MDG 2

Achieve Universal Primary Education

Emerson Hart, Alaina Belser, Keith Tormey

Definitions Universal Primary Education: to ensure that children

everywhere, boys and girls alike will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.

Primary schooling: achieving basic literacy and numeracy skills as well as establishing foundations in science, mathematics, geography, history, and social science.

Target 2.A: Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of

primary schooling

●Globally, 570 million children are enrolled in school.

● Enrolment in primary education in developing regions reached 91% in 2015, up from 83% in 2000.

● In 2015, 57 million children of primary school age were out of school.

● Among youth aged 15 to 24, the literacy rate has improved globally from 83% to 91% between 1990 and 2015, and the gap between women and men has narrowed.

● In the developing regions, children in the poorest households are four times as likely to be out of school as those in the richest households.

● In countries affected by conflict, the proportion of out-of-school children increased from 30% in 1999 to 36% in 2012.

●What are some reasons why children are not in school?

----Location of school, gender, costs

Global importance● Currently, 57 million children of primary school age are estimated

to be out of school, down from 100 million in 2000. Of these, 33 million are in sub-Saharan Africa, and more than half (55%) are girls.

● A girl with at least a 5th grade education is likelier to:● marry at a later age● have fewer children● decrease her chances of being infected with HIV/AIDS● find employment later in life● seek medical care● vote in her community● gain access to credit

Strategies for Increasing Education

●Measure education outcomes, especially for poor people and disadvantaged communities.

●Offer innovative incentives, like cash for attendance, to keep kids in school and to “force” families to send their children

●Ensure that education leads to learning skills, and that it is relevant and of good quality.

●Establish standards for teachers and schools.

● Train teachers, especially those who serve disadvantaged communities.

What is left to do?●There are still 57-61 million children left to enroll in

schooling worldwide●Half of these live in sub-Saharan Africa

●The youth illiteracy rate exceeds more than 120 million people worldwide

Interventions to reach MDG2

●Build schools and access infrastructure

●Provide transportation facilities, particularly in rural areas

● Train and recruit teachers

●Prepare and distribute teaching materials

●Provide school meals, and basic health services

●Provide family subsidies

Progress thus far• The number of out-of-school

children of primary school age worldwide has fallen by almost half, to an estimated 57 million in 2015, from 100 million in 2000.

• Between 1990 and 2012, the number of children enrolled in primary school in sub-Saharan Africa more than doubled, from 62 to 149 million.

• In the developing regions,children in the poorest households are four times as likely to be out of school as those in the richest households.

• The literacy rate among youth aged 15 to 24 has increased globally from 83 percent to 91 percent between 1990 and 2015.

More Progress● Afghanistan: 2.7 million girls were enrolled in school in 2012,

up from 191,000 in 2002; nearly 140,000 teachers have been trained, of which 39,000 are women.

● Bangladesh: Between 2004 and the end of 2012, “second chance” primary education was provided for more than 790,000 out of school children (more than half of them girls) from the 90 poorest sub-districts of the country

● Chad: Between 2003 and 2012, 2.6 million books were distributed to schools, 400 classrooms were built and equipped, 20,000 people were taught to read and write, and 11,700 community teachers were trained.

More Progress continued...●Burundi, The Democratic Republic of the Congo,

Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda●These countries have abolished school fees, which has

led to a surge in enrolment●Ghana--Public school enrolment soared from 4.2 million to

5.4 million between 2004-2005●Kenya--1.2 million additional children enrolled in school in

2003

These numbers are great, but with no school fees, many challenges arise.

Challenges●Dropout rates● Dropouts due to family commitments, financial responsibilities,

early marriage, tradition, etc. ● 30% of primary schoolers in Sub-Saharan Africa drop out

before their final year of primary school●Location of school ●Gender Inequality ●Costs●Statistically, being female, poor and/or living in a conflict area are

the largest and most influential factors that keep children out of primary education.

Refugees●The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’

survey of 87 urban areas showed that 37% of refugee children had no access to schooling. ●If they do have the chance to go, they face stigma and

discrimination. ●Often these children do not speak the language of

instruction●Often the case that the home governments do not allow

refugees to attend public schools●73% of adolescent girls did not attend school while in a

refugee camp, with adolescent boys in refugee camps not attending school at a rate of 66%

Survival rates of those that complete primary school

Cost of Schooling

●Annual cost of achieving the education goal would be at least $10 billion and possibly as high as $30 billion.

● Fostering habitat destruction through opening of remote areas to land colonization

● Local impacts of extraction and processing of building materials

Benefits ●Adequate education can improve ecosystems use and

management, in the long and short term.

●Primary education exhibits highest returns, followed by secondary and higher education.

● 18.9% social return to investment in education from primary school across the world.

● 26.6% private return to investment in education from primary school across the world.

Successes●Nepal, through direct investment, is ensuring that 90% of

students live within 30 minutes of school. Mongolia has also ensured that rural children are being cared for through “tent schools”.

● To overcome language barriers, states like Bolivia have introduced education in other languages for the indigenous populations.

● UN Population Fund in Ethiopia supports a program called “Berhane Hewan” that gives girls a female sheep when she fully completes her primary education.

Case Study● “Annual Status of Education Report 2011”● Done by local organizations and citizens for past 7 years● Focuses on children in rural India ● The government took up a specific program to improve

basic reading and numeracy

Case Study Findings●While student enrollment in rural India has risen to

96.7% in 2011, the level of education received has declined, including basic reading, arithmetic and academic levels.

●Sharp increase in enrollment in private schools from 18.7% to 25.6% in 2011 between children 6-14 years old.

● The number of girls out of school has seen a sharp decrease. The region of Rajasthan, for example, shows an 18.9% to 8.9% decline of out of school girls.

More Findings●Reading levels have gone down in northern states, but

have remained about the same in their southern counterparts.

●Basic arithmetic levels are also estimated to be down. Children at class 3 who were able to solve 2 digit subtraction with borrowing has dropped from 36.3% in 2010 to 29.9% in 2011. This same problem was found in class 5 children who dropped from 70% to 61%. Overall, only three regions showed improvements in 2011: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Case Study Conclusions

● Textbooks need to be updated.

●Realistic outcomes need to be created in relation to MDG 2.

●Outcomes need to be specialized on a state by state basis within India.

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGGFByWL3Yk

Video #2

https://www.facebook.com/tagroomdaily/videos/668868253230038/?pnref=story

Schools Around the World

Group Discussion1. How could improving education help reach the MDG researched by

your group? 2. What is the best way to improve education worldwide?3. What do you think are some of the challenges associated with fully

achieving this MDG?4. What is the best way to hold countries accountable for educating

their people?5. Is this MDG (Achieving Universal Primary Education) realistic? Why

or why not?6. What do you need to start a school from nothing?-- (What things

would you have to consider in order to achieve this MDG in a rural poverty stricken area?)

References

http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/education.shtmlhttp://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/mdgoverview/mdg_goals/mdg2.htmlhttp://www.worldbank.org/mdgs/education.htmlhttp://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.324.aspx.pdfhttp://www.wfuna.org/mdg-universal-education#2015https://www.worldbank.org/html/extdr/mdgassessment.pdfhttp://www.wfuna.org/mdg-universal-education#Casestudy