Breaking the Cycle of Disparityin Education

Khalida Ahmad Education Specialist,

UNICEF,

Statement

Researches • Research proves that human capital formation plays

a significant role in a country’s overall economic development.

• Universal primary education give countries the human capital boost necessary to bring large segments of the population out of poverty.

• A single year of primary school increases the wages people earn later in life by 5-15%. For each additional year of

• Secondary school, an individual's wages increase by 15-25%.

Study and Researches

• With quality education makes people better citizen.

• Education help citizen elect more effective leaders.

• And reduces extremism• 90% believe education prepare for future

employment.• Appetite for education is growing (86%)• Change is faster for girls with (56%)

It is a constitutional right of all children ( girls, boys, rural, urban, remote and living in most disadvantaged geographical areas: desert, high mountains) to quality education .Pakistan has signed three key international documents:

Millennium Development Goals 2 & 3; Education for All and Convention on the Rights of Children

Nation State are accountable to report on the progress and take policy level action in reducing the gap.

Critical for improving life skills for empowerment and development.

Equity Challenge in Education Very significant gaps remain in basic education coverage, predominately among children from the poorest households, in rural and remote areas, and from socially excluded groups.

About 25 million children of school age going (4- 16) currently do not attend primary and secondary schools.

Missing out enormous benefits such education, health, economics, women's empowerment, and basic human dignity.

Underlining Causes Two main reasons are:

•Our society is characterized by a high degree of hierarchy and patriarchal structures.

•Social and cultural determined gender norms embedded in the institution of families and communities.

•Above norms can act as barriers

Land Scape of Education

• Access to Education is exceedingly unevenly distributed.

• 20% of students receive seven years more education than the poor students

• 30% of Pakistan live in the extreme educational poverty – receive less than two years of education.

Some Questions

• Why in your experience equal number of girls and boys are being enrolled in your area?

• Why there are less public schools for girls?• Why mobility of female teachers is difficult in

rural areas?• Why still there are only limited number of

women are in decision making positions?

Pattern of Inequalities • Inequalities related health at family and state levels • Food distribution; • Nurturing by family members;• Education services provided by state and demand by

communities; • Protection in the immediate and extended

environment;• In adolescence girls’ mobility and economic

opportunity are restricted by customs, tradition, child labour, and marriages;

• Legal laws that protect women not being applied

Education Statistics of Public Sector • Female

• 55 % women are illiterate; 70 – 80 % illiteracy in rural and remote areas.

• 258, 577 female teacher

• 23 girls Professional collages

• 263 women PhD

• Male • 31 % are illiterate • Remote illiterate

exist for boys. • 413,729 male

teacher.• 432 boys

professional colleges.

• 817 male PhD

What Can be DoneEquity-based approaches to education involve removing barriers to education, within and outside education systems, to provide equitable educational and learning opportunities for all.

Requires attention to excluded children by removingbarriers to girls’ education and expanding the support services available to girls, especially at secondary level, with particular attention to vulnerable girls.

Making Invisible Visible

Making the Invisible Visible in Statistics - Improving the ability to gather informationdisaggregated by gender, race and ethnicity, disability, age and other features associated withexclusion is a basic step for governments in promoting inclusion. Such information is critical for better program design and for more effective targeting and program evaluation.

Bottleneck Analysis

Bottleneck analysis in education: •to develop a country-level methodology for measuring disparities, •analyzing bottlenecks, •identifying cost-effective equity-focused strategies to reach the excluded and marginalized within education sector plans and reforms.

Teachers in Remote Areas

• Initiative on quality teachers for the marginalized: to develop guidance to countries to address the

• challenges around teacher recruitment, deployment and training for marginalized regions and

• groups. The work will be drawn from successful examples in 3 countries, initially.

School Readiness

School readiness and learning :•Supporting the adoption of policies and standards for early learning.

•Expanding the provision of early learning opportunities beyond formal center-based.

•Services, to target those who are excluded.

Barriers • Intensifying focus on removing barriers to girls’

education, including by providing scholarships,• cash transfers and eliminating user fees; expanding the

support for girls, • secondary level, and in particular for the most

vulnerable girls; and to accelerate interventions • support districts moving beyond gender parity towards

gender equity and the empowerment of girls and women.

• Social norms - The goal is to develop an analytical framework and guidance to countries on addressing social norms in relation to education and work on a strategy for gender empowerment.

• This effort will be undertaken within UNICEF’s cross-sectoral work on the issue.

Reaching the Un-reach Population

• Innovative strategies and multiple pathways to learning - Greater priority to the transition to post primary

• Basic and secondary education, vocational training and lifelong learning taking into

• Consideration the cost-effectiveness, equity and inclusiveness and transition from post-primary

• Education to the world of work. Particular emphasis on open and distance learning.

Appropriate Funding • Partnerships to ensure sustainability and

predictability of support and funding.• Education system by maintaining adequate

national education budgets.• Education aid programmes- supporting the

comprehensive reform of the Education• Fast Track Initiative (EFA-FTI) and exploring

innovative approaches to education• financing and in particular attention to

equitable allocation of resources.

Learning at School (other side) • Teachers and textbooks are the key determinant

of the quality. • 65% demand qualified teachers and 11% prefer

good facilities.• 15 -20% government teachers may not be in the

classroom.• 35% of school going children age 6-16 can read a

story.• Fewer than a third can answer simple

comprehension question after reading question.

Immediate Action • 220 days must be spent in schools / colleges in active

learning.• Teachers 1.5 have to enter classrooms well prepared in

facilitating different of learning processes.• Teaching and learning material have to be available for

students.• Guidance from parents is critical• Peer and group learning • Small research projects learning• Active participation in school / college/university.• Forms to improve immediate learning environment