Poor performance on education MDG in region blamed on poverty, governance

Standard One pupils at Moro Municipal Primary School in Tanzania. The number of children being enrolled in schools in the five EAC states has increased. PHOTO | THE CITIZEN |  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By CONSTANTINE MUGANYIZI, TEA Special Correspondent

In Summary

• With an Education for All (EFA) development index (EDI) score of less than 0.80, the five EAC members, like most sub-Saharan African states are still far from reaching the goal.
• Unesco says that although progress has been made globally, only a third of the countries in the world have met all the measurable EFA targets and one half of them have not reached the most watched goal of Universal Primary Education.
• In addition to poverty, Unesco says barriers to education include children’s gender, caste, ethnic and linguistic background as well as disability, geographical location and livelihood.

East African Community member states will not achieve the UN Education for All (EFA) goal set 15 years ago, due to bad governance, inadequate investment and high poverty levels among other reasons.

With an EFA development index (EDI) score of less than 0.80, the five EAC members, like most sub-Saharan African states are still far from reaching the goal.

However, none of them features on the list of poor performers, which comprises Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Pakistan.

According to Unesco’s 2015 EFA Global Monitoring Report, the EAC and the whole of Africa has performed dismally in delivering this goal.

Unesco says that although progress has been made globally, only a third of the countries in the world have met all the measurable EFA targets and one half of them have not reached the most watched goal of Universal Primary Education.

“None of the countries in the EAC have achieved all six measurable goals needed to reach Education for All. The overall performance of the countries is mixed and reflects an uneven progress seen throughout sub-Saharan Africa,” Kate Redman, a Unesco communications and advocacy specialist told The EastAfrican.

Despite the poor showing, three EAC countries — Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania — are among seven sub-Saharan African countries that have met or will meet the universal primary education target. The others are Sao Tome and Principe, Zambia, Mauritius and Cape Verde.

Tanzania has already fully attained the goal and so has Rwanda, with a score of 99 per cent. Burundi is among countries expected to make it before the expiry of the 2015 deadline.

“Sixteen of the 20 lowest ranked countries in progress towards Education for All are in sub-Saharan Africa. Only seven countries in the region achieved even the most watched goal of Universal Primary Enrolment, leaving 30 million children out of school in 2012,” Ms Redman said.

Tanzania is also in the group of five countries — Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, India and Nepal —which Unesco says have worked hardest to meet the literacy targets. Ms Redman said Tanzania has in the past 15 years doubled its primary enrolment to be able to achieve universal education.

Kenya and Uganda are projected to be far from the target with a score of less than 80 per cent. However, the proportion of children reaching the end of primary school in Kenya increased from 42 per cent in 2000 to 62 per cent in 2007 and improved further in the subsequent years.

“Uganda managed to increase enrolment and reduce drop outs (especially of girls and children in rural areas) by reducing school fees but survival rates to the last grade in primary education have still decreased by at least 20 per cent since 1999,” Ms Redman said.

Several reasons are given for the region’s overall poor showing — among them corruption, political violence and inadequate investment. For example, while Kenya’s growth in spending on education exceeded its economic growth, the Unesco official said bad governance made it lose $48 million of education funding during the 15-year period.

Lack of optimal financing is another decisive factor. Unesco says an extra $22 billion a year is needed on top of already ambitious government contributions in order to ensure that the world achieves the new global education targets being set for the year 2030.

“While governments and donors have increased their spending on education in sub-Saharan Africa, the lack of adequate, equitable and sustainable financing has been a major obstacle to achieving EFA in the region.”

East African Community member states will not achieve the UN Education for All (EFA) goal set 15 years ago, due to bad governance, inadequate investment and high poverty levels among other reasons.

With an EFA development index (EDI) score of less than 0.80, the five EAC members, like most sub-Saharan African states are still far from reaching the goal.

However, none of them features on the list of poor performers, which comprises Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Pakistan.

According to Unesco’s 2015 EFA Global Monitoring Report, the EAC and the whole of Africa has performed dismally in delivering this goal.

Unesco says that although progress has been made globally, only a third of the countries in the world have met all the measurable EFA targets and one half of them have not reached the most watched goal of Universal Primary Education.

“None of the countries in the EAC have achieved all six measurable goals needed to reach Education for All. The overall performance of the countries is mixed and reflects an uneven progress seen throughout sub-Saharan Africa,” Kate Redman, a Unesco communications and advocacy specialist told The EastAfrican.

Despite the poor showing, three EAC countries — Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania — are among seven sub-Saharan African countries that have met or will meet the universal primary education target. The others are Sao Tome and Principe, Zambia, Mauritius and Cape Verde.

Tanzania has already fully attained the goal and so has Rwanda, with a score of 99 per cent. Burundi is among countries expected to make it before the expiry of the 2015 deadline.

“Sixteen of the 20 lowest ranked countries in progress towards Education for All are in sub-Saharan Africa. Only seven countries in the region achieved even the most watched goal of Universal Primary Enrolment, leaving 30 million children out of school in 2012,” Ms Redman said.

Tanzania is also in the group of five countries — Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, India and Nepal —which Unesco says have worked hardest to meet the literacy targets. Ms Redman said Tanzania has in the past 15 years doubled its primary enrolment to be able to achieve universal education.

Kenya and Uganda are projected to be far from the target with a score of less than 80 per cent. However, the proportion of children reaching the end of primary school in Kenya increased from 42 per cent in 2000 to 62 per cent in 2007 and improved further in the subsequent years.

“Uganda managed to increase enrolment and reduce drop outs (especially of girls and children in rural areas) by reducing school fees but survival rates to the last grade in primary education have still decreased by at least 20 per cent since 1999,” Ms Redman said.

Several reasons are given for the region’s overall poor showing — among them corruption, political violence and inadequate investment. For example, while Kenya’s growth in spending on education exceeded its economic growth, the Unesco official said bad governance made it lose $48 million of education funding during the 15-year period.

Lack of optimal financing is another decisive factor. Unesco says an extra $22 billion a year is needed on top of already ambitious government contributions in order to ensure that the world achieves the new global education targets being set for the year 2030.

“While governments and donors have increased their spending on education in sub-Saharan Africa, the lack of adequate, equitable and sustainable financing has been a major obstacle to achieving EFA in the region.”