclusion,

stability and life-saving information about HIV/AIDS.”

UNICEF 2000

Article 28, sub-1(a) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child:

“Make primary education compulsory and available free to all. . .”

UN Millennium General Assembly of 2000 Millennium Development Goals

The international community has supported primary school as a universal right since at least 1934 (International Conference on Education)

Every additional year of schooling helps:Reduce povertyLead to better parentingSupport better health and nutritionEnsure economic growth

BACKGROUND

ACCESS TO EDUCATION• Secondary education – under 2%

• Primary education – just over 6%

• No formal education – just over 12%

• User fees• The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) imposed

user fees for primary education in exchange for loans throughout the ‘80s and ’90s

• Made education prohibitively expensive

• Fast-Track Initiatives (FTI)

• Seeks to provide universal basic education• Donor governments contribute a minimum of $4 billion a year for

several years (the Bank has received $300 million)• Includes a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper

ACCESS TO EDUCATION (CONTINUED)• Infrastructure Requirements

• Cancellation of fees in Malawi was without advanced planning • Short by 13,000 teachers and 38,000 classrooms. • Of the 1.3 million students who entered grade one

in 1994, only 300,000 made it to the end of the educational cycle in 2002 (23%)

• Better to scramble somewhat in the aftermath than to continue to exclude children from school on the destructive basis of class and income

CHALLENGES• School fees imposed by World Bank and IMF• Even with the abolition of school fees, there are other

prohibitive costs• Books, compulsory uniforms, registration fees,

examination fees, parent-teacher fees• Terms and conditions of loans hinder public sector growth• Money for education is being used to pay interest on loans

• Reliance on FTIs

• Disconnect between importance of education and the fight against HIV/AIDS and poverty

• Media are uncritical

• Commitments and obligations are expendable (UNICEF)

TANZANIA’S EXPERIENCE

• 31,825 classrooms and 7,530 teacher’s houses were constructed

• 17,851 new teachers were recruited and 14,852 were sent to upgrading courses

• Pass rate in primary school went from 19% in 1999 to 40% in 2003

• Tanzania was relieved of debt and once again could afford to educate its children

• Also took donor assistance and re-allocation of government’s budget

RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY LEWIS•Reduce family charges/fees for the minimum standard of education• Increase access to secondary education•Lewis closes chapter by saying that secondary education, middle school, is the next travesty and another whole generation, like WWII, will be education skipped if not fixed

GROUP RECOMMENDATIONS•Infrastructure development

•Africa has a long way to go to build for education reform

•Support reform for education•Get local donor delegates to recognize the importance of education

http://www.educationfasttrack.org/media/library/Tunis_FTIppt.pdf

GROUP RECOMMENDATIONS (CONTINUED)•Absolution of debt/interest payments•Remove the requirement for countries to come up with Poverty• Reduction Strategy Papers and drop the Fast Track Initiative

•Neither program is working

http://www.educationfasttrack.org/media/library/Tunis_FTIppt.pdf

SUMMARY

•Education has many benefits•Reduces the risk of HIV/AIDS

•Fights poverty, promotes economic growth

•Teaches children social skills, how to work with others, how to problem solve, critical thinking

•Fights hunger and starvation

CONCLUSIONS

•Lots of posturing but no real action•1934 International Conference on Education

•2000 Millennium Development Goals

•The Convention on the Rights of the Child

•2005 Millennium Development Report

•Commission for Africa Report

CONCLUSIONS (CONTINUED)

•Excuses for inaction have proven to be baseless •Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and others have removed school fees successfully

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

•Is the removal of school fees viable without infrastructure development and increases in staffing?

•Are the IMF and WB responsible for the problem as Lewis would lead us to believe?

•What will it take to generate the political will both internationally and in individual African nations to eliminate school fees?

•How do you address problems like access to education and health care when there is no system in place?