Policy > The Challenge of Universal Primary Education

The Challenge of Universal Primary Education

Speech by The Rt Hon Clare Short, Secretary of State for International Development

Institute of Education, University of London, 13 March 2001

Education and development

This is a good place to launch a paper on the challenge of universal primary education. The Institute of Education has the longest and most sustained involvement in international education, research and training of any British university. And the work of Professor Angela Little and your Education and International Development Group contributed significantly to both the World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien in 1990 and the World Education Forum in Dakar last year.

As many of you will know, my Department - the Department for International Development - was established as a new and independent department in May 1997. This shift from the Overseas Development Administration (ODA) to DFID was more than just a change in name. The new Department was given cabinet status, and enhanced powers, analytical capacity and resources. It was a reflection of a much enhanced commitment to International Development.

In November 1997, we published our first White Paper, Eliminating World Poverty, A Challenge for the 21st Century. After years in which development policy was distorted to serve short-term political and commercial interests, the UK Government was committed to focus all our development effort on reducing extreme poverty and on mobilising the international system to achieve the International Development Targets.

These targets were agreed by the governments of the world at a series of UN conferences in the 1990s. They include halving the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by 2015, reduction in child infant and maternal mortality, sustainable development plans in every country to reverse the loss of environmental resources, and - the main focus of my speech today - universal primary education. Every boy and girl in high-quality primary education by 2015.

In December last year, the Government published its second White Paper on development - "Eliminating World Poverty: Making Globalisation Work for the Poor". This stands alongside the first, and sets out a policy agenda for managing globalisation in a way that is equitable and sustainable, and in a way that allows us to make faster progress in the reduction of world poverty.

One of the key, if unsurprising, conclusions of this paper is that a well-educated population is essential if countries are to reap the benefits of globalisation.

Education and skills are the commanding heights of the modern global economy. Globalisation - and the growth of knowledge-based systems of production - is both increasing the rewards for education and the costs of exclusion from it. If globalisation is to work for poor people, increased investment in education and skills is essential.

And that starts at the primary level. The evidence is very clear. High quality primary education is a precondition of both personal and national development. As Graca Machel has put it, 'I have seen how one year of school changes a child…But I have also seen how a generation of children armed with education lift up a nation.'

The challenge of universal primary education

But huge numbers of children today - girls and boys - are still prevented from taking this step. International education data is poor. But it is estimated that 113 million children are not enrolled in school - of which 60% are girls. Nearly 40 countries report net primary enrolment levels below 80%. Almost half of all African children and one-quarter of those in south and west Asia are being denied this opportunity. And this failure over decades explains the huge numbers of illiterate adults - some 900 million over the age of 15 cannot read or write, one sixth of the world's population.

The main message of our strategy paper is that we must - as a priority - address this challenge; that the target of Universal Primary Education by 2015 must be achieved, and that it can be if the lessons of the past are learned and if we put in place the right policies. This was the message too from the World Education Forum in Dakar in April last year. At Dakar, 180 governments, as well as international institutions and civil society re-affirmed their commitment to achieving Universal Primary Education by 2015 and to eliminating gender disparity in education by 2005. And in its Framework for Action it set out a range of proposals for achieving this.

Today, I want to spell out how the UK Government is making its contribution to the achievement of these goals.

Our strategy paper identifies twelve key priorities for action. In this speech, I want to focus on just four: political commitment and the mobilisation of resources, combating educational exclusion, addressing education in its wider development context, and harnessing technology. I then want to look briefly at education beyond primary - at the challenge of promoting education at the higher levels and at the spreading of skills.

Political will and the mobilisation of resources

The first and most important requirement for faster progress towards UPE is greater political commitment - by governments in developing countries, by development agencies, international institutions and civil society.

Governments of developing countries have the main responsibility for formulating and implementing strategies for Universal Primary Education and gender equality. Indeed, the Dakar Framework for Action called on all countries to put these strategies in place by 2002. This is essential. Where there is no will from the government locally, external intervention cannot make up for this. Conversely, where the political commitment is there, real progress is possible, as countries like Uganda and Malawi have shown. In both countries, there have been huge increases in primary enrolment levels in recent years, and real attempts to improve the quality of education.

One of the tests of political commitment is of course the allocation of adequate resources to the primary and basic education sector and ensuring these are used effectively. In many of the countries with poor levels of primary school enrolment and performance, government education expenditure is skewed markedly towards the upper levels of the system, levels dominated by high-income elites. In Africa, for example, there are some countries, where the public subsidy for a university student is 100 times that of a primary school pupil.

Elites are often very powerful in poor countries. And the voice of the urban elite demanding access to higher education usually outweighs that of the rural poor to see their children in school. Achieving UPE by 2015 requires a fundamental shift in these priorities, including finding new ways of funding higher education which improve equity and put less strain on scarce government resources.

This requirement for greater political will and for increased resources also applies to development agencies. While in recent years the emphasis on primary education has increased, for much of the last three decades, development agency support for the tertiary sector has outstripped support for primary and basic education. This too needs to change.

At Dakar, it was agreed that 'no countries seriously committed to Education for All should be thwarted in their achievement of this goal by lack of resources'. The UK Government for its part has committed over £500 million to support the development of primary education since 1997. Since Dakar, we have made major new investments in UPE, allocating £22 million to South Africa, £61 million to Malawi and £13 million to Rwanda. Out of an expanding aid budget - set to rise to £3.6 billion by 2003 - we stand ready to do more. Where countries have good education strategies in place, we are prepared to increase our investment.

We hope very much that other development agencies and international institutions will similarly increase their efforts, and refocus their education support on this sector.

Of course, the way in which these resources are used is crucially important. Our aim is not to support isolated education projects which crumble when external funding comes to an end. Instead, we want to work with governments, with their ministries of education and finance, and to help them put in place sector-wide education strategies. Not supplanting governments, but enabling the government to provide high-quality primary education for all their children. Not us coming in to build schools, print books, and determine curricula, but strengthening the capacity of governments to do these things. This is the only basis for a sustainable education system in the medium and longer-term.

David I imagine that SoS will wish to look at the above para carefully. Barrie is meeting with Treasury on Friday. The announcement has raised expectations and confusion.
Combating educational exclusion

A second key priority is to address the various obstacles that exclude children - disproportionately girls, and invariably the poorest and most marginalised - from attending primary school, and from staying at school.

One of the main barriers is cost. Even when education is nominally free, some direct costs are often passed on in the form of charges for books, uniforms, exams and transport. These direct costs can reach up to 20% of a family's income, making it unaffordable to many. That's why the UK Government has a very clear policy that primary education should be free. As we say in our latest White Paper, 'no child should be denied access to a basic education, because they or their parents or guardians cannot pay for it'. And that is why we will continue to argue against user fees and to work to reduce the financial barriers that exclude large numbers of the poorest children.

In tackling educational exclusion, an overwhelming priority is the cultural and political barriers that deny educational opportunity to girls. While these barriers differ between countries, there are some common themes. Patriarchal systems of social organisation, a high value on women's reproductive role linked to customary early marriage and pregnancy, legal inequalities, the lack of female teachers and role models, and limited job opportunities for women. Where decisions to send children to school are weighed against labour contributions, girls are often the last to be sent to school and the first to be withdrawn. Violence and the absence of safe transport, separate latrines and safe sanitation are also important factors that cause large numbers of girls to be excluded.

We must urgently implement the target of achieving gender equality in education and do more to challenge the barriers that stifle education opportunities for girls. This is both a moral and economic imperative. The evidence is now overwhelming: investing in the education of girls is the best single investment in development any country can make.

Tackling educational exclusion also means addressing the issue of child labour. There are an estimated 250 million child labourers worldwide. They come from the poorest - usually female headed - families. Addressing this problem requires serious long-term strategies.

There are those who argue for imposing trade sanctions against countries with child labour and should call for consumers to boycott their products. But this would harm not help the children concerned - throwing them into greater poverty and desperation.

Instead we need to work to create conditions that allow children to move out of work and into school. We need to support improved livelihoods for their parents or more usually mothers, so that they are no longer so dependent on their children's income. And we need, as an absolute priority, to work with the International Labour Organisation to eradicate the worst and most abusive forms of child labour, such as slave and bonded labour.

The access and inclusion of all children cannot be separated from the need to improve the quality of education. Many children, particularly those from the poorest households, drop out of school or fail to enrol as a direct result of poor quality schooling. Parents will be unwilling to invest in their children's education unless they are convinced of its quality and level. In sub-Saharan Africa, it is estimated that up to 60% of children leave primary school functionally illiterate. This is a waste of human potential, and a waste of scarce resources. That's why action on enrolment and retention needs to go hand in hand with action to improve the quality and relevance of the education provided. This means more effective teacher training, better managed buildings, appropriate and stimulating textbooks and more support for head teachers.

Another major barrier to education is violent conflict. While it is difficult to give precise figures, a significant number of those 113 million children not in primary school are living in countries that have been or are disrupted by war. Schools are often targeted and teachers put at risk in conflict situations. Widespread and severe conflict may also result in the collapse of formal education systems.

We should not pretend that we can construct effective country-wide education systems - or indeed any other kind of country-wide public service - in societies wracked by violence and war. Of course, where we can, we should and do take action to make educational provision available to children in these circumstances. And there may be some parts of the country, less affected by war, where normal schooling can continue. We should also use what opportunities we have to use education as a way of fostering inter-community dialogue and peace-building. But the real task for all of us is to get better at conflict resolution, to create the conditions of peace and security on which development depends.

Addressing education in its wider development context

Priority number three is to link our approach to education to our wider development effort, to our policies on health, sanitation, livelihoods and rural transport. Countries cannot and will not secure universal primary education by focusing exclusively on the education sector.

This is demonstrated most dramatically by the issue of HIV/AIDS. This is having a devastating impact on poor people, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, but also increasingly in Asia, Latin America and Russia. Where traditional community safety nets are disrupted, children may become heads of household or be kept at home to care for sick family members. Where attendance at school is possible it is likely to be disrupted, and there is clear evidence that attendance rates are in decline, particularly of girls. High sickness levels and death among the teaching force is also a growing problem in many countries. Zambia, for example, lost 1,300 teachers from AIDS in the first 10 months of 1998, more than two-thirds of the number of all new teachers trained that year.

However, primary education can also play a key role in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS and coping with its effects. It can promote behaviour that reduces the risk of infection. The experience of Thailand and Uganda shows that government commitment to take action on HIV/AIDS education can be instrumental in slowing the spread. Again, we need to learn from these successes.

Addressing education within its wider development context also means situating support for education within the context of countries' poverty reduction strategies.

As some of you will know, there have been important shifts in development thinking in recent years, including on the part of the international financial institutions: the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Although this shift in approach was first adopted for heavily indebted countries as part of the heavily indebted poor countries initiative (HIPC), it goes wider than debt. And it will be implemented in HIPC and other poor countries.

Under the new arrangements, governments are developing national poverty reduction strategies, openly discussed and agreed with their people. At the same time, development agencies are increasingly seeking to co-ordinate their aid efforts and to provide aid direct into government budgets in support of nationally agreed poverty reduction strategies. We must ensure that universal primary education is central to all these strategies.

Harnessing technology

Priority number four relates to the harnessing of technology. While technology is not a panacea, we must work to ensure that the developing countries have access to the new technologies which are transforming the world. There is a role for information and communication technology in supporting widening access to education.

Tony Blair will shortly be announcing proposals on his education initiative, known as Imfundo: Partnership for IT in Education. This is a new kind of public/private partnership dedicated to finding new ways to enhance educational opportunity in developing countries, with a particular focus on sub-Saharan Africa. The initiative has been developed in partnership with Cisco, Marconi and Virgin.

Imfundo will promote the use of information and communications technologies such as radio, satellite, computers and the internet to support teacher training, professional development and support, and the management of education systems - drawing on the knowledge, skills and resources of the private sector. And in the process it will help to improve the quality of primary education.

Beyond Primary Education

Our new White Paper argues that sustainable economic development requires a range of analytical, technical, scientific and managerial knowledge and skills. Universal primary education is essential, to provide the critical foundation of basic skills, including literacy and numeracy. This is why my Department has made UPE the main focus of our education support.

But we also recognise that primary education alone is not enough. As more children graduate from primary education, the demand for secondary increases. As more children are in school, more teachers are needed. Effective modern governments require trained healthcare workers, book-keepers, lawyers, police and armed forces. For the economy to grow, accountants and IT skills are needed. For the poorest to benefit from economic growth, they need to be functionally literate.

We are currently reviewing where the second major thrust of our education work should concentrate. I am, myself, drawn to the need to develop systems of distance learning that provide training flexibly in all the skill areas. I am also keen that we should focus on the skills needed for development, especially the skills needs of the poorest. This work will be taken forward over the next few months and we will look for opportunities to share our thinking and draw on ideas and experience beyond the Department.

Conclusion

I want to conclude by bringing you back to the issue of primary education for all. While we support a balanced approach to the expansion of education, UPE will remain our main focus.

It is the key which can unlock and unleash human potential. The essential investment that can transform people's lives, and equip them to transform their communities and countries.

The prize is very great. Just think of it - within a generation we have the capacity as an international community to remove basic illiteracy from the human condition. This strategy paper sets out our proposals for achieving this goal. I hope it will stimulate debate and discussion. Above all, I hope it will galvanise us all to greater action - to do what needs to be done to secure high-quality primary education for all the world's children.