1 The Out-of-School Children Initiative

Out-of-School Children Initiative

Despite dramatic improvements during the past decade, progress towards achieving universal primary education has stagnated, as deeply entrenched structural inequities continue to keep children out of school.

As of 2011, more than 57 million children were still denied the right to primary education, and nearly half of them will probably never enter a classroom.

Further progress must be made to give all children the opportunity to enrol in school at the appropriate age and to reduce the rate at which children drop out of school before reaching the last grade of primary education.

Number Of Out-Of-SchOOl childreN by regiON, 2000–2011

2000 2005 2011

All childreN iN SchOOl by 2015

uNicef ANd the uNeScO iNStitute fOr StAtiSticS

37.8Sub-Saharan Africa*

South and West Asia

Rest of world

49% never entered school

Out Of the 57 milliON childreN NOt iN SchOOl:

23% dropped out

28% started late

70.5 million 57.1 millionGlobal: 102 million

20.314.9

23.5

40.6

* Includes Eastern and Southern Africa, and West and Central Africa. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics database

32.8

17.4 12.4

29.8

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2 The Out-of-School Children Initiative The Out-of-School Children Initiative 3

the five dimeNSiONS Of excluSiON

the Out-of-School Children Initiative’s approach

Linking these profiles to the barriers and bottlenecks that lead to exclusion.

Country and regional studies of children out of school use the ‘Five Dimensions of Exclusion’ model illustrated below. The model encompasses the pre-primary, primary and lower-secondary school levels and includes both children who are currently out of school and those who are at risk

By applying the Five Dimensions of Exclusion model, the country studies generate detailed profiles of children out of school and identify the overlapping factors that increase their risk of exclusion. These factors might, for example, include being a girl, living in a remote rural area, coming from a minority ethnic group or multiple combinations. The results of this analysis provide valuable insights into which children are at the greatest risk of dropping out.

The model also enables linkages to be made between the profiles of children out of school and the barriers and bottlenecks that have led to their exclusion. Barriers and bottlenecks typically include limitations in the ‘supply’ of education, such as a shortage of teachers, or weaknesses in the ‘demand’ for education, such as a cultural bias against girls. Obstacles may also appear at the political level, such as an inadequate allocation of the national budget to education.

Once these barriers and bottlenecks have been identified, country studies can then develop targeted proposals to address them. In many cases, these proposals involve measures that are often considered to be outside the education sector, such as cash transfer programmes or a ban on child marriage.

dimeNSiON 1

Not in pre- primary school

dimeNSiON 2

dimeNSiON 4

dimeNSiON 3

dimeNSiON 5

Attended but dropped out

Attended but dropped out

Will enter later

Will enter later

Will never enter

Will never enter

Developing comprehensive profiles of excluded children using consistent and innova-tive statistical methods.

1)

2)

3) Identifying, promoting and implementing sound policies that address exclusion from a multi-sectorial perspective.

pre-primary age children

Out Of SchOOl

iN SchOOlSchOOl exPOSure Of Out-Of-SchOOl childreN Of PrimAry SchOOl Age by regiON, 2011

18

43

7

7

20

9

6

23

36

25

46

35

48

78

56

41

28

17

57

11

58

46

3

36

53

49

47

Left school (%)

Likely to enter school in the future (%)

Unlikely to ever enter school (%)

Sub-Saharan Africa (29.8 m)*

South and West Asia (12.4 m) East Asia and the Pacific (5.1 m)

Arab States (4.6 m)

Latin America and the Carribean (2.7 m)North America and Western Europe (1.2 m)Central and Eastern Europe (0.7 m)

Central Asia (0.3 m)

World (57.2 m)

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Who and where are the children out of school

The Five Dimensions of Exclusion model represents an innovative and equity-focused approach that provides a rich source of information not only on the children out of school and at risk of dropping out, but also on what measures need to be taken to ensure that all children complete at least a full course of good-quality basic education.

Around 52 per cent of out-of-school children live in sub-Saharan Africa and another 22 per cent live in South and West Asia. In both regions, girls are less likely to enrol than boys. Children from poor households, rural areas or ethnic minorities, children with disabilities, and children who must work to help their families face the greatest risk of being denied their right to education. Fifty per cent of out-of-school children live in conflict-affected countries, where they are at higher risk of being marginalized.

The Global Initiative on Out-of-School Children was launched in 2010 by UNICEF and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. The goal of the Initiative is to make a significant and sustainable reduction in the number of children who are out of school around the world by:

of dropping out. Within the second and third dimensions, the model makes a distinction between children who will never go to school, those who have been to school but dropped out before completion, and those who will enter school late.

cONtiNued: the OOSci’S APPrOAch

primary age children

primary school students

At risk of dropping out of primary school

At risk of dropping out of lower secondary school

lower secondary age children

lower secondary students

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) database.

* out-of-school children in million

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4 The Out-of-School Children Initiative The Out-of-School Children Initiative 5

Achieving results

central and eastern europe and the commonwealth of independent States Kyrgyzstan, Romania, Tajikistan, Turkey

east Asia and the Pacific Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Timor-Leste

eastern and Southern Africa Ethiopia, Mozambique, South Sudan (Republic of), Zambia

latin America and the caribbean Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Colombia, Mexico

middle east and North Africa Morocco, Sudan

South Asia Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka

West and central Africa Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria

IN WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA, overage enrolment is leading to high dropout rates, so partners are looking at options to support children’s enrolment at the appropriate age, including building on efforts to improve birth regis-tration. The 2012 report for Ghana reveals that children in the poor and sparsely populated north are four times more likely to be out of school than their peers who live in more affluent regions. UNICEF’s response draws on the sophisticated Simulations for Equity in Education tool, which shows that relatively small changes in financing would have a significant impact on enrolment and retention. It was estimated that less expensive in-service training for teachers in marginalized areas of Ghana could lead to 87,000 additional children passing the national learning exam, compared to 61,000 passing the exam after more expensive pre-service training.

IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN, elementary school students and adolescents who must repeat grades are much more likely to drop out. Partners are advocating for a policy of automatic promotion, including scaling up successful campaigns to help children develop reading skills at the right age.

IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE AND THE COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES, children with disabilities and Roma children were identified as being particularly disadvantaged in terms of access to education and learning achievement. Partners are working to identify the next steps for improving access and achievement among children who have been excluded.

IN SOUTH ASIA, the magnitude of the number of children still out of school has prompted countries to look closely into expanding pathways to basic education. In Bangladesh, policymakers are devoting more resources to the Second Chance Education programme and are working to make the formal education system more flexible. In Pakistan, there are plans to promote public-private partnerships and to expand community schools in remote areas.

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In participating countries, the Out-of-School Children Initiative starts with a statistical analysis of household survey data to derive detailed profiles of children who are not in school. These profiles provide richer information than is usually available from ministries of education. They make it possible to identify the key barriers that are keeping children out of school or pushing them out before they have completed a full course of basic education.

The Initiative’s studies enable governments to make targeted changes in their policies and strategies to eliminate these barriers and increase the number of children in school. In addition to assisting with both the identification and implementation of these measures, the Initiative contributes to monitoring progress and evaluating their impact.

i

teN cOuNtry Or regiONAl rePOrtS hAve beeN PubliShed by the iNitiAtive. reliAble dAtA geNerAted frOm the StudieS Are AlreAdy ShOWiNg reSultS iN mAPPiNg treNdS ANd guidiNg POlicymAkerS ON hOW ANd Where tO fOcuS their AtteNtiON. fOr exAmPle:

SiNce 2010, 26 cOuNtrieS hAve JOiNed the iNitiAtive

eNter

The Out-of-School Children Initiative 6

2014 and beyond

To read the Initiative’s country and regional reports – and to find out more about this effective approach towards bringing all children into school please visit: www.unicef.org/education and www.uis.unesco.org/education

or contract directly: Mark Waltham (UNICEF) mwaltham@unicef.orgAlbert Motivans (UIS) a.motivans@unesco.org

+15 +15 new countries will join the initiative.

A global report to provide comprehensive data on out-of- school children and serve as a tool for advocacy

develop and disseminate an operational manual to enhance the capacities of country teams to conduct their own analyses.

Advocate to ensure political commitment to reducingthe number of out of school children

The Out-of-School Children Initiative encourages countries around the world to join with those who are already participating.

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Supported by a grant from the Global Partnership for Education, the second phase of the Initiative is already under way, building on the lessons learned so far and positioning the Initiative to play a vital role in addressing priority objectives around equity.

This phase will include more effort on advocacy. It will continue to focus on generating robust evidence through country and regional analyses, and using it to build the political commitment needed to make the necessary reforms to reduce the number of children out of school. During this phase the Initiative will encourage more countries to join the partnership.

A global report by the Initiative will provide an authoritative source of information on children out of school and will serve as a tool for advocacy. The methodology used during the first phase will be presented in an operational manual to enhance the capacity of country teams to conduct their own analyses. The use of such tools as Simulations for Equity in Education will be expanded to help assess the likely impact of changes in policy and strategy. The Initiative will continue to assist with reforms in the original partner countries as well as expand to cover additional countries.

©The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), January 2014