Better Prelim.pmd 1 28/09/2005, 1:53 PM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Artworks in this book are illustrated by children of Port Moresby Cover Page: Helen Ava, 8 Chapters: 1 Francis Vincent, 8 2 Toby Titus, 6 3 Frank Eme, 12 4 Edward Parker, 14 5 Priscilla Alphonse (NGO Six Mile) 6 Tom Loka, 15 © 2005 Asian Development Bank All rights reserved. Published 2005. Printed in the Philippines. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available. Publication Stock No. 051105 ISBN: 971-561-583-X The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the view or policies of the Asian Development Bank or its Board of Governors or the governments they represent. The Asian Development Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. Use of the term “country” does not imply any judgment by the authors or the Asian Development Bank as to the legal or other status of any territorial entity. ii Better Prelim.pmd 2 28/09/2005, 1:53 PM Contents Acknowledgments This paper was prepared by Kowsar P. Chowdhury of the Pacific Department of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) under the overall guidance and direction of Robert Y. Siy, Jr., Peter N. King, and Indu Bhushan. Adriaan Verspoor provided valuable assistance with the final draft. Grace Mak was involved at an earlier stage. The paper draws on extensive analytical work done both within and outside ADB. We gratefully acknowledge the many thoughtful discussions with various public and private agencies and individuals from Pacific developing member countries. These included government officials, public and private schools and colleges, nongovernment organizations, and church groups in the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. The important information and deep insights we gained from them, together with their thoughtful comments on the final draft, have proven invaluable. We thank our development partners for their extensive comments and the information they generously provided, especially the Australian Agency for International Development and the New Zealand Agency for International Development, as well as those working with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and the Pacific Regional Initiatives for the Delivery of Basic Education. Constructive feedback from colleagues in ADB was very useful and helped shape the paper during its final stages of preparation. Special thanks go to Judy Goldman for editing and editorial advice; Ophie Iriberri for proofreading; Anna Melissa Dayrit for preparing annexes, graphs, and references; Cecile Sarfati for web posting, and Gladdys Santos-Nave for overall administrative assistance. Finally, we thank the Office of External Relations at ADB for making the artwork from If I Had the Chance: Artwork from the Streets of Asia and the Pacific available for this publication. We are especially iii Better Prelim.pmd 3 28/09/2005, 1:53 PM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy grateful to the child artists from Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea whose artworks appear on these pages. We are happy that these children have another chance to share their dreams with those who can help ensure those dreams are realized. iv Better Prelim.pmd 4 28/09/2005, 1:53 PM Contents Foreword Progress in education has been remarkable in almost all countries of the Pacific in the last few decades, yet daunting challenges remain. While there has been tremendous success in ensuring access to basic education, the results have not been equally distributed within and across countries. Wide variations exist in Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Even in countries where access to basic education is no longer an issue, quality and equity remain dominant policy concerns. Many students do not acquire the learning skills they need as productive adults in an increasingly competitive world. Children of poor parents, especially those living in rural areas, often remain deprived of an equal opportunity to learn and thus of the prospect of a better future. Basic education remains a necessary first step in this process. Countries also need to build on this foundation to provide opportunities for further education and training to youth and adults who have already entered the workforce. This strategy paper suggests actions that can help countries in the region to address these challenges and describes the supporting role the Asian Development Bank (ADB) can play in working with governments and other partners. It presents an operational framework for ADB’s overall education strategy for the next five years, based on advice from government officials and colleagues in partner agencies. It is hoped the strategy will provide the basis for discussions among governments, church groups, nongovernment organizations, civil societies, regional organizations, and development partners so as to achieve a shared understanding of the nature of educational challenges and future roles for ADB and others. ADB is deeply committed to supporting educational development through policy advice, technical assistance, and lending operations in partnership with other agencies wherever possible. In implementing v Better Prelim.pmd 5 28/09/2005, 1:53 PM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy this strategy, ADB intends to actively explore and promote opportunities to collaborate with regional institutions. Government leadership is, of course, essential for developing a coherent framework for sector development and harmonization of donor procedures and thereby improving the effectiveness of external support to education. PHILIP ERQUIGA Director General Pacific Department vi Better Prelim.pmd 6 28/09/2005, 1:53 PM Contents Contents Acknowledgments iii Foreword v Abbreviations xi Executive Summary xiii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Background 1 Purpose and Process of the Strategy Paper 5 Chapter 2: Regional Context: Economic Performance and Challenges 8 Economic Growth and Poverty 8 Development Constraints 11 Chapter 3: Achievements and Challenges in Education and Training 14 Access 15 Quality 18 Internal Efficiency 23 Equity 25 Planning, Management, and Institutional Capacity 27 Financing Education 29 The Challenge of Education Development in Pacific Developing Member Countries 34 Chapter 4: External Assistance to Education 36 ADB’s Assistance to Education 36 Education Activities of Other Funding Agencies 38 Public/Private Partnerships 40 vii Better Prelim.pmd 7 28/09/2005, 1:53 PM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Chapter 5: Future Directions for Pacific Education and Training 42 Confronting the Challenge of Equitable Access and Quality 43 Transforming Resources into Results 46 Strengthen Capacity to Manage and Deliver the Education Service 48 Improving Relevance and Responsiveness of Sector Development Processes 53 Chapter 6 Conclusion: The Asian Development Bank’s Pacific Education and Training Sector Strategy 55 The Asian Development Bank’s Contribution to Education in the Pacific 55 Supporting Education Outcomes for the Poor 56 Strategic Focus 57 Implementing the Strategy 62 Partnership Arrangements 66 Internal Resource Requirements 67 Risks and Monitoring 68 Appendixes 1. Economic and Social Indicators 70 2. Enrollment and Literacy Rate 72 3. Education Expenditure 75 4. External Assistance to Education 77 5. Proposed ADB Education and Training Sector Activities, 2005–2007 84 6. Sector-Wide Approaches 85 7. The Association for the Development of Education in Africa 87 References 89 viii Better Prelim.pmd 8 28/09/2005, 1:53 PM Contents List of Boxes Box 1 Millennium Development Goals on Education 2 Box 2 Education and Poverty Reduction 3 BOX 3 Samoa: Addressing Access and Quality 43 Box 4 Strategic Priorities for Education Development that Pacific Developing Member Countries May Want to Consider of Students from the Three Schools at Malifa 45 Box 5 Restructuring the Education System in Papua New Guinea 49 Box 6 Information and Communication Technology and Improved Education Outcomes 52 Box 7 Features of the Sector-Wide Approach 54 Box 8 Education and Training Sector Strategy for Pacific Developing Member Countries 2005–2009 58 List of Tables Table 1 Cook Islands, Performance of Grade 4 Students on the Pacific Islands Literacy Level Tests 26 Table 2 ADB Lending and Technical Assistance Program 2005–2007 64 ix Better Prelim.pmd 9 28/09/2005, 1:53 PM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Figures Figure 1 Percentage of Children Who Never Enroll and Who Drop Out by Grade 5 in Selected Pacific Developing Member Countries 24 Figure 2 Primary and Secondary Gross Enrollment Rates by Gross National Income Per Capita in Selected PDMCs 32 x Better Prelim.pmd 10 28/09/2005, 1:53 PM Contents Abbreviations ADB Asian Development Bank ADEA Association for the Development of Education in Africa AusAID Australian Agency for International Development EFA education for all EU European Union FBEAP Forum Basic Education Action Plan FSM Federated States of Micronesia GDP gross domestic product GER gross enrollment rate GNI gross national income ICT information and communication technology MDG Millennium Development Goal NER net enrollment rate NGO nongovernment organization NZAID New Zealand Agency for International Development PARD Pacific Department PDMC Pacific developing member country of ADB PIFS Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat PNG Papua New Guinea PRIDE Pacific Regional Initiatives for the Delivery of Basic Education RMI Republic of the Marshall Islands TVET technical and vocational education and training SPBEA South Pacific Board of Educational Assessment STR student teacher ratio xi Better Prelim.pmd 11 28/09/2005, 1:53 PM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy SWAp sector-wide approach UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund US United States USP University of the South Pacific Note: In this report, “$” refers to US dollars. xii Better Prelim.pmd 12 28/09/2005, 1:53 PM Contents Executive Summary The Education and Training Sector Strategy for the Pacific provides a framework for Asian Development Bank (ADB) support to education development in its 14 Pacific developing member countries (PDMC). It reviews the implications of the “Pacific Strategy (2005-2009): Responding to the Priorities of the Poor” for the education sector and proposes to sharpen the focus and enhance the effectiveness of ADB support to education in the region. PDMCs have come a long way in their education development. Most are close to achieving universal primary education and universal literacy. Access to secondary education has increased remarkably in several countries. Many countries eliminated gender disparities at the primary level, and the gap is narrowing at the secondary level. PDMC governments have consistently sought improvements in their education systems. There is strong regional collaboration through meetings of the Pacific Islands Forum Ministers of Education. Yet, achievements are uneven. In the larger Melanesian countries, issues of access still loom large. They, as well as several Micronesian countries, also need to address problems of dropping out and of retention. All PDMCs are deeply concerned about the low quality of instruction and learning outcomes in many of their schools. Important and urgent questions are being asked about strategies for skills development at secondary and tertiary levels that can help support policy to further private sector development and to spur economic growth. When the quality of education is substandard, the poor are affected more. Hence, the poor should be the primary focus of education policy and public action. Their children should have an equal opportunity to complete the basic education cycle with mastery of the curriculum. It is not surprising that where education is of poor quality, expensive, and far from home, demand is low. Access to high quality basic education will go a long way toward resolving demand problems and disengagement from education among disadvantaged groups. But even a high-quality basic education will not suffice to support national development aspirations, especially not in middle-income xiii Better Prelim.pmd 13 28/09/2005, 1:53 PM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy countries. Students who complete basic education seek opportunities for further learning and skills development. Many will want to continue their general education in upper secondary schools. Others want to enter skills development programs. All should be ready to pursue their education throughout their working lives and beyond. Providing these opportunities in a way that is financially sustainable and responsive to national development needs and to personal aspirations is a goal of education policy that few countries will be able to ignore. Policy reform is often at the heart of education development. Where governments have implemented the right policies, performance is better. Where strong institutions support these policies, progress will be continuous. Where resources are allocated efficiently and used effectively, the results can be sustained. Designing and implementing an appropriate national sector policy framework and investment program, monitoring progress toward development objectives, and evaluating the lessons of experience are essential elements of successful education development. Small countries with few education specialists often find this difficult to accomplish. PDMCs are fortunate that they can call on significant support from development partners as they tackle this task. Effective education service delivery requires policies that ensure that resources are used efficiently and are deployed equitably. This is especially important in those PDMCs where high levels of expenditure have not resulted in improved student performance. Progress in education development will depend on the implementation of policies that: • confront the challenges of equitable access and quality; • transform resources into results; • strengthen capacity to manage and deliver the education service; • improve relevance and responsiveness of sector development processes. ADB is committed to supporting PDMCs in their efforts to improve the supply of and demand for high quality education services. ADB recognizes that it is only one of several development agencies that actively support education development in the Pacific region, that its xiv Better Prelim.pmd 14 28/09/2005, 1:53 PM Executive Summary financial contribution is modest, and that its lending terms are not particularly attractive for a number of PDMCs. At the same time PDMCs and other partners recognize that ADB can bring valuable contributions to education development as an independent agency with a strong economic and social policy focus, broad experiences throughout Asia, and a capacity to tap experience from other regions. Lending levels, therefore, may not be the appropriate yardstick for measuring ADB performance in the education sector. Instead, the results of ADB’s work in the education sector should be assessed by the extent to which it has been able to (i) help PDMCs deal more effectively with key policy challenges of education development, and (ii) contribute to improvements in the effectiveness of external support. The overall goal of this strategy is to improve learning outcomes for the poor and disadvantaged in the Pacific. ADB support is expected to result in enhancing the supply of and demand for equity, quality, and relevance of education services. To realize these outcomes, it has three interlinked strategic objectives: (i) education strategies that are relevant and responsive to national development objectives and client needs; (ii) demonstrably more effective public, private, and development partner resource allocations for basic education; and (iii) enhanced capacity of the PDMC to manage and deliver a quality basic education service. The strategic objectives of ADB assistance to education and training in the Pacific are closely related and mutually reinforcing in support of increased national capacity to use resources effectively and to deliver a high quality education that responds to national needs and objectives. The implementation will be country specific through sector work, dialogue, and program design. Until recently, ADB support to the education sector has often been opportunistic rather than strategic. There have been few follow-up investments, even though completion reports emphasize the need for long-term involvement. Four countries (Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands, Fiji Islands, and Timor- Leste) comprise more than 90% of the population of the PDMCs. Three of these (PNG, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste) are off-track for the education Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). ADB has not been active in the education sector in Timor-Leste and Fiji Islands and has only had a single technical assistance operation (for nonformal vocational education and training in 2003) in the Solomon Islands. xv Better Prelim.pmd 15 28/09/2005, 1:53 PM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy There is thus a strong case to strengthen the strategic focus of the education program by: • concentrating ADB support on basic education and skills development; • planning a sustained involvement in selected countries through a long-term program of lending and technical assistance support and follow-up operations; • increasing engagement with the larger countries that are off- track for the education MDGs; • providing technical assistance to enhance the capacity for analysis of education financial management to countries where improvements in the efficiency of resource allocation is the dominant priority. ADB will also intensify its support for regional studies on key issues in education development in the Pacific, particularly for: • a review of skills development issues, including an assessment of the experience with different strategies to date, a summary of international experience, and a framework for investment in skills development in the Pacific; • investigating key areas of concern in basic education, particularly those relating to the prevalence, nature and causes of educational disadvantages. The agenda in this strategy paper is ambitious and presents a significant increase in ADB involvement in the Pacific education sector. Even if a significant increase in ADB administrative budgets were possible, it would allow only very selective implementation of that agenda. To implement the proposed strategic agenda with broader country coverage, ADB’s Pacific Department (PARD) intends to explore possibilities to collaborate more closely with regional organizations and to reduce the transaction costs of its support. How far and how fast ADB can move in this direction will depend on the readiness of each country to implement the strategies to achieve the desired outcomes. Another important factor is the commitment of xvi Better Prelim.pmd 16 28/09/2005, 1:53 PM Executive Summary the regional institutions and external funding agencies to work together to achieve the best possible education outcomes for each PDMC. ADB will explore with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and the Pacific Regional Initiatives for the Delivery of Basic Education (PRIDE) the needs for additional support especially in countries where ADB and other partner agencies want to move to sector programs. ADB will also review with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, PRIDE, PDMCs, and partner agencies the need to intensify and expand PRIDE activities and ways to do so. This will require the readiness of the most important development agencies active in education in the Pacific to take concrete steps to further develop the framework for cooperation and policy dialogue between agencies and senior policy makers in the region that currently function as part of the Pacific Islands Forum. Implementing the Pacific education and training sector strategy proposed in this paper will be possible only on a very limited scale with only one education specialist in PARD. A high priority is to assign other staff to complement the work of the education specialist and strengthen ADB’s capacity to contribute to the improvement of education resource allocation policies in the region. xvii Better Prelim.pmd 17 28/09/2005, 1:53 PM Better Prelim.pmd 18 28/09/2005, 1:53 PM Introduction Chapter 1 Introduction Background The education and training sector strategy proposed in this paper provides a framework for Asian Development Bank (ADB) support to education development in its 14 Pacific developing member countries (PDMCs).1 It supports ADB’s overarching development objective of poverty reduction (ADB 1999a) and is grounded in ADB’s overall education strategy (ADB 2003b) and in its third A Pacific Strategy for the Asian Development Bank 2005-2009: Responding to the Priorities of the Poor (ADB 2004f). It thus reflects ADB’s overarching vision for education: “All children and adults in the Asia and Pacific region will have equitable access to and complete education of sufficient quality to empower them to break out of the poverty cycle, to improve their quality of life, and to participate effectively in national development (ADB 2003b).” ADB support for educational development emphasizes increasing equity and access, improving quality, strengthening management, mobilizing resources, improving partnerships, and applying new and innovative technologies especially information and communication technology (ICT). It also supports innovative programs in literacy and nonformal education and in early childhood development with emphasis on low-cost, 1 The Pacific developing member countries are: Cook Islands, Fiji Islands, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. 1 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 1 01/08/2005, 3:13 PM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy community-based provision. ADB is committed to helping developing member countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 and supports the global movement to achieve Education for All (EFA) (See Box 1). The ADB poverty reduction strategy encompasses three pillars: (i) pro-poor, sustainable economic growth; (ii) inclusive social development; and (iii) good governance. Education helps to lay the foundation for all three pillars of poverty reduction as it is closely linked to human, economic, and social dimensions of development. Box 1 Millennium Development Goals on Education TARGETS INDICATORS Universal Primary Education Ensure that, by 2015, children • net enrollment ratio in primary everywhere, boys and girls alike, education will be able to complete a full • proportion of pupils starting course of primary schooling. grade 1 who reach grade 5 • literacy rate of 15- to 24-year-olds Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women Eliminate gender disparity in • ratio of girls to boys in primary, primary and secondary education, secondary, and tertiary preferably by 2005, and in all education levels of education no later • ratio of literate women to men than 2015. of 15- to 24-year-olds • share of women in wage employment in the nonagricultural sector • proportion of seats held by women in national parliament Source: United Nations Millennium Development Goals 2 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 2 01/08/2005, 10:10 AM Introduction (See Box 2). Basic education2 is the key. It is not only a human right; it helps reduce fertility and improve health and nutrition of children. Most importantly, it is an essential part of any pro-poor development strategy. It helps to lift people out of poverty, creates opportunities for social mobility, and reduces economic and social disparities. An educated population is an essential element of an economic and regulatory environment that is conducive to private sector initiatives. It is a precondition for meaningful participation in a world economy where competitive advantage is increasingly technology based and knowledge driven. Evidence on the social and economic returns on Box 2 Education and Poverty Reduction The relationship between education and poverty reduction is very clear: educated people have higher income earning potential and are better able to improve the quality of their lives. Persons with at least a basic education are more likely to avail of a range of social services and to participate more actively in local and national government through voting and community involvement. They are less likely to be marginalized within the larger society. Education empowers. It helps people become more proactive, gain control over their lives, and widen the range of available choices. In fact, the opposite of marginalization is empowerment, and basic education is one of the keys to empowerment, both for individuals and groups. The combination of increased earning ability, political and social empowerment, and enhanced capacity to participate in community governance is a powerful instrument for breaking the poverty cycle. In fact, education is the primary vehicle by which economically and socially marginalized adults and children can lift themselves out of poverty and obtain the means to participate fully in their communities. Source: ADB 2003b. 2 ADB defines basic education as education provided for children between the ages of 6 and 14, usually equivalent to primary and lower secondary, or nine years of schooling. This is considered the minimum for a person to improve his/her quality of life and to participate in national development. (ADB 2003b). Some organizations define basic education as up to 10 years of schooling, and include non-formal and skills development. 3 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 3 01/08/2005, 10:10 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy investments in education is abundant.3 It suggests that returns on basic education are high, most notably in low-income countries and especially for girls. Education development strategies cannot, however, be limited to basic education. They will need to incorporate policies and investment programs that provide opportunities for further education and skills development to those who complete the basic education cycle. As countries develop and the demand for people with more advanced skills expands, the returns on higher levels of education increase. This reinforces the importance of a high quality basic education system as the necessary foundation for further education and training that makes it possible for countries to accelerate economic and social development. ADB’s Pacific Strategy (2005–2009) was formulated against the background of the generally disappointing development performance of its PDMCs over the past decades. Economic growth did not keep up with population expansion; job creation was limited, per capita incomes declined, and the incidence of poverty and economic hardship increased. The development strategies of the 1980s and 1990s that focused on getting prices and incentives right have proved necessary but not sufficient to achieve sustainable growth. Weaknesses of policies and institutions, especially economic and social institutions, have impeded development.4 Causes of these weaknesses include poor leadership, limited governmental accountability and transparency, narrowly based participation in reforms, and inadequate human resource development and retention. The Pacific Strategy (2005–2009) provides a framework for PARD’s country and regional operations by identifying overall goals and strategic and supporting objectives to bring focus and selectivity to its operations in the region. The objectives are: (i) to support a conducive environment for the private sector; (ii) to enhance the supply of and demand for quality basic social services (health, education, clean water, and sanitation); and (iii) to promote effective development. While all three work together to reduce poverty and all are affected by the level of educational attainment of the population, 3 For evidence on economic returns see Patrinos and Psacharopoulos 2002, Table 5 and Schultz 1993. Lockheed and Verspoor 1991 provides a summary of the full range of social and economic benefits. 4 “Institutions” encompass not only the organizations and structures that frame economic and social behavior, but also the “rules of the game” by which that behavior is carried out (ADB 2004d). 4 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 4 01/08/2005, 10:10 AM Introduction the second objective directly focuses on education. It aims to enhance the potential contribution of education to development and poverty reduction through improved policies and strengthened institutions. The education and training sector strategy, therefore, needs to pay particular attention to the extent to which the priority education needs of the poor are being met, what the remaining challenges are, and how those challenges might be met effectively. In this perspective, quality basic education for all must be a top priority with strategies: (i) that are relevant and responsive to national objectives and client needs; (ii) that effectively allocate public, private, and donor resources for basic education; and (iii) that enhance the capacity to manage and deliver high quality basic education services. Purpose and Process of the Strategy Paper This education and training sector strategy operationalizes PARD’s strategic framework for the education sector, sharpens the focus, and enhances the effectiveness of ADB support to education in the region. It explores where and how ADB with its limited resources can make the greatest impact toward improving the performance of the education sector in the Pacific region. Many PDMCs face constraints due to their small population sizes and their remoteness, which means that standard service delivery mechanisms may be costly and ineffective. These countries may instead need strategies that build on the opportunities that smallness provides to mobilize local support and involvement. Several larger countries will have to implement education development programs in the context of increasingly severe resource constraints. Given the important differences among PDMCs in terms of their geography, natural resources, cultures, and development status and performance, the strategy can only provide a framework for country-level actions and for the strengthening of regional support mechanisms. The importance of external development partners and regional institutions involved in education development in the Pacific region makes it imperative to recognize that unless ADB works in partnership with other agencies, the impact of its lending on education 5 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 5 01/08/2005, 10:10 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy development in the PDMCs is likely to be limited.5 The ADB education and training sector strategy, therefore, will be successful only to the extent that its programs (i) are well aligned from conception to implementation with national education development priorities and with the support of other development partners, (ii) capitalize on the contributions of regional agencies, and (ii) build on ADB’s comparative advantage as an independent agency with a strong economic and social policy focus, broad experiences throughout Asia and the Pacific, and a capacity to tap experience from other regions. Consultations during the preparation of the Pacific education and training sector strategy provided many valuable insights. In May 2003, a brief note on the strategy was presented in a meeting of donors and education officials from PDMCs in Nadi, Fiji Islands. Subsequently, terms of reference were developed, discussed within ADB, and circulated to funding agencies as well as to several PDMCs. Published and unpublished data and analyses on population, enrollment, financing, and other key issues—including recent education reviews and sector plans in Fiji Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu6—were important sources of information. Further information was gathered during field visits to selected PDMCs7 in focus group meetings with various stakeholders in education— government agencies, funding agencies, church groups, nongovernment organizations (NGO), parents, teachers, and local communities. The interests and comparative advantage of key bilateral and multilateral agencies were reviewed in meetings and discussions and through the analysis of secondary documentation. A draft strategy was then formulated and circulated for comments from ADB staff, development partners, and the PDMCs. This process of consultation and dissemination is an important element of the ADB approach to policy development and implementation and will be continued. 5 It should be noted that the number of external development partners are diminishing. Recently, the United Kingdom and Canada have withdrawn. Other individual European Union countries are invisible in the region. 6 ADB 2000a; ADB 2003h; ADB 2004g; ADB 2004k; ADB and Samoa Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture 2004; The Independent State of Samoa, AusAID and Papua New Guinea Department of Education 2002; Lowry and Rorris 1999; and Tonga Ministry of Education 2004. 7 FSM, PNG, and Vanuatu. Information was also collected and the strategy discussed with representatives of the Governments of Samoa and Tuvalu as well as NGOs, churches, parents, and pupils during ADB missions. 6 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 6 01/08/2005, 10:10 AM Introduction The paper next summarizes the challenges of the regional context to which the education sector must respond (Chapter 2). It reviews the progress of education development in the region and identifies the challenges that remain to be addressed (Chapter 3). It describes the support external partners are providing for education development in the PDMCs (Chapter 4). The paper then focuses on the challenges of equity, high quality service delivery, and development planning and management that PDMCs will need to address more effectively (Chapter 5). The final section (Chapter 6) discusses the way ADB can most effectively contribute to education development in the Pacific region and the strategic agenda for action. 7 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 7 01/08/2005, 10:10 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Chapter 2 Regional Context Economic Performance and Challenges Economic Growth and Poverty Tables A1.1 and A1.2 in Appendix 1 show detailed social and economic profiles including the level of national income, external aid dependency, employment, and demographic trends of the PDMCs. PNG, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste have income levels that barely exceed the African average. Except for Fiji Islands, the remaining are middle-income, small island states with populations of 20,000 to 200,000 people, in many cases scattered over a large number of islands. The variation in performances by the PDMCs despite their similar natural conditions suggests that a significant constraint to development lies in the weaknesses of policies and institutions and that intervention to remedy them would be conducive to development. The majority of the Pacific population relies on subsistence farming and fishing, government employment, servicing government employees, and work in the international maritime industry for their livelihoods. In addition, employment opportunities in the services sector, especially in tourism and international call centers are growing. With the exception of the poorest PDMCs, abject poverty may not be prevalent in many, but poverty of opportunity and hardship occurs in almost all (ADB 2003f ). Hardship is characterized by limited access to 8 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 8 01/08/2005, 3:11 PM Regional Context: Economic Performance and Challenges basic services, lack of opportunities to participate fully in socioeconomic life, and lack of cash to meet basic household needs and customary obligations to the extended family, the community, and the church. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimates suggest that about 43% of the total population lives close to the poverty line. Of this group, 95% live in Melanesia (PNG, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu) (UNDP 1999).8 The tradition of mutual support in the extended family and the community often conceals the extent of poverty or deprivation. Indigenous cultures and traditions have remained strong in the Pacific and continue to play an important role in political, economic, and cultural life. These cultural and social values continue to contain the incidence of poverty, but there are clear indications that the systems and the values that support them are slowly eroding. PDMCs have obtained strong support for their economic and social development from bilateral and multilateral development partners.9 Two features of aid to the Pacific are noteworthy: a per capita amount significantly higher than the global average and a high proportion of technical assistance. Bilateral assistance reflects colonial history and national interests. Among the bilateral agencies, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States (US) are major players. Australia is one of the biggest donors in the Pacific allocating around A$480 million per annum of which roughly 75% is allocated to PNG (AusAID 2002). In its 2002/03–07/08 strategy, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) responded to instability in the South Pacific, especially in Melanesia and Timor-Leste, with a sharper focus on establishing the foundations for stability, growth, and peaceful development to ensure law and order, accountable and democratic governments, more equitable growth, and enhanced service delivery. The US is the key donor in FSM, RMI, and Palau through compact funds that accounted for over 95% of bilateral assistance to these countries in 1998.10 The first compact allowed the government freedom in allocating funds to sectors. Compact II (2004– 2024) continues to provide large, though reduced, amounts with a new emphasis on greater accountability and an outcome-based approach. 8 Please note that Timor-Leste is not a Pacific country under UNDP. 9 This subsection draws on ADB 2000c and ADB 2004d, Attachment 7. 10 World Bank 2000 provides 23.5% of total aid to the Pacific, mainly to FSM, Palau, and RMI (Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat 2002i). 9 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 9 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy New Zealand has a focus on poverty reduction through assistance in improving health, education, the environment, human resource development, and private sector growth. Its core geographical focus is the Pacific, especially the Polynesian countries. Through its official development assistance, Japan provides assistance in the Pacific with a focus on agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and basic infrastructure. Recently, Japan has started giving greater emphasis to institutional strengthening and human resource development. The United Kingdom focuses on education and on good governance.11 The People’s Republic of China and Taipei,China are active in the region and usually support stand-alone infrastructure projects. Of the multilateral agencies, ADB and the European Union (EU) are main contributors while the various United Nations (UN) agencies have implemented significant, high-quality programs, especially in the social sectors. ADB is a key player in the region with approval of about $50 million–$100 million in loans and about $15 million in technical assistance grants annually (ADB 2000c). Its assistance has focused on promoting good governance and macroeconomic stability. It has also promoted more efficient and effective institutions for infrastructure management in transport, energy, and water supply and sanitation. This has meant more business-like approaches for government departments and state-owned enterprises. An internal review of ADB’s Pacific Strategy for 2000–2004 indicated a need for greater and longer-term focus in its programs and clearer and more specific objectives and performance indicators. The new Pacific strategy will provide clearer guidance on resource implications and implementation (ADB 2004d). The EU primarily supports transport, communication, industry, construction (including schools), mining, and energy. The World Bank is involved in infrastructure, transport, agriculture, education, health, delivery of public services, macroeconomic stability, capital markets, trade and investment, and governance. The International Monetary Fund assists central banks and ministries of finance in the region and with UNDP jointly established the Pacific Financial Technical Assistance Centre in Suva, Fiji Islands. ADB, AusAID, and the New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID) support the 11 Note that in recent years, the United Kingdom has officially closed its bilateral programs in the Pacific region. 10 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 10 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Regional Context: Economic Performance and Challenges center while the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) sits on the review group. Its primary aim is to build the skills and institutional capacity in PDMCs for effective and sustainable economic and financial management. UNDP coordinates the activities of various UN agencies in employment, sustainable livelihood, gender issues, disadvantaged groups, environment, and governance. The economic performance of PDMCs over the last decade has been mixed. While eight countries12 witnessed rates of gross domestic product (GDP) growth varying from 0.8% (Vanuatu) to 4.6% (Kiribati) during 1995–2002,13 five countries14 had negative per capita growth. The weighted average of PDMCs for the period was as low as 0.9%. A positive turn is expected with a projected 2.9% growth in 2004 and 2.4% in 2005 (ADB 2004a). Nevertheless, the overall picture of PDMCs continues to present tremendous economic and social challenges. With a saturated or downsized public sector and a sluggish private sector, job creation has been minimal. The best prospects for job creation lie in tourism, small-scale manufacturing, financial services, and overseas employment. However, with few exceptions, the potential for developing these sectors has yet to be fulfilled. Development Constraints Three types of constraints on development confront PDMCs. The first is natural: smallness, remoteness and isolation, limited resources for economic diversification, and susceptibility to natural disasters. All of these contribute to their vulnerability and to their exposure to exogenous shocks over which they have little control and from which they have little capacity to withstand or to recover. Relative stability can turn into vulnerability when an existing resource is exhausted and an alternative source of revenue is elusive.15 The vast distances between communities combined with associated travel and communication 12 Cook Islands, Fiji Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. 13 ADB Pacific Department database. 14 FSM, PNG, RMI, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. 15 A typical case is the imminent exhaustion of phosphate mining in Nauru that has been its mainstay of revenue since 1906. The economic downturn and ensuing lower incomes will present a major challenge to Nauruan people who have enjoyed relative affluence sustained by high phosphate earnings. The low priority attached to education and the resulting low profile in educational attainment has to be rectified urgently to prepare Nauruan people for alternative employment. See ADB 2000b. 11 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 11 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy constraints in most PDMCs create important challenges for governments in delivering services to remote communities and vulnerable populations. Isolation and demographic pressures in others are exacerbating these problems. The total population in PDMCs is about 8.6 million living on hundreds of islands spread across thousands of square miles of ocean. At least a third of the population in the Pacific is in the 0–14 age group. About two-thirds of the populations live in rural areas, but migration to other countries as well as migration to small towns and cities has become a significant trend weakening societal and familial structures, boosting the demand for public services (including school- ing), and increasing unemployment. The limited capacity of the rural economy has led many to move to urban areas that have great diffi- culty absorbing these newcomers. Without the social safety net that their extended families usually provide at home, they become a new urban underclass. This has become a pressing social problem and is described as a “time bomb” in Vanuatu where 43% of the population is under 15 years of age, most of them out of school by grade 6 or 10, and ill prepared for life. Population growth in Kiribati, PNG, RMI, and Solomon Islands is leading to similar situations. Improved access of outer island populations to basic social services, especially health and education, and income-generating opportunities may help to slow down the urban move.16 On the other hand, some PDMCs17 are experiencing very low population growth rates following considerable migration to the US, Australia, and New Zealand, attributed to disappointing economic performance and rising unemployment. The impact of emigration on these countries is complex.18 On one hand, most of those who leave tend to be skilled, qualified citizens, which means countries lose some of the benefits of investment in education and training and may face shortages in human resources especially in skilled and semiskilled occupations. The migration of skilled health personnel in particular is 16 PDMCs have been trying for decades to reverse urban drift, but they have failed because of continued unattractive economic prospects in rural areas. 17 Especially in Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu, but increasingly in other countries too. The total population of Cook Islands remained at 18,400, but the resident population dropped from 14,800 in 2002 to 13,900 in 2003. (http://www.spc.int/prism). The population of FSM, Nauru, and Tonga, for example, increased by less than 0.5% during 2000-2003. 18 An important reason for emigrating from Fiji Islands and Solomon Islands is political factors and the resulting risk and uncertainty. 12 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 12 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Regional Context: Economic Performance and Challenges a major issue in the region. On the other hand, emigration reduces population pressure and contributes to the national economy through remittances. The returnees may also bring back capital, new skills, and knowledge. Ultimately the economic impact will be determined by the benefits from remittances.19 In some PDMCs, remittances are a large part of the economy (47.9% of GDP in Tonga, and 21.1% in Samoa in 2001). The second constraint is historical. Most of the PDMCs were colonies or trust territories of Western powers from the 19th century through much of the 20th century. They are young nations that gained independence only in the second half of the 20th century, first is Samoa in 1962 and most recently FSM and RMI in 1986. Most countries comprise a group of islands many of which did not have a history of coexistence. Nation building is, therefore, a process of learning to work with each other as a political entity. Frequent changes of governments and ensuing political and economic instability in some Pacific countries are an unfortunate feature in the lengthy process of nation building. The third type of constraint is institutional. The variation in performance by the PDMCs despite their similar natural conditions suggests that a significant constraint to development lies in the weaknesses of policies and institutions and that interventions to strengthen them would be conducive to development. For example, monopolistic policies have impeded the development of more efficient, open, and competitive telecommunications and transportation systems, which might have helped mitigate some consequences of geographical isolation. Incentives for private sector development may have mitigated unemployment. Perhaps the most important challenge in several PDMCs is to sustain progress toward strong inclusive leadership and public participation in support of a development strategy that responds to the priorities of the disadvantaged. There is no reason to doubt that with good policies, strong institutions, and effective leadership PDMCs will be able to overcome the constraints of geography and history. 19 In Fiji Islands, remittances are now the main foreign currency earner. For an interesting analysis of the positive impact of remittances on developing countries, see Ratha 2003. 13 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 13 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Chapter 3 Achievements and Challenges in Education and Training Notwithstanding the challenges discussed in the previous chapter, most PDMCs have come a long way in their education development. For most, universal literacy and universal primary education are not distant goals. Access to secondary education has increased remarkably in several countries. Many countries eliminated gender disparities at the primary level, and the gap is narrowing at the secondary level. Some PDMCs produce high- level scholars, who are serving not only their own countries but are contributing to the global economy as well. PDMC governments have consistently sought improvements in their education systems in both quantitative and qualitative terms. There is strong regional collaboration through the Pacific Islands Forum Ministers of Education meeting, which has endorsed a Forum Basic Education Action Plan (FBEAP). Yet, available evidence suggests that progress in education development in PDMCs remains uneven.20 20 Recently, Pacific leaders called for, through the April 2004 Auckland Declaration, a Pacific plan to address the challenges facing the countries. The plan emphasizes the importance of strengthening vocational training and its links to the labor market, initially by standardization of regional maritime training (Pacific Island Forum Secretariat 2005). 14 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 14 01/08/2005, 3:08 PM Achievements and Challenges in Education and Training This section reviews progress in access to different levels of education, the challenges of quality, internal efficiency, and equity, the issues of planning, management, and institutional capacity in the education sector and ends with a discussion of the financial challenges to the sector. It is important to note the severe limitations of the data that the discussion is based on. There are problems with reliability, comparability, and consistency due to different definitions of terms and collection methods.21 Within a country, different agencies often report different numbers for the same indicator. Data for urban/rural and main island/outer islands breakdown are almost nonexistent. Incomplete population data make it difficult to analyze the coverage of the system. Little systematic information is available for the efficiency and completion indicators, and progress toward the education MDGs is difficult to document for many countries. Most importantly, detailed data on cost and efficiency of resource allocation is fragmentary at best. Access Early Childhood Education. The gross enrollment ratio (GER)22 at the preschool level (for ages 3 to 5) varies considerably among countries (Table A2.1, Appendix 2). It is strikingly low in Fiji Islands (15% for boys and 16% for girls), while, Cook Islands, Nauru, and Tuvalu enroll much higher percentages. Most countries enroll more girls than boys. NGOs, churches, or private operators provide most preschool education. Government support varies. Tuvalu, for example, provides grants toward the cost of up to three teachers’ salaries per institution. In FSM and RMI, the government through the Head Start program provides preschool education. Most preschools charge fees and are available to a relatively small proportion of children. There usually is no government policy guideline or curriculum support at this level of education. 21 Some countries collect data irregularly, making it difficult to construct time series. 22 GER is all students in primary education divided by the primary school age population. NER is students of primary school age in school divided by the primary school aged population. In some countries, the GER may exceed 100% because of intake from younger or older age groups into the primary and secondary grades or because of grade repetition. It indicates system inefficiency. 15 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 15 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Evidence from worldwide research and experience have shown a strong positive impact of investment in preschool education on achievement in subsequent levels. More than half of PDMC governments have developed policy guidelines, ranging from very brief statements to comprehensive documents for the provision of preschool programs. Some have incorporated them in national curriculum frameworks. To keep expenditures at manageable levels, most include cost sharing between central and local governments and parents, often combined with targeted support for disadvantaged groups. Few PDMCs have such policies. Primary Education. Tables A2.2 and A2.3 (Appendix 2) show the progress toward achieving primary enrollment in many PDMCs, but important variations remain with the GER as low as 77% in PNG to as high as 143% in FSM. For the net enrollment ratio (NER), only PNG and Timor-Leste indicate lower than 80% enrollment.23 Table A2.2 also shows gender gaps in favor of boys in Cook Islands, Palau, PNG, and and RMI in favor of girls in Nauru and Vanuatu. On the whole, PDMCs have made significant progress toward universal access to primary education.24 With the possible exception of PNG and RMI, PDMCs are well on track toward eliminating gender disparity in primary education (MDG 3). Secondary Education. At the secondary level, the GER is very low in PNG, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu which enroll less than one third of the students of secondary school age (Table A2.4, Appendix 2). Secondary enrollments in Kiribati, Nauru, and RMI are higher but remain in the 50% range. The other countries have made considerable progress in expanding access at the secondary level with FSM even reaching 132%. Gender gaps remain high in PNG, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu. 23 However, a recent sector study shows only 69% net enrollment ratio (NER) in Samoa. This probably is due to the late entry in primary school of many children. A similar situation may exist in other countries. It raises the question whether the NER as commonly defined is the appropriate yardstick for assessing progress towards the MDGs. 24 The education development community shifted its emphasis from universal primary education to covering universal basic education that includes pre-primary to junior secondary and nonformal education. 16 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 16 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Achievements and Challenges in Education and Training Postsecondary/Tertiary Education. Education at this level is limited. Of the relevant age group, only about 7% enrolled at higher- level institutions in Samoa, 4% in Tonga and Vanuatu, and 2% in PNG (UNESCO Institute for Statistics 2004).25 Most PDMCs offer some form of education and training at this level up to the associate degree level or its equivalent, but in most PDMCs students go elsewhere in the region or beyond for more advanced studies. PNG, the country with the largest population, has at least four institutions of higher learning: Papua New Guinea University of Technology, University of Papua New Guinea, Divine Word University, and University of Goroko. The National University of Samoa meets some of the higher education needs in Samoa. The College of Micronesia also plays an important role in offering courses at the tertiary level in FSM. The University of the South Pacific (USP) serves much of the region and is unique in terms of providing borderless education. It has campuses in Fiji Islands, Samoa, and Vanuatu and additional extension centers that offer distance and flexible learning programs in eight member countries. Teacher training colleges in Samoa and Tonga and education faculty in Kiribati also provide pre-service teacher training for other countries in the region, e.g., Tuvalu. Students from PDMCs also get scholarships from Australia and New Zealand for higher education in regional institutions such as USP. Vocationally oriented colleges provide postsecondary technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programs. These cover such fields as agriculture, nursing, teaching, and seamanship. The region boasts of some vocational exemplars such as the Kiribati and Tuvalu Maritime Institute, graduates of which are in high international demand as seafarers. However, taken as a whole, provision of vocational technical education in the region has been supply rather than demand driven resulting in a mismatch between available human resources and market needs. Greater coordination between providers and employers to reduce the mismatch and wastage is required. There have been efforts to review the state of human resource development in PDMCs (ADB 1995a) to develop a comprehensive national plan for TVET in Vanuatu,26 as well as reviews of the need to upgrade existing institutions such as the Samoa Polytechnic27 and Vanuatu Institute of Technology. 25 The average for all developing countries is 11%. 26 In 2002, ADB supported the development of “Policy Framework for Technical Vocational Education and Training” in Vanuatu. 27 Samoa Polytechnic has recently merged with the National University of Samoa. 17 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 17 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Literacy Rates. Overall, PDMCs enjoy high literacy rates (Table A2.5, Appendix 2). However, literacy rates in PNG, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, and Vanuatu are still low, reflecting the fact that primary schooling has become widely available only recently. As a consequence of the traditional disadvantage of girls in access to primary education, these countries also show marked gender gaps in literacy. This represents a significant challenge as these four countries contain almost 85% of the population of the region. Nonformal Education and Skills Training. Local communities, church groups, and NGOs offer functional literacy and skills development programs. Several target children in environments where formal schools are absent or where many students dropout or fail to be attracted by the formal system. Others provide flexible skills development programs emphasizing functional literacy, microbusiness, and other livelihood skills to help youth and adults with low educational attainment to develop their potential to generate income in informal sector self-employment and wage employment.28 Quality Concerns about quality are widespread in developed as well as developing countries. Most quality definitions highlight the different elements of the basic input-process-output model that commonly underpins education research and policy analysis (UNESCO 2002). They are guided by a concept of quality that emphasizes cognitive and affective results (mediated by quality inputs and processes) that are measured by the extent to which pupils achieve the knowledge, skills, and behaviors specified in a national curriculum. No matter the specifics of the definition, there is a broad consensus that the real measure of quality is one of outcomes, and that the quality of inputs is not an acceptable proxy for the quality of outcomes. A well performing education system produces high quality, equitably distributed learning. In such a system, students not only enroll but, most importantly, acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes specified in the curriculum. The cognitive outcomes are most 28 ADB has been supporting PNG in skills development and literacy training through its lending programs. 18 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 18 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Achievements and Challenges in Education and Training commonly measured by student performance on standardized criterion-referenced tests or, less effectively, by performance on examinations. But quite clearly, society and parents expect more than good test scores; they also have expectations regarding students’ attitudes and behavior that are not easily measured on tests but which do affect public perceptions of the quality of schooling. Classroom processes and instructional practices are major determinants of student learning. Poor quality teaching, lack of instructional materials, and overloaded and poorly structured curricula have been found to have adverse effects on student learning outcomes. In turn, the quality of schooling is an important determinant of enrollment and retention. Almost all PDMCs have identified quality as an overarching concern. The Pacific Islands Forum Education Ministers have expressed concerns about the level of learning achievement. Actual learning outcomes vary, with relatively high standards and improvements in some countries and low performance in others. Many children cannot demonstrate mastery of the expected knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Concerns about quality have been reinforced by declines in examination scores in several countries such as Samoa and Tuvalu. A study in the Cook Islands found that only about 70% of the students achieved minimum competency in English and Math, and only 30% achieved high competency.29 In RMI, 60%, 50%, and 70% of students are placed in at-risk categories for English, Marshallese, and Math respectively. Private schools, including those run by church groups, tend to demonstrate higher learning outcomes than public schools.30 Their performance is an example that quality improvement is possible given good school management and committed teachers and parents. Several factors account for the often disappointing achievement of students in public schools: inadequate textbooks and learning materials, poor quality and motivation of teachers, curricula with limited relevance to the local context, and ineffective instruction. Unfortunately, much of the PDMC evidence on the causes of low performance is impressionistic and anecdotal, 29 Measured by Pacific Islands Literacy Levels tests which are used in the region for measuring literacy and numeracy at grades 4 and 6; however, there is concern about the reliability and validity of these tests. Test results reported in UNESCO 2000b. 30 This information was gathered by interviewing parents and teachers during the field visit to PDMCs for this paper. 19 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 19 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy but taken together, it is strongly suggestive and consistent with the balance of international empirical findings. Textbooks and Learning Materials. These are a key input for quality learning. Shortages of teaching and learning materials are common in most schools in the region. Many countries do not allocate the resources necessary to provide a set of textbooks in core subjects for each student let alone other reading materials. The situation is worse the further the schools are from the main island. Poor procurement management often limits availability. Even when textbooks are centrally available they may not reach schools because of poor distribution networks. Sometimes the materials are available in a school but are locked in storage rooms and not distributed to the students. Many textbooks have poor instructional designs and often contain factual inaccuracies. AusAID has been providing textbooks and materials for PNG, Samoa, Tuvalu, and other PDMCs to address this need. NZAID is also active in this area in their priority countries. Nevertheless, the need for books continues to outstrip the supply. In the absence of textbooks and learning materials, instruction is wasted on copying text from the blackboard and teachers use ineffective rote learning pedagogy as a substitute. Teachers. The competence and motivation of teachers are universally recognized as key determinants of the quality of education. Sustained teacher development, both pre-service and in-service, is essential for improving the quality of education. Recurrent school- based, in-service teacher training can encompass practical methods of teaching major subjects, ways to adapt the curriculum to the social and physical environment of the students, understanding how children develop and learn, methods of evaluating teaching and learning, management of classrooms, and parent-teacher and community relations. Unfortunately, many teachers in PDMCs have not been adequately prepared or do not have the appropriate professional teaching or subject matter qualifications.31 There is a need across the region to improve teacher competence. Subject matter and pedagogical competence are not enough. Low teacher morale leads to high rates of teacher absenteeism and to 31 See for example Heine and Chutaro 2003. 20 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 20 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Achievements and Challenges in Education and Training attrition as in the cases of Samoa and Tuvalu. Teacher absenteeism reduces students’ learning time,32 while teacher attrition requires additional expenditures on initial teacher training. The causes of poor motivation vary and may include poor working conditions, insufficient career advancement opportunities, weak support services, and unattractive salaries. Furthermore, in many countries, career and salary advancement seldom depend on performance. Salaries tend to be tied to civil service pay scales with monetary awards based on paper qualifications and length of service rather than on performance. Thus, there are few incentives for teachers to perform well. In some PDMCs, such as FSM, PNG, Samoa, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu, teachers have demonstrated weak motivation, low morale, high absenteeism, and frequent turnover all of which have a negative influence on student motivation and learning. Standards of teacher supply in the region are mixed. On average the student-teacher ratio (STR) is highly favorable by international comparison.33 In fact, the benefits of the low ratio are reduced by oversupply in some areas and undersupply in others. For example, many urban schools are overly crowded, while rural schools have very few students. This suggests that teacher deployment to schools based on standard STRs could lead to significant gains in efficiency. In the lowest income countries, constraints on the government budget are the major cause of teacher shortages and relatively high STRs. Supervision and management of teachers by the departments of education is inadequate across PDMCs. Teachers do not receive professional academic guidance for classroom teaching nor is there any strong mechanism to reduce teacher absenteeism. Relevance. An important dimension of the quality of education is relevance. A key issue is defining education content for a labor market that is changing rapidly as regards the skills demanded. Schools prepare students for a working life that is likely to stretch 30 32 Time-use studies show that when teachers devote more time to instruction, students learn more. Sufficient instructional time is particularly important in the early grades and for children from impoverished families who spend few of their out-of-school hours on learning. For elaborate discussions on this issue see Lockheed and Verspoor 1991. 33 World Bank research found small differences in impact on learning achievement for STR between 20:1 and 40:1 and suggests that in many countries the marginal return on expenditures on instructional materials will exceed those on teachers’ salaries. 21 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 21 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy years or more into the future, during which most people will change jobs several times and in which the job content is likely to change dramatically. In the past, education catered to a select few. It guaranteed wage employment in government and church organizations. With the expansion of enrollments and limited new jobs, students, parents, and governments question the content and the value of formal education. A common solution proposed is the provision of vocational subjects or programs at the secondary level. International experience has suggested, however, that—especially when done too early in development when the modern industrial sector is small—this is often costly and ineffective and diverts time from preparation in fundamental skills like language and mathematics (ADB 1995a). In most instances, youth unemployment is more a problem of economic development than of education. Training does not create jobs. Students with a strong general foundation can be trained fairly quickly for a variety of occupations once the demand is there. In fact, the content of vocational training is evolving dramatically. Some vocational skills such as typing have become part of general education. Other general skills such as mastery of English have become an entry requirement for specific jobs (e.g., in call centers). Communication skills, problem solving ability, capacity to learn, and personal attributes such as initiative and willingness to adapt and accept change are often at a premium in modern job markets. Few countries in the Pacific region have considered the implications of these changes for skills development. This is especially important for those PDMCs where emigration to industrialized countries is a realistic option, especially for the better educated. The relevance of the curricula is often jeopardized by poor scope and sequencing. Inappropriately targeted curricula (either too difficult or too easy) frustrate students and increase the possibility of failure. A central issue of curriculum design and instructional practice concerns the medium of instruction. Most PDMCs have adopted the language of their former rulers as one of their official languages. Yet, research is conclusive on the effectiveness of the use of the mother tongue in teaching and learning. Compelling international evidence suggests that with well-prepared teachers and appropriate instructional materials, students who start in their mother tongues outperform students who start in the international language. This in no way obviates the importance of a high level of competency in an international language as a language of national communication in 22 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 22 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Achievements and Challenges in Education and Training multilingual societies reinforced by the economic potential of English fluency. A common strategy as adopted in Kiribati, Samoa (ADB 2004h), Tonga, and Tuvalu (ADB 2004k) is to teach in the mother tongue in the lower primary grades and to make a gradual transition to English in the upper grades reaching full English instruction in secondary education and beyond. But for either bilingual or international language instruction to be successful, teacher mastery of the international language is essential. Evidence from RMI, Samoa, and Tuvalu suggests that many teachers lack proficiency in English even at the secondary level so they use their mother tongues in school. A final but important relevance issue is the extent to which curricula are designed to preserve and transmit national culture and customs. The Pacific Islands Forum Ministers of Education have on several occasions emphasized the importance of this issue. Responding to this concern makes it imperative to involve local education specialists who are deeply familiar with the different island cultures in curriculum work and textbook development. Internal Efficiency Basic education completion rates remain low in several PDMCs. Several countries remain off-track (Figure 1) for reaching the goal of retention of all students who enter grade 1 through grade 5 by 2015 (MDG 2, indicator 2).34 In these countries, repetition and dropout rates remain high. In PNG, for example, 60% of children starting grade 1 drop out by grade 6 (Government of Papua New Guinea 2004). High dropout rates during the transition period from primary to secondary school are a concern in several PDMCs including RMI, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Dropout rates are about 52% at the end of grade 6 and 56% at the end of grade 10 in Vanuatu, and 25% between grades 8 and 9 in RMI. In Samoa, only 87% of the students made the transition from year 8 to year 9 in 2002–2003. Yet these rates are strongly affected by policy. In Tuvalu, once automatic transfer to secondary education was eliminated and a selection test introduced, the dropout rate increased substantially. In 2003, only 30% of the 34 In many of these countries, the main problem with NER is one of late entry, which indicates that these countries are off track. However, completion rates are very high in many of these countries. 23 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 23 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Figure 1 Percentage of Children Who Never Enroll and Who Drop Out by Grade 5 in Selected Pacific Developing Member Countries Source: World Bank and Statistical Departments of Pacific Island Member Countries 2004. Data for PNG from ADB, AusAID, and World Bank 2004a. children of the relevant age group were enrolled in grades 11 and 12; of these, half failed the final examination and dropped out.35 In Samoa, the transition rate from year 11 to 12 increased from 70% in 1999 to over 90% in 2002 as a result of policy reforms that provided year 12 classes and eliminated the national examination at the end of year 11. In many Pacific countries, the problems of retention are likely to be related to inequities in the quality of instruction and opportunity to learn, as well as to the ability of parents to afford the direct and indirect cost of schooling. A recent study by the World Bank suggests that children from poorer households in the Pacific islands are more likely to dropout and less likely to make the transition to secondary school (World Bank and Statistical Departments of Pacific Island Member Countries 2004). 35 Data for various countries collected during various missions, country sector studies, and also from some unpublished sources. 24 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 24 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Achievements and Challenges in Education and Training The internal efficiency of education has an important impact on the cost per graduate. Statistics are limited, but anecdotal evidence suggest that it may take more than 10 to 12 years to give students a chance to complete eighth grade in the case of FSM, Samoa, and Tuvalu where repetition is allowed. While there are no analytical study data readily available in the Pacific, an example from India indicates that a 50% reduction in dropouts and repeaters will decrease the number of years of schooling required to produce a fifth grader from 8.67 to 6.37 and will reduce the unit cost of producing a fifth grade graduate by 25% (World Bank 1993). Equity Gender Disparities. While gender is not a significant issue at the primary and secondary levels in most PDMCs, it is an issue in PNG and the Solomon Islands where girls lag behind boys in enrollment and performance at all levels.36 Limited provision and unaffordable costs have kept many girls away from secondary schools in Melanesian countries. The gender gap is highly country specific. As Table A2.4 in Appendix 2 indicates, in some countries girls’ enrollment rates surpass boys’. However, sometimes the gender balance in aggregated rates masks disparity that increases as the girls advance through the grades. For example, in Tuvalu in years 7 and 8, female students comprise only 39% and 43% of the total enrollment respectively. Although there was gender imbalance in enrollment in tertiary education in earlier years, the gap has narrowed in some, e.g., Kiribati, but remains significant in others, e.g., Vanuatu (ADB 2002e). Gender bias has persisted in tertiary education with women disproportionately studying traditionally “female” subjects like education and health care (ADB 1998). A Pacific regional postsecondary education study, encompassing Fiji Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu found that only 30% of scholarships were allocated to women indicating that access was skewed (Subbarao, Dundar, and Haworth 1994). In addition, the comparatively low number of women enrolled in mathematics, science, and business courses is a concern 36 There is an emerging gender disparity in most Polynesian PDMCs, Fiji Islands, and Kiribati, where girls are staying at school longer and doing better than boys. This is becoming quite marked and there are concerns that boys may need special attention. 25 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 25 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy throughout the region. Outstanding female students may be supported on scholarship programs to study at universities in other Pacific countries, Australia, New Zealand, or the US. Rural-Urban Inequality. Detailed data comparing enrollment and performance of students on disadvantaged remote outer islands and in rural areas on main islands with urban areas are scarce. This precludes firm conclusions regarding equity issues. In some countries (e.g., PNG), many poor children do not enroll. But in most, the key challenge of equity is one of disparities in the opportunity to learn and in results. Data from the Cook Islands (UNESCO 2000b), for example, summarized in Table 1 suggest that students living outside the capital island of Rarotonga may be at a significant disadvantage. Similarly in PNG, variations between provinces in student retention and examination performance are significant (ADB, AusAID, and World Bank 2004b). Table 1 Cook Islands, Performance of Grade 4 Students on the Pacific Islands Literacy Level Tests % of students achieving % of students achieving minimum standards high standards Maori English Math Maori English Math Northern Group 84 35 48 43 8 4 Southern Group 78 53 78 69 25 37 Rarotonga 63 82 76 25 54 46 National 71 66 72 32 38 39 Source: UNESCO 2000b. A deeper analysis is needed to understand the extent of equity issues in basic education to design appropriate policy interventions that address the needs of the poor. In urban areas, educational disadvantages can be found among children from poor urban families, but undoubtedly the challenges are most pronounced in the outer islands where schools are dispersed, often under-equipped, and staffed with inadequately trained teachers. Despite public provision 26 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 26 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Achievements and Challenges in Education and Training of free primary education in many countries, families have to contribute to direct costs of supplies, uniforms, and transportation fees. Many of the poorest families find this difficult. Rural-urban disparity is probably even more serious at the secondary level as secondary schools are mainly located in urban areas. Students from outer islands need to board, the fees for which may not be affordable for poor parents. Some countries are taking initiatives to address this. The Government of Cook Islands has expanded correspondence-based secondary education in the outer islands. Kiribati started a program in 1998 to build junior secondary schools in all the inhabited outer islands. The program has recently concluded and has significantly increased access at this level. Inequity in access is even more apparent at the postsecondary/tertiary level. Where there are local institutions, they are typically located in urban centers that favor the better-off urban population. Planning, Management, and Institutional Capacity In many PDMCs, the weak capacity to manage the system and effectively deploy resources is a major issue jeopardizing the quality and efficiency of the education system. In several countries, education policies have not successfully balanced demands for local priority treatment with broader national policy objectives. Databases are often weak, and where data exist, they are often not adequately analyzed or used for policy formulation. Policy processes are frequently haphazard and driven by donor agendas rather than national priorities. Financial management systems often lack transparency. Several of these issues are a direct consequence of “smallness.” Most countries only have a limited number of managers and technical specialists, often subject to considerable turnover, which makes it difficult to establish an adequate core of trained personnel and capacity in the system. Key sector institutions are often starved for financial resources or have failed to develop staff with up-to-date technical skills. Several small countries lack adequate institutional arrangements for curriculum development, teacher supervision, policy analysis, planning, and monitoring. Strengthening the capacity for strategic planning and management is essential to making the education system more efficient. There is a need for long-term strategies that focus on quality, 27 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 27 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy that help PDMCs to deploy their resources to maximum advantage, and that are closely linked to the overall national development program and budget framework. While most PDMCs have an education plan, the quality varies considerably.37 Some PDMCs—e.g., Fiji Islands, FSM, RMI, Samoa, and Tonga—have extensive education plans. Samoa has been evaluating its achievements and is preparing its second long-term policy and strategic plan for 2006–2014. Tonga has completed its first long-term education policy framework for 2004– 2019. Similarly, Tuvalu is in the process of completing its first 10-year education and training sector master plan to strategically address associated issues. The lack of such comprehensive plans partly explains the less than satisfactory performance of many fragmented projects in the past. Countries are recognizing the importance of the planning and management challenges to education development and the potential for regional cooperation to help address some of the capacity issues. In the Pacific, there exist over 30 regional educational institutions initiated by various religious, governmental, and philanthropic groups.38 Regional organizations such as PIFS play an important coordinating role in the education sector for their member countries. In doing so, they contribute to regional cooperation and the development of regional education strategies. The largest regional educational entity is the University of the South Pacific (USP), which was set up in 1968. It offers a variety of courses at the tertiary level for 12 member countries. The South Pacific Board of Educational Assessment (SPBEA) is committed to providing services to individual countries to enable them to implement their own assessment activities to overcome the challenges of scale. A major donor-supported regional project was the Basic Education and Literacy Support Project 1993– 2001, funded by AusAID, UNDP, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and later joined by NZAID. The program aimed at raising the quality of basic education and provided services, e.g., teacher in-service training, which some member countries, due to their small size, did not have the capacity to provide by themselves. 37 A PRIDE survey indicates that almost all PDMCs have some kind of plan. 38 For a long list of various regional institutions and rich discussions on services they provide and challenges they face, see Crocombe 2001. 28 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 28 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Achievements and Challenges in Education and Training The commitment to regional cooperation for capacity building and institutional strengthening in the education sector has intensified in recent years. The Pacific Islands Forum Education Ministers adopted in 2001 a basic education action plan designed to refocus formal and informal education and skills development activities to better support private sector needs for educated and trained manpower. A central theme is the need to strengthen national planning and policy formulation for education development. The plan puts considerable emphasis on the need to ensure equity and improve quality in basic education, to develop appropriate strategies for skills development, and to develop partnerships with civil society organizations and improve coordination among and between donors and stakeholders, including governments. The EU and New Zealand are supporting implementation of the action plan. Particularly important is the EU- and NZAID-supported Pacific Regional Initiative Delivering Basic Education (PRIDE), which is designed to strengthen the capacity of Pacific education institutions to effectively plan and deliver high- quality basic education. The project is expected to result in strategic plans for education in all participating countries, formulated through wide consultation with all stakeholders including teachers, parents, pupils, communities, and private sector groups. The project will also help countries implement, monitor, and evaluate such plans by way of capacity building activities at the national and regional levels, particularly through distance learning programs. Encouraging effective donor coordination at national levels will be an important project activity. Financing Education PDMCs allocate substantial resources to education. The sources are multiple and include allocations from the government budget, support from external development partners, and funding from parents and nongovernment providers. Table A3.1 in Appendix 3 provides the percentage of gross national income (GNI), GDP, and total government expenditure for education for various years. Table A3.2 in the same appendix summarizes available data on public spending, percentages allocated to primary education, unit costs for primary and secondary education, and percentages of education budgets that go to teachers’ salaries in PDMCs. Funding from aid agencies forms a 29 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 29 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy large part of education spending in PDMCs. Much of it is not reflected in the official budget. But it is clear from Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development/Development Co-operation Directorate (OECD/DAC) data that the social sectors, particularly education, receive considerable external support, albeit with considerable variation by country ( World Bank and Statistical Departments of Pacific Island Member Countries 2004). Private resources provided by church groups, NGOs, individuals, and parents also contribute significantly to the financing of education. Except for FSM and RMI, preschool education in the region is largely community provided and managed, primary education is a government responsibility, and secondary education is predominantly church run. Government and church collaboration is the usual way to expand the provision of education services where public funds are scarce. In Fiji Islands, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu, the governments pay the teachers of all registered schools, but management and maintenance lies partly or wholly with the community and churches. In Kiribati, for example, a student in a church secondary school costs the Government $300 a year as compared with $2,000 in a government school (ADB 2002e). Parents contribute to school financing by paying direct and indirect miscellaneous fees in basic education and tuition and miscellaneous fees in post-basic education. In Vanuatu, parents pay a $46.95 equivalent per year for primary and a $93.90 equivalent for secondary school. School fees are estimated to amount to some 13% of recurrent expenditures for primary and secondary public schooling (ADB 2000e). School committees govern the schools and are responsible for the physical maintenance of buildings. Parent-teacher associations help to raise funds to acquire equipment and facilities and to maintain schools. These different sources of funding make it difficult to do a comprehensive assessment of the total resources available for education development. A central question is how efficiently these resources are used to achieve the education development goals of equity of access, quality of learning outcomes, and relevance to the needs of social and economic development that are desired by all countries. Only scattered data with uncertain reliability are available at this point. Several key points stand out. 30 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 30 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Achievements and Challenges in Education and Training • Education expenditures as a percentage of GDP are relatively high by international standards. • The share of education in the national budget averages about 17% which is at par with other developing countries (UNDP 1999) while Fiji Islands and Vanuatu commit a higher proportion.39 • The share of primary education is comparatively low in Cook Islands, RMI, and Tuvalu. Some analyses (World Bank and Statistical Departments of Pacific Island Member Countries 2004) suggest that in some countries relatively generous funding of secondary education may deprive primary education of the resources it needs to be able to function effectively.40 In others, tertiary education absorbs a disproportionate amount of resources (ADB 2003f).41 • STRs are low in several countries, resulting in relatively high costs per student. Many countries in Asia and in other regions have achieved acceptable levels of student learning with class sizes of around 30 (e.g., STR in Korea is 32).42 There is not a lot of research evidence that suggests that very low STRs result in high levels of student learning. The impact of textbooks and other instructional materials and time spent learning appear to be much more important. • Allocations for nonsalary expenditures are very low. Most of the recurrent budgets go to staff salaries. This makes it neces- sary for governments to seek other sources of funding, nota- bly external assistance, for curriculum development, teacher training, equipment procurement, and school buildings. In PNG and Samoa, government revenues largely support recur- rent budgets, and aid funding supports development initia- tives. In FSM and RMI, the education budgets rely heavily on US compact funds. 39 See Appendix 3. It is worth noting that the ratio of government spending to GDP is very high in several PDMCs. 40 In fact there is considerable variation in the share of the budget allocated to secondary education: Fiji Islands and Vanuatu allocate about 50% of the education budget for this purpose and PNG less than 10% (UIS data). 41 Palau, for example, spent in 2000/01 more than 30% of it education budget on post secondary education (UIS data). 42 The EFA fast-track framework suggests a maximum of 40. 31 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 31 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM . Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Information on the financing of education in the Pacific is weak and precludes a meaningful analysis of budget allocations and cost per student in different countries. Regional cooperation and cooperation with institutions outside the region may need to be developed more systematically at the tertiary level where the per-student costs are high and are particularly sensitive to economies of scale. ICT may offer opportunities to address issues in a cost- effective way. Cross-national studies generally suggest a positive correlation between the level of economic growth and that of educational development. However, Figure 2 shows no clear relationship for PDMCs between NER and GNI per capita at the primary level and a very mixed relationship at the secondary level. In any event, interpretation of these relationships must take account of very different and specific national dynamics underlying education development, although it is clear that very different levels of enrollment can be achieved at the same level of GNI. Figure 2 Primary and Secondary Gross Enrollment Rates by Gross National Income Per Capita in Selected PDMCs Source: ADB 2004c. 32 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 32 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Achievements and Challenges in Education and Training This raises the question of why the educational performance of some countries is disappointing in spite of high levels of expenditures.43 In several of the higher income PDMCs, student learning achievement is unacceptably low and secondary enrollment much less than could be expected given their levels of income. For example, in the lower income countries (PNG, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste) secondary gross enrollment varies between 14% and 34%. In the middle-income countries (GNI $1,000–$2,000), secondary enrollment rates range from 28.6% in Vanuatu to 109% in FSM. Skills development remains a challenge to be addressed in virtually every country in the region. Clearly, there are important issues of resource allocation and utilization that need to be tackled if progress toward quality, relevance, and equity is to be accelerated and sustained. Many of these issues are typical of the education policy challenges in low- income countries.44 It is not surprising that they dominate the policy environment in the low-income Melanesian countries, but it is disappointing to see that they remain to be addressed effectively in several of the other higher income PDMCs. Clearly, it is government policy that matters. At all levels of income, efficiency in the allocation of public resources between levels of education and different inputs is of paramount importance as is the effectiveness of the processes that converts resources to learning results in schools and classrooms. While a dispersed population settlement pattern makes it a challenge to realize economies of scale, it is important to explore alternatives to existing service delivery strategies to enhance cost-effectiveness. Many PDMC governments already allocate a large proportion of their national resources to education and training, and it is unlikely that they will be able to afford to increase it. 43 There is no NER available for FSM, and GER looks very distorted indicating that there is no system of collecting appropriate data. The documents on school enrollment collected during the field visits provide different enrollment numbers by grade and province without indicating parallel numbers of population in the age brackets making calculation of enrollment rates form one grade to the next impossible. 44 See for example the work of Alain Mingat on Africa. 33 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 33 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy The Challenge of Education Development in Pacific Developing Member Countries In conclusion, all PDMCs face considerable, although different, challenges in education development. Most important are equity and quality. In the larger Melanesian countries, issues of access still loom large. They, as well as several Micronesian countries, also need to address significant problems of dropping out and of retention. All PDMCs are deeply concerned about the low quality of instruction in many of their schools and about the failure of many students to perform at the level specified in the curriculum. Almost all PDMCs recognize the need to better understand the prevalence of disparities within countries, including gender disparities, at all levels of education and to adopt effective policies to redress them. Important and urgent questions are being asked about strategies for skills development at secondary and tertiary levels that can help support policy to further private sector development and to spur economic growth. Addressing these challenges will require a pro-poor policy perspective. The evidence is overwhelming that the poor, the people who face hardship, and those who cannot access social services need to be the primary focus of education policy and public action. This implies first and foremost that all children must have the opportunity to complete the basic education cycle with mastery of the knowledge, the skills, and the personal attributes specified in the curriculum. Supplying a basic, high-quality service will go a long way toward resolving demand problems and the resulting disengagement from education, especially among the disadvantaged groups in society. There is considerable evidence from around the world that quality, affordability, and easy access to schools are key elements that determine the demand for education. It is not surprising that where education is of poor quality, expensive, and far away from home, demand is low. But providing a high-quality basic education will often not suffice to support national development aspirations, especially in middle- income countries. All PDMCs face—in different ways—the challenge of providing students who complete basic education opportunities for further learning and skills development. A good number will want to and be able to continue their general education in upper secondary schools. Others will immediately enter skills development programs, 34 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 34 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Achievements and Challenges in Education and Training but all will need to be ready to pursue their education throughout their working lives. Providing these opportunities in a way that is both financially sustainable and responsive to national development needs and personal aspirations is the second goal of education policy that few countries will be able to ignore. The foregoing analyses also indicate that systemic solutions are required to increase performance. Policy reform is often at the heart of education development. Where governments have implemented the right policies, performance is better.45 Where strong institutions support these policies, progress will be continuous. Where resources are allocated efficiently and used effectively, the results can be sustained. Designing and implementing an appropriate national sector policy framework and investment program, monitoring progress toward development objectives, and evaluating the lessons of experience are essential elements of successful education development. These represent major challenges for small countries with limited numbers of education managers and technical specialists. PDMCs are fortunate that they can call on significant support from development partners as they tackle this task. 45 Mauritius and Cape Verde are examples of island countries that have made great strides in education. 35 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 35 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Chapter 4 External Assistance to Education External assistance46 is an important source of additional funding and technical expertise that affects education development in PDMCs in many different ways. This section will review the assistance provided by ADB and other external bilateral, multilateral, and private agencies. Much of it supports country activities but an important and growing amount is supporting regional cooperation initiatives and programs. In the past, much of the external assistance was project specific. Results often have been less than expected. Moreover, the transaction costs of the aid programs—project design, negotiations, progress reporting, and supervision—often are a significant burden for small countries with few specialists. An important recent development is the commitment of funding agencies that are actively supporting education in the region to work together more closely, to program their support in the framework of sector development programs, and to harmonize their procedures. ADB’s Assistance to Education ADB involvement in Pacific education has expanded in recent years and has been moving strategically toward improving basic 46 Tables in Appendix 4 provide funding amount provided by various bilateral and multilateral agencies. 36 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 36 01/08/2005, 3:07 PM External Assistance to Education education services in PDMCs. Since 1981, ADB has provided a total of $82.26 million for nine loans and $7.0 million for 22 technical assistance grants to the education sector. However, out of total lending, about 30% was allocated to postsecondary ( TVET and tertiary) education, 27% to skills development activities, and 26% to basic education (encompassing mainly primary and secondary education). And of total technical assistance funds about $2.9 million were used for project preparatory activities whereas the rest was used for sector studies, capacity building, and ICT. Most technical assistance and loans were project-specific, rarely took a comprehensive view of the education and training sector of a country, and did not analyze links among subsectors. Since the mid-1990s, ADB has focused more on the education sector as a whole. The education development project in the Cook Islands and the Samoan education sector project are examples. ADB has gradually been moving toward a sector-wide approach for better investment impact. In other cases, it has addressed education issues in the framework of an integrated social services program. The basic social services project in FSM is an example of this approach. It aims at assisting the government in designing and introducing essential reforms in both the health and education sectors in order to develop the human resources of FSM in a sustainable manner. Of the nine education projects that ADB has supported since 1981, six were approved in the last five years. Five projects have supported skills development, and four have supported basic education. The technical assistance program has supported 12 operations in the education sector in the Pacific since 2000, half for skills development. PNG has been the largest client with three lending and six technical assistance operations, followed by Samoa (one loan and four operations) and RMI (two loans and one operation). (See Tables A4.1 and A4.2, Appendix 4.) Completion reports are available for four operations. A key lesson learned in the education development project in the Cook Islands (Loan 1317–COO[SF]) and the basic education development project in RMI (Loan 1249–RMI[SF]) is the importance of a sector development plan to guide resource allocation and coordinate activities of different aid agencies. Both reports emphasize the need to take account of and address in the project design institutional weaknesses and weak management capacity. In line with these recommendations and ADB’s overall education sector policy, PARD 37 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 37 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy has begun to support sector approaches through analyses designed to develop medium- and long-term strategic education plans in some PDMCs. This will be continued and adopted whenever appropriate. Education Activities of Other Funding Agencies Bilateral funding agencies are important contributors to the education sector in the Pacific. Of these, AusAID has been the largest donor. From 1995 to 2003, on average, AusAID provided A$94.25 million per year to 17 countries. The total during 2002–2003 was about A$91.0 million of which PNG received the highest amount (66%). Other recipients were Vanuatu (7%), Kiribati (6%), Fiji Islands (5%), Samoa (4%), Tonga (2%), and Tuvalu (2%). Distribution of funding by subsector is as follows: primary (34.5%), secondary (4.2%), higher education including scholarships and TVET (42%), and education policy and administrative management/capacity building (13%). About 20% of the total went to capacity building, including sector programs, and 5% went to regional programs. AusAID is increasingly shifting its support to basic education. For 2002–2003, A$31.4 million was spent on primary education vs. A$4.6 million on higher education. (See Table A4.3, Appendix 4.) NZAID identifies its priorities in education in its recently finalized education policy strategy. These are (i) basic education with the aim of assisting core partner countries to achieve EFA goals, and (ii) post basic and tertiary education in its core partner countries and through selected regional programs with an emphasis on achieving gender equality at these levels of education by 2015. For NZAID, basic education encompasses the first 10 years of education (early childhood to junior secondary) including literacy, indigenous education, TVET, and distance programs. Of the total amount of funding in 2002–2003, about $15.5 million (68%) was allocated to postsecondary and higher education including scholarships and TVET. Other subsector allocations show 13% for primary, 9% for secondary, 8% for ICT, and about 3% for nonformal and skills development programs. There is a recent shift of emphasis from tertiary to basic education that is not yet visible in data on resource allocation by subsector. (See Table A4.4, Appendix 4.) The Japan International Cooperation Agency is focusing on: improvement of basic education by supporting school infrastructure 38 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 38 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM External Assistance to Education development; improvement of math, science, music, and arts; vocational education at the high school or polytechnic level; and ICT at USP. Education for people with disabilities is another area of focus especially in Fiji Islands. The US compact fund provides budgetary support to FSM, Palau, and RMI. During 1999–2000, the US government provided 85.7% to FSM, 77% to RMI, and 45.3% to Palau from its total aid of $154.4 million (23.5% of total aid from all sources) to the Pacific. In addition, the US government provides various federal grants and other cash and voluntary support for which exact information is not available. In 2004–2005, the total education grant from the US to FSM was a total of $40.4 million, e.g., 41% of total compact grants. In 2004–2006, Palau will receive $2 million each year or a total of $6 million for education. In RMI, the total support consisted of 83% from the US (46% US compact fund and 37% US federal grants) in 2003–2004. Among the multilateral donors, the World Bank since 1976 has provided US$109.5 million to PNG (50%), Solomon Islands (25%), and Timor-Leste (25%). It also helped Samoa with a small grant to prepare an education sector study. About $5.4 million in grant and International Development Association credit has been planned for Tonga and Vanuatu for the next few years. At present, the World Bank is leading two multidonor projects in Timor-Leste. It is also funding the preparation of a human resource development strategy paper for PNG and a regional one for the Pacific. The EU’s total planned funding from 2003 to 2008 is $48.7 million of which about $34.2 million is provided on a country-specific basis for six countries and US$14.5 million for regional initiatives ($9 million for PRIDE and $5.5 million for USP human resource development). The EU funding mostly covers all subsectors except universities and refers mainly to education infrastructure, equipment, and learning materials. The EU is ready to support an education program in countries where a conducive policy and sector investment environment exists. (See Tables A4.5 and A4.6, Appendix 4.) UNESCO’s regional office in Samoa manages some donor funding. For the next two years, UNESCO is implementing two projects funded by the Japanese government. The first ($250,000) supports teacher training in remote and rural parts of the Pacific through teacher training institutions with a regional vocation. The second for the same amount supports the collection, maintenance, and use of educational data. This latter project will be led by the UNESCO 39 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 39 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Statistics Institute and will include work in all Pacific countries. The regional office has seed funding in the program budget for regular workshops for EFA national coordinators and for meetings of directors of education.47 UNICEF focuses on early childhood development activities. It has also been active in making primary schools child friendly through projects in four countries. In addition, it supports some regional programs. (See Table A4.7, Appendix 4.) External funding has often been slow to adjust to emerging national and international priorities. However, almost all the funding agencies are committed to supporting PDMCs in achieving the MDGs and the EFA goals, and therefore generally recognize the need for appropriate resource allocation to basic education. This implies in several cases a reordering of subsector priorities which is now underway. External assistance is thus likely to have an increasingly strong focus on achieving high-quality basic education. This will also help PDMCs meet the international commitments that their governments have made. Public/Private Partnerships Private and nongovernment agencies (church, community, and NGOs) play a significant role in providing educational services. Some church schools receive considerable funding from their international networks. The Church of Seventh Day Adventists and other Protestant churches have schools in many PDMCs including Kiribati, PNG, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Further, NGOs are very active in providing nonformal education for poorer groups. One of the most important NGOs in PNG is the Summer Institute of Linguistics that plays a key role in developing vernacular language materials for basic education. Education ministries and departments often work in partnership with church groups, communities, and NGOs and discuss strategies and policies to provide quality education and to reduce pressure on the public sector. Public schools may send their teachers to observe classroom practices and processes in private schools or may organize workshops to introduce effective teaching and learning. Governments may consider adopting good practices from private 47 Information provided by the UNESCO office in Samoa. 40 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 40 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM External Assistance to Education schools to improve their service delivery mechanisms. They may also make effective and systematic use of voluntary teachers provided through the Peace Corps (US), Volunteer Service Overseas (United Kingdom), Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, Australian Volunteers Abroad, Volunteer Service Abroad (New Zealand), and UN Volunteers where countries lack teachers. 41 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 41 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Chapter 5 Future Directions for Pacific Education and Training Achieving equity in access to schooling, opportunities to learn, and results—especially for children from low-income families—are challenges that many education systems continue to struggle with. Addressing them in PDMCs will require policies explicitly designed to promote learning at a high level and resource mobilization strategies that draw on private and public sources. Effective education service delivery requires more than the provision of resources to the education sector. Deploying the resources efficiently and equitably and using them effectively for instruction is key. This is especially important in those PDMCs where high levels of expenditure have not resulted in the anticipated improvements in instructional effectiveness and student performance. This section discusses some key priorities for education development that countries may wish to consider as they develop strategies to improve the quality, equity, and efficiency of their education service. Clearly, these strategies will vary for every PDMC and each country will need to define what its priorities are given the specific education, social, and economic development challenges it faces. 42 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 42 01/08/2005, 3:03 PM Future Directions for Pacific Education and Training Confronting the Challenge of Equitable Access and Quality Chapter 3 has shown that throughout the Pacific enhancing the supply of quality basic education services is likely to remain an education development priority for some time to come. Demand for education is generally strong, although problems of quality, accessibility, relevance, and cost can frustrate demand especially among disadvantaged groups. There is reason to believe that an effective supply strategy will trigger a strong demand response. Box 3 illustrates how a policy designed to expand equitable access to education of improved quality was implemented in Samoa. Box 3 Samoa: Addressing Access and Quality The gross primary enrollment rate is high in Samoa, but of the 35,790 children in primary school in 1999, 76% could enroll only in 138 very poor quality village schools run by school committees. Only three primary schools in the heart of the urban center of Malifa with 9% of the students were directly under government control. These schools were overcrowded, with large classes and very high pupil- teacher ratios. Despite these adverse conditions, a large number of primary school graduates from these schools gained entry to government senior colleges. The good academic record of these schools reinforced the strong demand from parents to have their children educated in Malifa. The government policy of running only three schools equipped with good facilities created inequitable access to better- quality education for the majority of Samoan students. Many families from outer islands and far away villages cannot afford to send their children to Malifa. With ADB support through the Education Sector Project: Loan 1752–SAM, the govern- ment decentralized the system to ensure political commitment, ownership, and community participation. A series of subprojects ensured more equitable access to schooling by upgrading and/or expanding selected public primary and secondary schools throughout the country. Three schools in Malifa are being restructured into a single primary school and refurbished to provide integrated facilities for a maximum of 750 students from villages in the immediate vicinity. This school will be managed and run by a school committee thus transferring the ownership from the government. Simultaneously, six other public primary schools have been rehabilitated in six villages in the greater Apia urban area and have absorbed the excess of students from the three schools at Malifa. Source: ADB Samoa review mission reports. 43 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 43 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy There is increasingly robust knowledge based on the experience with strategies for quality improvement in developing countries48 that can guide the development of national programs. Box 4 summarizes the strategic priorities and results areas that this research suggests for consideration by PDMCs in the light of the analyses in Chapter 3. A few key points are worth highlighting. First, policies to improve quality and equity cannot be separated. Over the past two decades the goal of education policy has shifted from equal opportunity to enroll to universal enrollment and more recently to universal completion. Without high-quality instruction, the latter cannot be accomplished. Quality is inextricably linked with equity. Recent analyses from a large number of developing countries confirm that poverty, rural residence, and gender persist as the strongest negative correlates of school attendance and performance. The impact of poverty on enrollment, retention, and completion is particularly striking (Filmer 2001). While data on PDMCs are scarce, those that are available confirm a similar pattern. There is little doubt that in particular the high direct cost of education to parents is a reason why poor children do not enter school or drop out early.49 In response, many countries have implemented free primary education policies in recent years. Where governments decide to levy fees, they will need to make sure that arrangements are in place to ensure that no child is excluded from school because of inability to pay. Free basic education is the policy in most PDMCs, but small tuition fees are often charged as in Samoa and Tuvalu. Furthermore, education is not really free when families have to purchase books, stationery, uniforms, and transport. For poorer families, opportunity costs may also be significant. Efforts should be made to reduce the costs for poor children and for those at risk. This may involve fee waivers or cash subsidies for the purchase of textbooks and supplies. The challenge is to ensure that such subsidies are well targeted and appropriately and transparently accounted for. Decision making at the school and community level has been found to be the most effective way to prevent misdirection or misappropriation. 48 See for example UNESCO 2004b and Verspoor forthcoming. 49 African countries such a Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda which recently abolished primary school fees have seen dramatic increases in their enrollments. 44 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 44 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Future Directions for Pacific Education and Training Box 4 Strategic Priorities for Education Development that Pacific Developing Member Countries May Want to Consider of Students from the Three Schools at Malifa Vision : Improved education outcomes Goal : Enhancing education service delivery for the poor Strategic Objective Expected Results 1. Confront the challenge • All children enroll in a primary school of acceptable quality. of equity • Community-based preschool programs are widely available. • Public resources are targeted to ensure gender equity and equitable opportunities to learn for students from disadvantaged groups. • Nonformal programs provide education and training opportunities for adolescents and adults who never went to school or who dropped out early. 2. Transform public, • Resources are allocated to the most cost-effective inputs. private, and • Essential inputs are available to all schools. development partner • A culture of high quality with a focus on learning achievement resources into learning exists. results • Curricula are adapted to local context. • Improved teacher competence and effective classroom practices are evident. • School-level resources are used effectively and efficiently. 3. Strengthen capacity to • ICT potential is exploited for improved access, quality and manage and deliver efficiency. the education service • Resources are deployed efficiently. • School leadership is strengthened and effectively supported. • Organizational structure and incentive to support good quality service delivery are in place. • Local control of resources and accountability systems is strengthened. • Education management information system provides timely statistics and performance indicators. • Opportunities for innovation are tested and promoted. • Regional technical resources are successfully exploited. 4. Promote education • Sector programs provide coherent and financially sustainable sector strategies and framework for investment and policy reform. development • Sector-wide approaches strengthen government leadership processes that are and enhance coordination and harmonization of programs relevant and respond supported by external partners. to national objectives • Effective systems for monitoring and evaluation provide the and needs basis for progress reporting and joint review of development results. • Cost-effective strategies for further education and skills development are an integral part of the sector program. • Participatory processes for the design and implementation of education development programs including governments, civil society, and private providers are strengthened. • Regional cooperation supports the effectiveness and efficiency of national programs. Source: ADB Samoa review mission reports. 45 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 45 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Transforming Resources into Results Investing increasingly scarce resources in cost-effective inputs, i.e., inputs that produce high increases in learning achievement per dollar invested, must be a priority for education systems that face increasingly severe financial constraints but at the same time aim to improve student-learning outcomes. Some key findings (Lockheed and Verspoor 1991; Verspoor forthcoming) that are important to consider in resource allocation decisions are listed below. • The academic level of teachers has variable effects. More than 12 years of general education may not have much impact on student learning, but language competency is a key variable. • Teacher development is likely to be most effective with a relatively short, practice-focused, professional pre-service program followed by continuous in-service training and support. • One book per pupil in core subjects is likely to enhance learning achievement significantly. • Pre-school attendance has a positive impact on student learning. • Time available for learning has an important impact on achievement. • Repetition rarely has a lasting effect on student learning and is correlated with high dropout. • Double shift systems are almost always detrimental to learning. • Multi-grade50 systems usually have no negative impact and enhance learning when well designed and implemented. 50 Multi-grade instruction is the practice where one teacher instructs a group of students who work at different grade levels. The one-room schoolhouse is the most extreme form of this. 46 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 46 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Future Directions for Pacific Education and Training As important as the cost-effective provision of inputs but much less well understood is the development of a culture that explicitly aims to promote quality and learning. Such a culture of quality is driven and sustained by a set of values and beliefs on the process of teaching and learning—a theory and practice of education and a vision of educational practice—that is widely shared. Key features are the following: • values that place learning at the center; • a belief that failure is not an inevitable part of the education process and that all children can learn given time and appropriate instruction; • a commitment to equitable outcomes and a readiness to adapt inputs and processes to students’ learning needs; • an improvement process that does not simply define outcomes and standards but that focuses also on the means— on the processes and the skills required to bring about quality results; • a dedication to universal quality learning based on diversity and flexibility in delivery mechanisms and instructional practice. Moving toward such a system means changing the way stakeholders think about schools and schooling, but it also means providing schools with the resources—especially nonsalary ones that can be managed at the school level. Individual school leadership in such a system becomes critically important. Effective systems of school supervision and support are a key part of the institutional set- up. Making this transition toward a high-quality system will require changes in the way resources are financed and managed. International experience suggests that it will also require a continuous investment in the professional and subject matter training of teachers, head teachers, technical specialists, and managers. This is the heart of the capacity building challenge. 47 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 47 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Strengthen Capacity to Manage and Deliver the Education Service No matter how good project designs are and how many resources are available, if a country does not have the people, institutions, and systems to manage the programs and the resources to provide services of quality, the anticipated outcomes are unlikely to materialize. Almost all PDMCs allocate above average levels of resources to their education sectors and receive significant external funding, yet the outcomes are often less than satisfactory. Strengthening the capacity to deliver the education service efficiently and effectively is therefore a sine qua non for bringing about improvements in education quality and equity. Specific mechanisms need to be developed for small island countries with dispersed populations and where service delivery is difficult. A major challenge for PDMCs will be to think through how such changes can be best initiated in a region where much of the population is clustered in small settlements spread over a large area and to identify the strengths of the existing systems that can be built on. Deploying Resources Efficiently. Increasing the efficiency of teacher deployment will be an inescapable part of quality improvement strategies in several countries. In many instances, this may involve increasing school sizes. Since the school catchment area is often limited by geography, this may require increases in school size by offering the full basic education cycle in every school by transferring junior secondary grades to primary school to make them part of basic education, possibly in combination with a system of satellite or cluster schools. This has been done in PNG. (See Box 5.) A more efficient deployment of teachers resulting in an increase in the STR would free up resources to increase the supply of instructional materials, or to provide incentives to teachers working in difficult circumstances, or to recognize exceptional performance.51 Management Information. A major constraint to improvements in the management of education is the paucity of education statistics. This is a serious issue particularly in the smaller countries. Basic 51 It should be noted that it is not always politically possible to be efficient, e.g., by amalgamating small schools, especially where, as in the Fiji Islands and Samoa case, government does not own the schools. 48 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 48 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Future Directions for Pacific Education and Training Box 5 Restructuring the Education System in Papua New Guinea The original formal primary education system of six years of primary then four to seven years of secondary is well on the way to being transformed into three years of elementary, six years of primary (up to class 8), two years of junior secondary, and two to three years of senior secondary. Elementary education includes a preliminary year and classes 1 and 2. Instruction is in the vernacular. The old selection exam at class 6 is being phased out to allow automatic progression to class 8. The bottom two years of the old secondary school system are being transformed into the top two years of primary. Efficiency gains include the following: • an elementary teacher force that is paid on an hourly basis and is considerably less costly than the primary teaching force; • the introduction of a system of parent primary schools to elementary and smaller community feeder schools, thereby permitting the consolidation of class 3 and level 7; • community responsibility for the establishment of the elementary school; • space in primary school provided by dropping classes 1 and 2 and accepting classes 7 and 8; • provision of education in classes 7 and 8 sometimes moving from a residential secondary to a day school primary. Source: Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. 2002i. information on standard system performance indicators such as survival, retention, cost of service, and student learning is not collected or when collected is not analyzed, or when analyzed is not published and rarely used for policy making or public discussion of education issues. PIFS has recently begun to support the collection of key statistics related to the MDGs in collaboration with UNESCO, but much remains to be done. The paucity and inconsistency of data in general and in education in particular require serious effort to ensure accuracy in diagnosing issues and formulating strategies to address them (ADB 2004d, Attachment 1). An important objective of the PRIDE project is to improve the basis for planning and policy development through the collection and analysis of key statistical data. 49 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 49 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Promoting innovations in service delivery. There are important innovations in the provision of education that have been tested in countries around the world. Three may be of particular importance for PDMCs to consider: (i) school based management; (ii) multi-grade instructional strategies; and (iii) use of ICT in education. Throughout the world, schools are expected to become increasingly self-managed and to make decisions regarding curriculum, budget and resource allocation, and staff and students. School-based management is expected to improve the quality of teaching and learning by locating decisions closer to the school, providing for sensitivity to local conditions, and allowing teachers to design education programs to meet local needs and to support improvement in learning (Abu-Duhou 1999). Key elements are the use of locally prepared school development plans as a basis for resource allocation, the provision of decentralized in-service training and support programs driven by teacher demand, and participatory approaches to program development. They all provide strong indications of the changes in the “mental models” of school improvement that are occurring in agencies, education ministries, and other stakeholders. Initiatives that enable schools—or communities— to assume powers related to school and educational decisions more broadly by providing financial resources to be managed at the school level and by strengthening the capacity of school board members and head teachers to manage these resources and account for them are almost certainly key elements of such a strategy.52 These kinds of innovation fit well with the tradition of widespread community participation in school governance in many PDMCs. Schools are often run by a school committee responsible for setting and collecting school fees and school maintenance, whereas government is responsible for providing teachers, for curriculum development, for maintenance of standards, and for provision of recurrent and capital grants. Community involvement and parental participation in the delivery of schooling has been found to be a key element of sustainable school improvement and enhanced student 52 It should be noted, however, that where the skill base is low, e.g., in rural areas, decentralizing school budgeting, curriculum, and resource allocation might not be successful, unless technical support is provided to help the weak schools strengthen their capacity to manage school improvement processes. In the absence of such support, inequities between schools may increase, as urban schools take advantage of the opportunities. 50 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 50 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Future Directions for Pacific Education and Training performance in many countries. This is particularly evident in private (including church-owned) schools where direct accountability to parents and supporting communities and the readiness to communicate with parents on student performance and the operational challenges the school faces contribute significantly to the active involvement of parents and to superior performance.53 Experiences in PNG, Samoa, and Vanuatu suggest similar outcomes. Multi-grade instruction holds considerable promise to improve efficiency and learning. At the same time, it could be used much more frequently and more effectively.54 There is considerable international experience with multi-grade teaching in developed and developing countries. The evidence is clear. Multi-grade teaching can be effective—often even more effective than mono-grade instruction— when an adequate supply of well-designed instructional materials is available and teachers are trained in multi-grade techniques. Moreover, it usually has a highly positive effect on the demand for schooling and student attendance.55 Multi-grade teaching is practiced in RMI, Samoa, Tonga, and several other PDMCs. Instead of deploring the practice as is common, efforts should be made to establish policies that create conditions for its effective use. There is little doubt that ICT can help overcome some of the constraints of small size and isolation that PDMCs face. The potential of communication technology, including computer applications and remote transmission, in spreading educational opportunities to remote and dispersed populations is considerable. ICT can improve not only access through distance learning for remote populations, but also efficiency in delivering high-quality and relevant education. (See Box 6.) It is an important means of transmitting knowledge and information effectively and, by improving computer literacy, of increasing new work opportunities in the Pacific and overseas. However, most schools in the region are poorly equipped with ICT facilities, skilled teachers, and equipment. The number of computer 53 See for example, Lockheed and Verspoor 1991; Jimenez, Lockheed, and Wattanawaha 1988; Jimenez, Lockheed, Luna, and Paqueo 1991; and Jimenez and Sawada 1999. 54 There is abundant literature on multi-grade instruction. See http://www.ioe.ac.uk/multigrade/ for a bibliography. 55 To reduce the high cost of small schools, Kiribati has attempted to consolidate students, teachers, and resources into fewer schools. This resulted in strong resistance from parents when the consolidated schools were far from their homes. A key challenge therefore is to develop cost-effective strategies for providing education to small, dispersed, and, often, disadvantaged populations. 51 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 51 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Box 6 Information and Communication Technology and Improved Education Outcomes Individuals learn in different ways. The traditional passive classroom scenario where the teacher lectures and the student reads and memorizes is not productive for some students. In the Pacific, where a prevailing oral tradition endures, learners become more and more frustrated and drop out of school. The use of multimedia which brings into play more of the senses can overcome some of those shortcomings with the right teaching approaches and good materials. Adding a degree of interactivity where learners receive immediate and appealing feedback for their efforts and are then guided through an interactive process to correct errors can provide an accelerated and highly motivating learning environment. The children and teachers who live and work on outer islands are physically isolated from the outside world, even from their capitals, and that contributes to inequitable education outcomes. In countries where providing training and education to dispersed outer island schools is difficult, technology can be a useful alternative.Yet, despite the potential, it is important to proceed carefully and to identify those applications that impact directly on instructional practice and student learning. Educational technologies have often been “oversold” by enthusiastic promoters and “underused” by poorly prepared teachers (Cuban 2001). The most promising applications are in higher education and upper-secondary education, in-service teacher education, and international school networks (e.g., World Links).56 Collaboration with private sector specialists for maintenance, support, and instruction may help overcome start-up problems. Source: ADB Staff. 56 http://www.world-links.org users in the Pacific region compares unfavorably internationally. Where computers are available, they are few and arrangements for maintenance and software support pose difficulties. Programs in computer studies are limited. The underdevelopment of ICT facilities in PDMCs limits the pursuit of knowledge and will disadvantage students in the region at a time when the global flow of information is growing. Intensifying Regional Cooperation. Small island countries cannot achieve economies of scale. Establishing centers for curriculum and textbook development or for pre-service teacher training, for example, 52 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 52 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Future Directions for Pacific Education and Training may prove expensive and impossible to sustain given their financial, technical, and management capacities. Alternative strategies are critically important. Regional organizations can often cater to the specific needs of different countries. SPBEA is addressing issues related to assessments while PRIDE can develop individualized curricula focusing more on country context, needs, and relevance. Another alternative is to use ICT to target outer island populations as is done in FSM and Fiji Islands. Distance education to provide pre- service and in-service training is well established in many developing countries. Small economies such as Cook Islands and Tuvalu can use ICT to improve the quality of their education services. Improving Relevance and Responsiveness of Sector Development Processes In the Pacific as in other developing countries, external support has been provided largely in the form of project aid. In many cases, this approach has limited the overall impact on development especially where external aid represents a significant proportion of public spending and where a large number of external partners is involved. Investments have often been determined by agency priorities rather than by national needs, with considerable duplication and distortions of spending priorities. Many developing country governments—including those in PDMCs—are not equipped to effectively handle the burden of dealing with multiple agencies for project development, negotiation, and supervision, resulting in a lack of ownership and limited institutionalization even of demonstrably successful experiments. These problems are widely recognized by governments and their development partners. There is broad agreement that complementary and reinforcing interventions are likely to be more effective. As an alternative to traditional project aid, the sector-wide approach (SWAp) has been used in several countries in Asia and Africa. It is designed to ensure government leadership in program design and implementation, alignment of government and partner objectives, coherence of financial support, and harmonization of procedures. The 53 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 53 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy approach is operationalized through several instruments: (i) explicitly agreed frameworks for partnership; (ii) comprehensive sector development plans; (iii) a medium-term expenditure framework; (iv) macro-economic links; and (v) clearly agreed strategies for strengthening management systems and implementation capacity. The main features are summarized in Box 7. Box 7 Features of the Sector-Wide Approach Comprehensive Sector Development Program • Sector wide in scope, covering all programs and projects • Based on policy objectives for the sector and strategies to achieve them over the medium to long term • A program of specific interventions and expenditure plans in the nearer term Expenditure Framework • Links with the macro framework and poverty reduction strategy for integration with the overall expenditure program • Has an intrasectoral spending plan derived from program priorities Country Ownership • Government takes the lead, sets priorities, coordinates the donors, and consults broadly with local stakeholders Donor Partnership • Donors support the country in its role, and align their support to the same government program Donor Harmonization • Donors adopt common implementation and management structures, preferably those of the government Source: World Bank 2001. 54 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 54 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Conclusion: The Asian Development Bank’s Pacific Education and Training Sector Strategy Chapter 6 Conclusion The Asian Development Bank’s Pacific Education and Training Sector Strategy The Asian Development Bank’s Contribution to Education in the Pacific ADB is committed to support PDMCs in their efforts to improve the supply of and demand for high quality education services. It will do this in different ways for different countries to ensure that its support responds to countries’ needs and complements and reinforces the support of other development partners. ADB recognizes that it is only one of several development agencies that actively support education development in the Pacific, that its financial contribution is modest, and that its lending terms are not particularly attractive for a number of PDMCs. At the same time, PDMCs and other partners recognize that ADB can bring valuable contributions to education development as an independent agency with a strong economic and social policy focus, broad experiences throughout Asia, and the capacity to tap experience from other regions. In many PDMCs, the level of education expenditure is already high. The priority for these countries is not so much mobilizing additional external or internal resources but rather providing adequate and equitable funding for basic education and improving the results produced by currently available resources through policy and institutional reforms and more effective collaboration with external 55 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 55 01/08/2005, 2:59 PM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy partners. Under these circumstances lending levels may not be the appropriate yardstick for measuring ADB performance in the education sector. Instead, the results of ADB’s work should be assessed by the extent to which it has been able to (i) help PDMCs deal more effectively with key policy challenges of education development, and (ii) contribute to improvements in the effectiveness of external support, especially for basic education. Given the importance and diverse nature of regional external support for education, the results of ADB support will be strongly determined by the effectiveness of its participation in the partnerships for education development that are emerging in several PDMCs. The more closely this participation is aligned with ADB’s comparative advantage, the more value ADB will be able to add through its contribution to policy dialogues, its lending, and its national and regional technical assistance programs. Supporting Education Outcomes for the Poor The adoption of poverty reduction as ADB’s overarching objec- tive has had important implications for its education and training strategy and its Pacific strategy. It also has implications for the focus of its support for education in PDMCs. While there can be no single set of priorities that applies to all PDMCs, the discussion in Chapter 3 of this paper suggests that the challenge of equity in basic education remains important everywhere, especially as regards equality of learn- ing opportunity and equity of results. ADB will monitor the progress of PDMCs toward the education MDGs and, where necessary, sup- port measures to accelerate progress. There is a robust international body of research evidence and practical experience that ADB can draw on (Chapter 4) to shape its contribution to the policy dialogue and to strategic interventions in this area. A second area of focus must be skills development. It is an area of concern that has been highlighted repeatedly by PDMC ministers of education. It is also a key element of private sector development and the creation of more income earning opportunities for the poor, one of the central foci of ADB’s overall Pacific strategy. Unfortunately, the international knowledge base in this area is much weaker than for basic education, and the singular features of national economic development strategies and labor markets often uniquely shape 56 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 56 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Conclusion: The Asian Development Bank’s Pacific Education and Training Sector Strategy strategic choices. This suggests the need for up-front work to identify a set of policy options that countries may consider as they formulate national policies and investment programs. Strategic Focus Box 8 outlines the medium-term strategic framework, setting out the goals, outcomes, strategic objectives, and key results areas of ADB support to education in the Pacific for 2005–2009. The three strategic objectives are closely related and mutually reinforcing in support of the goal of an increased national capacity to use resources effectively to deliver an improved quality education service that responds to national needs and objectives. Appendix 5 includes ADB activities for the medium-term (2005–2007) to achieve the strategic objectives of this framework. The framework is designed as a frame of reference for ADB’s education work in the Pacific, but of course the actual implementation of the strategy will be country specific through country sector work, dialogue, and program design. Consistent with ADB’s overall education policy, the strategy recognizes the limitations of the project approach and emphasizes the importance of linking specific investments to an overall framework for sector reform and development. This consolidates a shift in strategy that has already begun. In some PDMCs, PARD is providing significant support for sector analyses designed to develop medium- and long- term strategic education plans and is aiming to use a sector instead of a project approach to support education development. Strategic Objective 1: Relevant Education Strategies Relevant education strategies respond effectively to national objectives and client needs. While PDMCs have identified the need to improve basic education service delivery, most have not succeeded in putting in place the policies and strategies necessary to achieve that goal. Sector analyses have often been weak. Donor interventions—including those of ADB—have often been fragmentary and difficult to sustain, and investment strategies inadequately focused on progress towards the MDGs. ADB is already helping several countries develop a national education policy framework and strategic plan. It will explore, with 57 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 57 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Box 8 Education and Training Sector Strategy for Pacific Developing Member Countries 2005–2009 Logical Framework Design Summary Outputs Key Performance Indicators ADB’s and Other and Targets Donors’ Activities (What will ADB contribute (How will the success of its (What are the assumptions toward this goal?) efforts be measured?) that condition ADB’s performance?) Goal (Long term PDMCs at least on track to reach National education development 100% NER and survival to grade statistics improved with objective): 5 and gender equity in primary UNDP/SPC and PRIDE Improved learning and secondary education by support outcomes for the 2015 disadvantaged Outcome (medium term ADB engaged in PDMCs that are Client capacity and development objective off track for education MDGs or willingness to borrow 2005–2009): have significant distortions in and/or avail of technical Enhanced supply of and education spending assistance demand for equity, Pacific strategy for skills External partners ready quality, and relevance of development guiding ADB to support work on education services interventions and accepted by skills development PDMCs Strategic objective 1: Sector development ADB support provided for PDMC and Education strategies that strategies and plans for at preparation of the sector development partner are relevant and least five PDMCs that are development strategies and interest in responsive to national supported by ADB technical plans in three Melanesian harmonization and development objectives assistance and projects countries through regional SWAp-based support technical assistance; and client needs Financially sustainable strategies for universal Completed preparation of completion of basic education education strategies in Samoa supported by ADB technical and Tuvalu. assistance and projects Involved in SWAp in four countries: Effective skills development PNG, Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu strategies supported by Completed skills development ADB regional technical strategies in at least three countries assistance as part of the Pacific plan Strategic objective 2: Efficient allocation of Programs supported by ADB will ADB education staffing Demonstrably more public, private, and include: sufficient to engage in effective public, private, external funding to the – review of education expenditures SWAp-based policy and development basic education subsector and an analysis of the financial dialogue and analytical partner resource through ADB supported/ sustainability of proposed work allocations for basic led policy dialogue policies and investments – targeted policies and education expenditures to ensure equitable learning outcomes – explicit support for innovations for more cost-effective service delivery Strategic objective 3: Strengthened national ADB lending operations as well PDMCs ready to adopt Enhanced capacity of capacity and regional as country and regional technical policy reforms; PDMC to manage and support systems for a more assistance all include support for: development partners deliver a basic education effective delivery of – a baseline assessment of organi- and regional institutions service of quality education services in at zation capacity and institutional ready to align their least five PDMCs effectiveness intervention with supported by ADB – identification of specific capacity country capacity technical assistance and building needs at school, building priorities projects national, and regional level – financing of institutional reforms and staff training – involvement of all stakeholders Source: ADB Staff. 58 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 58 01/08/2005, 10:18 AM Conclusion: The Asian Development Bank’s Pacific Education and Training Sector Strategy PRIDE, their needs for additional support especially in countries where ADB and collaborating agencies want to move to sector programs. ADB will also support regional initiatives in developing strategies, especially for vocational training and skills development under the Pacific plan. A first priority in this approach will be to carry out sector analyses that provide a robust basis for the design of policy reforms and expenditure programs that, most importantly, ensure effective and equitable basic education service delivery. This work should be supported and reviewed jointly by the government concerned and its development partners—including ADB. In addition, ADB will develop a knowledge base that will allow it to engage in a dialogue with governments and development partners on the most effective and efficient way to provide opportunities for skills development. Regional technical assistance support will be available to analyze the issues and develop policy options appropriate for the Pacific. ADB will give priority in its support to those countries that are off track in respect of the education MDGs. The large Melanesian countries in particular face challenges in this regard. A number of donor agencies have been active in these countries, and in some the absorptive capacity of governments is in question. ADB will enhance its engagement in these countries by joining donor agencies that already actively support basic education development, through active participation in policy dialogues and through the provision of technical assistance and lending operations as appropriate. In addition, sustained progress in several other PDMCs toward the education MDGs is limited by severe distortions in education spending. Helping these countries enhance the efficiency of education spending will be a priority for ADB technical support and possibly for lending. In its support, ADB will emphasize innovations for achieving cost- effective higher level learning outcomes. Priority areas will be the development of and experimentation in research-based strategies: (i) for effective multi-grade instruction, (ii) for the development of a positive regulatory framework and effective partnership arrangements with the private sector providers including NGOs and faith-based organizations; and (iii) for the use of ICT to support teacher training, the interaction between students from different parts of the region and even outside, and provision of instructional support to teachers and students in upper secondary schools especially in math and science. There are other areas that are of critical importance such as the development and introduction of local languages in the early grades 59 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 59 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy of primary school, the improvement of teachers’ English language capability, and the development of effective strategies for community- based early childhood education. ADB will emphasize the need to include these in sector development strategies, but it does not consider that it has a particular comparative advantage in direct analysis and program design in these areas. There are probably other partners that are better qualified to provide technical support in these areas. Strategic Objective 2: Effective Resource Allocations The central issue ADB proposes to emphasize will be the need to improve the management of resources within the education sector and at the school level. This will imply an emphasis on the collection of information regarding the sources of funding, the allocation of resources to schools, and the utilization of these resources at the school level. Currently information on actual spending, on cost per student, and on cost per graduate is often not available or is unreliable. This makes it difficult to develop an expenditure projection model that covers the totality of expenditures and allows government and development partners to engage in a dialogue on investment priorities based on information on long-term financial implications. Support for technical work in this area will be a high priority for ADB. Where necessary, ADB will make the case with governments, the private sector, and with other funding agencies to (i) reallocate resources to the basic education subsector, and (ii) encourage the development of a regulatory environment that will be conducive to the emergence of new private providers particularly for skills development programs at the higher levels. A second area of concern for ADB is the allocation of resources for targeted investments to help the poor overcome obstacles to their access to basic education of quality. This may involve above-average allocations of resources for instructional materials and supplies to schools that enroll large numbers of disadvantaged students. In other cases, it may mean waiving fees or making scholarships available to students—especially girls—from poor families who cannot afford to enroll their children in school and ensure that they have the required supplies. 60 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 60 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Conclusion: The Asian Development Bank’s Pacific Education and Training Sector Strategy Strategic Objective 3: Enhanced Capacity to Manage Relevant education strategies and adequate resource allocation to basic education are not enough to achieve results. The need for enhancing the capacity to implement the strategies and to manage the resources effectively may be the most important. ADB has long been involved in strengthening the capacity for education sector management in PDMCs. It will continue its support by helping PDMCs strengthen their capacity to deliver high-quality education services through technical assistance and project financing both at the country and regional levels. ADB is ready to work together with PRIDE and PIFS and, where needed, to strengthen the capacity to help countries implement education and training strategies under its Pacific Plan and the Forum Basic Education Action Plan. It should be noted that the nature of capacity building strategies is changing. Changes in the way the sector is managed bring the limitations of past capacity building strategies to the fore. As the management of the sector becomes increasingly decentralized, more staff have management responsibilities that are of a different nature. For example, head teachers are expected increasingly to manage important budgets. Ministry staff are expected to develop policy through consultative processes. Public accountability is a challenge that managers at all levels need to be ready for. Finally, an important challenge is the management of relations with nongovernment providers in such a way that they can contribute efficiently to national education development objectives. Capacity building support of ADB and other agencies has emphasized the training of managers and technical staff of education ministries. The limits of this approach are well documented (Moulton forthcoming). ADB will broaden its assistance to capacity building by including support for baseline assessments of organization capacity and institutional effectiveness, by identifying specific capacity building needs at the school, national, and regional levels, and by providing financing for institutional reforms and related staff training. Increasingly, capacity building strategies emphasize the development of networks of professionals who can provide peer review and technical support. Especially in the Pacific, such networks can help overcome some of the constraints that small island economies face. ADB is ready to support the development of these networks through its technical assistance operations. 61 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 61 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Implementing the Strategy Country sector development plans will be the basis for ADB and like-minded partner agencies to help PDMCs establish a SWAp to education development. (See Appendix 6 for the objectives of SWAp processes.) This is expected to ensure that education development supports national priorities in a more coherent way and with lower transaction costs than has been the case in the past. ADB is committed to participate actively in SWAps—leading in some, supporting in others—that are emerging in the region. It will design its support as an integral part of the overall external support for national sector development programs. In practice, this will involve participation in joint reviews of sector studies and investment programs, support for gradual harmonization of procedures, and ensuring greater coherence of aid allocations. It is unlikely that at this stage Pacific Island countries will be ready for SWAp financing modalities such as budget support or pooled funding that involve significant demands on the local capacity for financial management, procurement and implementation, monitoring, and reporting. Strengthening the capacity of government in this respect will, however, be an important element of ADB technical assistance and lending. ADB is ready to play a leading role in the coordination of external support to education through SWAps in one or two countries. When necessary, and within the limits of its administrative resources, it would be ready to help mobilize additional international resources by putting in place arrangements for bilateral cofinancing for its operations, and organizing consultative group meetings. The strategic objectives and the medium-term output targets give strategic focus to ADB’s education operations in the Pacific, but actual implementation will take place through operations at the country level. With 14 PDMCs and limited administrative resources available for education, ADB will need to be selective. At the same time, it may be possible to exploit the opportunities created by intensifying cooperation among development agencies in the education sector to leverage ADB’s resources and expertise to service more countries than otherwise would be possible. ADB’s 2005–2007 education lending and technical assistance program includes four lending and six technical assistance operations as shown in Table 2. The support to the education sector has been 62 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 62 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Conclusion: The Asian Development Bank’s Pacific Education and Training Sector Strategy remarkably wide ranging. However, there are few follow-up investments even though international experience and ADB completion reports emphasize the need for long-term involvement in the sector given the time required for successful education reform and capacity building programs. Basic education support in Cook Islands and RMI ended after a single project investment. Even in PNG where ADB has been involved in several projects, support ranges across different subsectors: technical and vocational education, higher education, and a planned literacy training operation. Two other issues are important to consider. • Four countries (Fiji Islands, PNG, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste) comprise more than 90% of the population of the PDMCs. Three of these are off-track (PNG, Solomon and Timor-Leste) for the education MDGs. ADB has not been active in Timor-Leste and Fiji Islands, and has only had a single technical assistance operation (for nonformal vocational education and training in 2003) in the Solomon Islands. • Several countries have comparatively high levels of expenditure on education (e.g., FSM, RMI, and Vanuatu). There may not be a strong case for lending to education there, but ADB could play an important role in helping them design and implement policies that would enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of education expenditures. Tightly focused technical assistance operations may be the most effective way of providing this support. 63 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 63 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Table 2 ADB Lending and Technical Assistance Program 2005–2007 (Million $) Lending Technical Assistance Country Project Name Amount Project Name Amount FSM Education & Health 0.40 Sector Strategy PNG Literacy is for 10.00 Everybody (LIFE) RMI Youth Social 6.00 Services Project Samoa Education Sector 5.00 Capacity Building Project II for Education Sector 0.35 Tuvalu Education Sector 2.00 Reform & Dev’t Project Vanuatu Technical & 0.20 Vocational Training Rural Productive 0.30 Skills Development Regional Strategies for skills 0.80 development in the Pacific Implementation 1.00 of Pacific Education Strategy II Notes: ADB = Asian Development Bank, FSM = Federal State of Micronesia, PNG = Papua New Guinea, RMI = Marshall Islands. Source: ADB Project Processing Information System. 64 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 64 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Conclusion: The Asian Development Bank’s Pacific Education and Training Sector Strategy There is thus a strong case to strengthen the strategic focus and the impact of the education program in four ways: • concentrating ADB support on basic education and skills development as the key education development priorities as discussed in the preceding chapter; • planning a sustained involvement in selected countries through a coherent, long-term program of lending and technical assistance support and follow-up operations when appropriate; • increasing the engagement with the larger countries that are off track for the education MDGs; • providing technical assistance to enhance the capacity for analysis of education financial management to countries where improvements in the efficiency in resource allocation is the dominant priority. ADB will also intensify its support for regional studies on key issues in education development in the Pacific, particularly: • a regional review of skills development issues including an assessment of the experience with different strategies to date, a summary of international experience, and a framework for investment in skills development in the Pacific; • analyzing and investigating key areas of concern in basic education particularly those relating to the prevalence, nature, and causes of educational disadvantage. These studies will involve wide consultations with major stakeholders in education, namely parents, church groups, NGOs, teachers, students, and education officials. ADB will actively seek collaboration with all education development partners and the PIFS for the design, implementation, and dissemination of the study. 65 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 65 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Partnership Arrangements The agenda outlined in the preceding section is ambitious and presents a significant increase in ADB involvement in the education sector in the Pacific. Even if a significant increase in ADB administrative budgets were possible, it would only allow very selective implementation of that agenda. To implement the proposed strategic agenda with broader country coverage, PARD intends to explore possibilities to collaborate more closely with regional organizations and to reduce the transaction costs of its support. This could involve a wide range of activities during the implementation of the education and training strategies, including the following: • intensified collaboration with PRIDE to provide additional support that may be needed to strengthen the collection and analysis of financial data, develop education expenditure projection models, and help countries prepare investment plans for (joint) appraisal by external financing agencies; • implementation, support, and supervision by regional institutions with technical competence in the education sector on behalf of ADB and its SWAp partners; • preparation and coordination of joint review missions by PRIDE; • ADB managed cofinancing arrangements with bilateral agencies; • design and appraisal of multi-country operations for education development, preferably in cooperation with interested bilateral partners The success of ADB’s education and training sector strategies will depend on the readiness of each country to implement them to achieve the desired outcomes. Another important factor is the commitment of the regional institutions and external funding agencies to work together to achieve the best possible education outcomes for each PDMC. ADB will explore with the PIFS, PRIDE, and other regional agencies the needs for additional support especially in countries where ADB and other 66 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 66 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Conclusion: The Asian Development Bank’s Pacific Education and Training Sector Strategy partner agencies want to move to sector programs. ADB will also review with PIFS, PRIDE, PDMCs, and partner agencies the need to intensify and expand PRIDE activities and ways to do so. This will require the readiness of the development agencies active in education in the Pacific to take concrete steps to further develop the framework for cooperation and policy dialogue between agencies and senior policy makers in the region that currently function as part of the Pacific Islands Forum. A good example of the potential of this kind of wide ranging collaboration between donor agencies and countries is the Association for the Development of Education in Africa. (See Appendix 7.) ADB will actively support further development of this kind of structure for knowledge sharing and operational collaboration on education development in the region where necessary through regional technical assistance or through direct participation. To move this partnership agenda forward, ADB will engage in a dialogue with these agencies to explore their interest, to identify the conditions under which this kind of intensified collaboration could take place, and to agree on a program of action to be implemented in 2005–2006. Internal Resource Requirements Implementing the Pacific education and training strategy proposed in this paper will be possible only on a very limited scale with only one education specialist in PARD. A high priority is to assign other staff to complement the work of the education specialist and to strengthen ADB’s capacity to contribute to the improvement of education resource allocation policies in the region. Should donor cooperation in the framework of SWAp take off, there will be a need for at least another staff member to support, monitor, and facilitate these processes. This would be particularly important if a number of operations were to be cofinanced and managed by ADB. In any event, ADB regular staff resources will always be limited, and reliance on consultants will be imperative. It will therefore be important to develop a roster of experienced consultants who share ADB’s views on education development in the Pacific and can effectively represent ADB when regular staff are not available. 67 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 67 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Risks and Monitoring The successful implementation of this plan will depend in the first place on the readiness of PDMCs and major donor agencies to move decisively toward the SWAp strategy outlined in this paper and the willingness and capacity of the regional institutions to provide the necessary organizational and technical support once these are discussed and agreed on with ADB. Second, there is a risk that ADB may not be able to mobilize the staff support necessary to have a meaningful involvement in the SWAp. These risks are real, but they appear manageable. All major stakeholders have expressed support for a more sector-oriented, comprehensive, coordinated way of providing assistance for education development in the Pacific, and initial experiences, especially in Samoa, are positive. There is also a risk that political and governance constraints will hinder the reforms that are necessary to improve performance. While a good analytical and technical foundation is essential, it is not sufficient. The reforms need a strong conceptual foundation. One of the key tasks is to help countries build a firm conceptual or philosophical foundation for their reforms. The commitment to provide all children with an equal opportunity to learn demands all stakeholders to contribute to this goal and create a conducive social environment. ADB and other external agencies can only play a catalytic role. Equally important is an effective process of policy dialogue and sharing of experiences that includes strategies for dealing with political opposition and local interest groups. An important part of the SWAp is therefore monitoring the process of reform and change as well as providing support for participatory and inclusive strategies. The Pacific Forum Education Ministers meetings have called for improved coordination among donors and between donors and stakeholders including the forum’s governments. Experience suggests that major donor agencies are clearly interested in making an effort (e.g., in Samoa); at the same time there are examples that demonstrate that partnerships do not always work smoothly. PARD will also meet at an early stage with the key regional institutions that are best placed to provide technical support for PDMCs to assess their interest and capacity to carry out the work called for in this strategy. ADB would be ready to consider a technical assistance operation to strengthen the capacity of these institutions, particularly in education finance 68 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 68 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Conclusion: The Asian Development Bank’s Pacific Education and Training Sector Strategy and expenditure analysis, should this be required. PARD will report on the progress of implementation of this strategy as part of its annual reporting on progress toward the key results areas of the third Pacific strategy. 69 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 69 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Appendix 1 Economic and Social Indicators age – – – – – , 2001 (%) 0.88 0.98 0.97 0.80 0.45 0.29 0.74 0.66 0.95 omen in W Sector W Employment in Non-agricultural in – – – F 94.0 72.0 99.0 97.0 97.0 16.0 33.0 99.0 70.0 20.0 , 2001 (%) – – – M 85.0 53.0 90.0 72.0 88.0 29.0 27.0 47.0 55.0 31.0 Employment Sector Non-agricultural – – ctive F A 2001 74.0 74.0 78.0 35.4 50.1 46.0 68.0 80.0 35.6 41.0 86.0 P opulation – – % of working age M 85.0 85.0 91.0 66.3 67.2 65.0 86.0 86.0 76.2 73.0 85.0 Economically population), (as epublic of the Marshall Islands. orld Development Indicators. – – – eceived 1.9 7.6 Economic Indicators 2002 22.9 48.4 45.6 21.2 14.5 10.9 58.3 16.4 11.9 Aid R (% of GNI) Rate Per apua New Guinea, RMI = R – 6.3 1.3 2.9 -4.8 -0.7 0.6 -3.2 3.4 -4.9 1.9 1.6 3.0 -1.7 GDP -2002 (%) Growth of Capita 1995- . – in $, acific Department database; UNDP 2004; and W a 960 530 580 520 2002 5,570 2,130 2,380 1,970 6,820 1,430 1,440 1,380 1,070 P er Capita GNI Country ederated States of Micronesia, PNG = P este A1.1 P acific -L Developing I G ormerly total and per capita GNP M — = data not available. FSM = F Fa Sources: ADB 2004c; ADB P T able Member Cook Islands F iji Islands Kiribati R F S M Nauru P alau P N Samoa Solomon Islands T imor T onga T uvalu V anuatu 70 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 70 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Future Directions for Pacific Education and Training — — — — — — — a 2002 0.758 0.542 0.769 0.624 0.787 0.570 13 (1) (2) (8) (7) (13) (12) 1999 of (rank out PDMC) 0.822 0.667 0.515 (9) 0.563 0.569 0.663 (3) 0.314 0.590 (5) 0.371 0.395 (11) 0.647 (4) 0.583 (6) 0.425 (10) 74 72 66 64 68 66 61 70 68 59 7 1 65 67 Life birth 2001 HDI at expectancy 70 68 62 61 65 59 58 67 65 56 6 8 62 65 19 17 51 54 20 25 70 20 20 89 1 6 38 34 Infant rate 2002 mortality M F — T otal rate 3.7 2.6 3.6 5.7 3.5 3.7 4.3 4.0 5.3 3.4 3.4 4.3 fertility 2002 age orld Development Indicators. 2002 35 33 41 44 40 39 40 41 45 — 3 7 34 41 Estimate 0-14 group as % of total pop. opulation pop 7.5 as % of 2000 59.0 49.4 38.2 65.8 28.3 100.0 17.4 22.1 19.7 32.7 52.2 21.7 Urban pop total P p o p 3.3 0.8 1.6 3.7 0.2 0.0 3.2 2.0 3.5 1.1 0.4 2.0 2.7 Annual growth rates (%) 2000-2003 Demographic Indicators and Human Development Index . acific Department database; UNDP 2004; and W T otal (000) 0.02 0.83 0.09 0.06 0.11 0.01 5.71 0.18 0.51 0.78 0.10 0.01 0.20 population Mid-2003 A1.2 - L este P acific ormerly total and per capita GNP Member County F T able Developing Cook Islands F iji Islands Kiribati Marshall Islands Micronesia, F ederated States of Nauru P apua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands T imor T onga T uvalu V anuatu – = data not available. HDI = human development index a Sources: ADB 2004c; ADB P 71 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 71 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Appendix 2 Enrollment and Literacy Rates Table A2.1 Gross Pre-Primary Enrollment by Selected PDMCs and Gender Selected Duration Year Male Female Gender Gap PDMCs (Years) (M) (F) (F–M) Cook Islands 1 2000 86 85 –1 Fiji Islands 3 1998 15 16 1 FSM 3 2000 43 49 6 Nauru 1 1998 144 138 –6 Palau 3 2001 62 69 7 PNG 1 1999 40 37 –3 Samoa 2 2001 49 60 11 Tonga 2 2000 27 32 5 Tuvalu 3 1998 71 89 18 Vanuatu 2 2001 75 77 2 FSM = Federated States of Micronesia, PDMC = Pacific developing member country, PNG = Papua New Guinea, UNESCO = United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Sources: ADB 2004c and UNESCO 2004a. Table A2.2 Primary Net Enrollment Rates (%) by Selected PDMCs and Gender Selected Year Duration Total Male Female Gender Gap PDMCs (Years) (M) (F) (F–M) Timor-Leste 1999 – 74 – – – PNG 2001/02 6 77 82 73 (9) Nauru 1998/99 6 81 80 82 2 Cook Islands 2000 6 84 86 83 (3) Vanuatu 2001/02 6 93 92 94 2 Samoa 2001/02 8 95 96 94 (2) RMI 1999/00 8 96 100 91 (9) Palau 2000/01 – 97 100 93 (7) Fiji Islands 2001/02 6 100 100 100 0 Tonga 2001/02 6 100 100 100 0 Tuvalua 2004 8 100 100 99 (1) — = data not available PDMC = Pacific developing member country, PNG = Papua New Guinea, RMI = Republic of the Marshall Islands. a ADB 2004k. Sources: Secretariat of the Pacific Community Pacific Regional Information System (PRISM) website, http://www.spc.int/PRISM; UNESCO 2000c; UNESCO 2003; UNESCO Institute of Statistics website, http://www.uis.unesco.org; and ADB 2003c. 72 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 72 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Appendix 2 Table A2.3 Primary Gross Enrollment Rates (%) by Selected PDMCs and Gender Selected Year Total Male Female Gender Gap PDMCs (M) (F) (F–M) PNG 2001/02 77 77 78 1 Nauru 1998/99 81 80 82 2 Cook Islands 2000 96 98 93 (5) RMI 1999/00 101 103 98 (5) Samoa 2001/02 103 104 101 (3) Tuvalu 1998/99 104 106 101 (5) Fiji Islands 2001/02 109 109 109 0 Tonga 2001/02 112 114 111 (3) Vanuatu 2001/02 112 112 111 (1) Palau 2000/01 116 120 112 (8) Kiribati 1998/99 131 130 132 2 Timor-Leste 2001/02 143 – – – FSM 2000 143 136 149 13 — = data not available FSM = Federated States of Micronesia, PDMC = Pacific developing member country, PNG = Papua New Guinea, RMI = Republic of the Marshall Islands. Sources: Secretariat of the Pacific Community Pacific Regional Information System (PRISM) website, http://www.spc.int/PRISM; UNESCO 2000c; UNESCO 2003; UNESCO Institute of Statistics website, http://www.uis.unesco.org; and ADB 2003c. Table A2.4 Secondary Gross Enrollment Rates (%) by Selected PDMCs and Gender Selected Duration Year Male Female Gender Gap PDMCs (Years) (M) (F) (F–M) Cook Islands 8 2000 58 63 5 Fiji Islands 7 2001 78 83 5 FSM 6 2000 127 137 10 Kiribati 5 1998 42 47 5 Nauru 6 1998 52 56 4 Palau 7 2000 89 89 0 PNG 6 2001 25 20 (5) RMI 6 1998 47 51 4 Samoa 7 2001 71 79 8 Solomon Islands 7 1998 30 18 (12) Tonga 6 2001 94 106 12 Tuvalu 6 1998 83 73 (10) Vanuatu 7 2001 28 29 1 FSM = Federated States of Micronesia, PDMC = Pacific developing member country, PNG = Papua New Guinea, RMI = Republic of the Marshall Islands. Sources: ADB 2004c and UNESCO 2004a. 73 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 73 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Table A2.5 Adult Literacy Rates (% age 15+) by PDMCs and Gender PDMCs Year Male Female Gender Gap (M) (F) (F–M) Cook Islands 1998 93 94 1 Fiji Islands 2000 95 91 (4) FSM 2000 96 94 (2) Kiribati 1998 94 91 (3) Nauru 1998 95 95 0 Palau 1998 94 88 (6) PNG 2000 71 57 (14) RMI 2000 92 92 0 Samoa 2000 99 98 (1) Solomon Islands 1995 62 62 0 Timor-Leste 2001 43 43 0 Tonga 1996 99 99 0 Tuvalu 1998 95 95 0 Vanuatu 1998 37 30 (7) FSM = Federated States of Micronesia, PDMC = Pacific developing member country, PNG = Papua New Guinea, RMI = Republic of the Marshall Islands. Note: The PNG National Research Institute based on 2000 census data calculated the average literacy rate in PNG at 54.3%. The urban rural differences by gender are striking. (See: PNG National Statistics Office. 2001. Report on the 2000 National Population and Housing Census in PNG. Port Moresby. ) a Calculated as percent female minus percent male. Source: ADB 2004c. 74 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 74 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Appendix 3 Appendix 3 Education Expenditure a a a – 6.9 – – – – 2001/ 2002 19.4 14.6 13.1 26.7 , PNG = a a a a 7.0 –– – –– – – 2000/ 2001 13.2 22.8 17.5 14.6 14.0 16.9 er country tion. a a a a ––– – – – – – 1999/ 2000 10.4 18.3 20.0 13.3 15.4 16.8 17.4 as percentage of total a a a a a a government expenditure – 7 . 0 – – – – 1998/ 1999 13.1 16.2 17.5 13.3 15.4 15.0 17.4 P ublic expenditure on education acific developing memb otal Government Expenditure a a a a – – – – – – 2001/ 2002 5.5 7.0 11.0 10.6 4.5 5.0 10.5 a a a a 2000/ 2001 – 6.0 – – – – – 10.2 2.3 4.2 3.5 5.3 8 . 2 a a a a 1999/ 2000 – 5.4 – – 9.2 – – – – 16.1 4.0 3.4 7 . 1 as percentage of GDP a a a a a – – – – P ublic expenditure on education 5.5 5.6 8.6 2.0 4.5 3.2 5.4 8 . 6 1998/ 1999 16.4 ercentage of GNI, GDP and T a a a a – 5.6 6.7 – 9.9 – 8.9 4 . 5 – – 5.0 – 2001/ 2002 10.7 a a a a – – – – – – 2000/ 2001 6.0 8.5 2.4 4 . 3 3.5 5.3 8 . 7 a a a a 1999/ 2000 0.4 5.5 – – 8.7 – – – – 14.0 4 . 0 3 . 5 7 . 2 as percentage of GNP (GNI) epublic of the Marshall Islands, UNESCO = United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organiza a a a a a P ublic expenditure on education 1998/ 1999 0.4 5 . 6 5 . 1 – 8 . 6 2.1 – – 14.3 4 . 5 3 . 3 5 . 3 8 . 9 ederated States of Micronesia, GDP = gross domestic product, GNI = gross national income, PDMC = P A3.1 este -L Education Expenditure of PDMCs as a P UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimates. T able PDMCs Cook Islands F iji Islands FSM Nauru P alau PNG RMI Samoa Solomon Islands T imor T onga T uvalu V a nuatu — = Data not available FSM = F P apua New Guinea, RMI = R a Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. 75 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 75 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy d – – STR 17.1 29.0 24.0 15.4 12.5 34.4 20.0 27.6 20.7 24.0 24.0 P rimary Salaries uinea, RMI = d d apua New G % – – – 92.6 76.8 93.4 96.7 81.2 92.9 92.3 97.6 95.5 88.8 T eachers’ Education (primary) , PNG = P d c – – – – – – 866.0 341.0 433.0 119.0 273.0 604.0 Unit Cost 1766.0 Secondary Budget Education – – – – – – 493.0 154.0 187.0 101.0 64.0 194.0 acific developing member country Unit Cost Primary Education 2358.0 b rimary in – – – – – – 33.2 52.1 43.6 68.8 53.3 39.7 57.9 % P Budget d d d d of – – % 13.1 17.9 22.9 12.7 20.2 11.8 17.3 20.1 12.7 28.5 28.2 acific Island Member Countries 2004. National a % e e 3 . 7 5.0 – – 7.9 – 5.5 5.3 5.6 – 9.3 As 10.3 12.2 acific developing member countries. of GDP Level and Allocation of Education Expenditures by Subsectors in PDMCs orum Secretariat 2002i. ederated States of Micronesia, GDP = gross domestic product, PDMC = P A3.2 orld Bank and Statistical Departments of P acific Islands F ate 1990s data from UNESCO 2000b. Country UNESCO Institute for Statistics. W Statistical departments of P P L T able Cook Islands Fiji Islands FSM Kiribati Nauru Palau PNG RMI Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu — = data not available FSM = F Republic of the Marshall Islands, STR = student teacher ratio. Sources: a b c d e 76 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 76 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Future Directions for Pacific Education and Training Appendix 4 External Assistance to Education 0 180 97,792 88,042 Amount 40,511 122,649 54,838 21,493 42,700 124,570 22,943 98,245 38,956 36,220 17,528 249,980 36,830 148,432 88,674 165,664 269,985 51,861 Undisbursed 1,818,093 sistance, SAM = SF = Japan Special 20 echnical As ctual 54,489 52,208 74,820 12,500 37,057 80,015 58,139 A 191,351 271,162 203,958 428,507 552,300 215,430 401,755 111,044 113,780 132,472 213,170 671,568 161,326 434,336 4,471,407 Disbursement 95,000 150,000 314,000 75,000 12,500 326,000 292,000 450,000 595,000 340,000 60,000 500,000 150,000 150,000 150,000 250,000 250,000 820,000 250,000 600,000 350,000 110,000 600,000 ederated States of Micronesia, J Amount 6,889,500 A = project preparatory T A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A T ype ADT PPT ADT PPT ADT ADT ADT ADT ADT ADT ADT PPT ADT PPT PPT PPT PPT ADT ADT PPT PPT ADT ADT -95 -00 -98 -97 -98 -00 -01 -03 -04 -05 Closing Date Dec-87 Sep-92 Dec-88 Jun-89 Dec-92 Jul-04 Mar Jun-94 ug-02 May May May Apr Apr May Oct-00 A Apr Apr Oct-04 Jan-05 Mar apua New Guinea, PPT 31- 30-Sep-04 30-Sep-04 G G N G G N G N N G A P N KIR PN A A V KIR RMI P N FSM PN V PN FSM A , PNG = P SAM FSM SOL V SAM V PN SAM TUV SAM Country COO anuatu. echnical echnical Assistance, COO = Cook Islands, FSM = F AN = V rogram ng r aini roject raining uvalu, V raining A = advisory T echnical Assistance to PDMCs in the Education Sector since 1984 itle acific developing member country ’s T ADB roject II P roject T o cational Education P r aining raining of Deputy General Manager roject esources Study ocational Education and T esources Development esources Development Study (JSF) esource Development Study echnical Assistance Information System. ramework and Capacity Building for T ilot P ocational Education and T A4.1 ccounting Education Master Plan Sector Study on Education and T ccess P otal A Technical and V Rationalization and Savings in Higher Education Vocational T Technical Assistance to Development Bank of Kiribati for External T Human R A Institutionalization of Social Impact Analysis in Higher Education Human R Education R Assessment of Effectiveness of Bank Assistance in Capacity Building Skills Development (JSF) Human R Education Sector Basic Social Service Sector Development P Nonformal V Skills Development Education Sector Support Policy F and V Literacy is for Everyone (LIFE) Education Sector P Education Sector Master Plan Supporting the Samoa SchoolNet and Community A T T able 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 ADB = Asian Development Bank, ADT Fund, KIR = Kiribati, PDMC = P Samoa, SOL = Solomon Islands, TUV = T Source: ADB T 77 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 77 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy ctual 8.00 2.53 4.69 3.95 4.03 0.10 0.15 7.80 A 14.87 46.12 of the Marshall Disbursed Amount (million) epublic million) 8.00 19.90 2.70 20.00 7.00 6.80 8.02 1 . 8 5 8.00 82.27 Amount ($ Date apua New Guinea, RMI = R Oct-00 Oct-04 eb-01 31-Dec-88 30-Sep-01 31- 30-Jun-06 31- 30-Jun-05 30-Jun-07 30-Jun-05 28-F Closing -93 Date Apr Oct-99 Approved 1- 5-Sep-00 26-Nov-81 22-Sep-94 28- 29-Nov-00 20-Dec-00 1 6 - Oct-02 9-Nov-03 ederated States of Micronesia, PNG = P O M V PNG PNG O C PNG S A RMI F S M T U RMI Country ’s Lending to PDMCs in the Education Sector since 1981 ADB uvalu. itle ocational Education roject inancial Information System. P roject T Oriented Skills Development oan F raining P A4.2 raining and V T able T echnical Education Higher Education Education Development Employment- Education Sector Skills T Basic Social Services Maritime T Basic Education Development T otal ADB = Asian Development Bank, COO = Cook Islands, FSM = F Islands, SAM = Samoa, TUV = T Source: ADB L 78 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 78 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Future Directions for Pacific Education and Training f o 6.6 5.9 5.4 3.8 2.2 1.7 0.8 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.1 4.8 % T otal 66.6 100.0 , RMI = r country T otal 715,409 544,980 464,370 422,204 324,535 127,979 60,478,299 6,026,003 5,394,929 4,857,006 3,461,209 2,016,605 1,571,594 4,343,330 90,748,452 c 0.4 Other Education 357,994 357,994 Management acific developing membe 13.2 T raining 82,011 59,537 678,566 41,001 883,955 Education P olicy and dministrative & 6,864,379 3,341,705 A 11,951,154 5.1 o n N ormal 86,456 58,994 13,947 Education F acilities F 4,442,330 4,601,727 0.4 Skills 12,593 Secondary 379,604 392,197 Development/ b ederated States of Micronesia, PDMC = P ost 10.9 , P 310,896 55,865 TVET 5,584,964 2,863,636 1,116,757 Education 9,932,118 31.3 Higher 667,659 570,597 544,980 444,360 422,204 324,535 127,979 Education 11,469,698 1,916,711 1,719,828 2,069,482 1,847,255 1,894,110 4,343,330 28,362,728 ustralia 2004. 4.1 75,000 36,883 75,000 unding for Education by Subsector for Selected PDMCs (2002-2003) raining, mostly scholarships. Secondary Education 2,309,136 3,744,654 ’s F 1,163,645 22,500 22,500 19,980 20,010 34.6 usAID P rimary Country 799,456 A 29,070,194 1,536,230 31,405,880 ustralian Agency for International Development, FSM = F training. usAID statistical office, Canberra, A A4.3 egion a usAID = A eacher T Includes Multisector Education/T T able PNG Vanuatu Kiribati Fiji Islands Samoa Tonga Tuvalu Solomon Islands FSM Nauru Cook Islands RMI Palau Pacific R Total % Share of subsector A R epublic of the Marshall Islands, TVET = technical and vocational education and training. a b c Capacity building. Source: A 79 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 79 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy 1.4 8.5 1.5 1.8 0.1 4.0 1.8 9.0 2.8 6.9 % of Total 15.2 15.8 19.1 12.1 100.0 vocational 100.0 nal Development, T otal 10,801 Amount 223,375 240,410 274,061 628,805 279,755 435,998 2,357,855 1,328,888 2,456,602 2,963,308 1,402,760 1,874,748 1,075,367 15,552,732 ICT 7 . 5 5,977 493,275 48,086 70,535 175,697 185,308 188,363 1,167,240 ormal 2 . 5 Skills 4,091 256,503 26,308 107,112 Non F 394,014 Development/ able 6. c 7 . 0 , NZAID = New Zealand Agency for Internatio epublic of the Marshall Islands, TVET = technical and rojects T TVET 145,179 385,955 20,972 536,905 1,089,010 b . 60.7 10,801 Higher 361,735 135,827 987,624 240,410 274,061 374,034 279,755 885,623 412,134 247,410 Education 1,435,381 1,920,762 1,870,657 9,436,213 orld Bank Education P . 8 . 6 apua New Guinea, RMI = R 2,892 866,849 69,463 210,903 183,293 Secondary 1,333,401 , PNG = P a 647 13.4 125,550 602,981 117,871 P rimary 1,246,342 2,093,391 unding for Education by Subsector for Selected PDMCs for 2002–2003 in ($) 0 . 3 Early 39,462 ellington, New Zealand, July 2004 and W 39,462 Childhood acific developing member country rimary also includes early childhood and ICT is included in TVET NZAID F d egional ederated States of Micronesia, ICT = information and communication technology A4.4 - L este otal f T PDMC = P education and training. ost secondary education. Countries G o Education forum and policy support included in primary sector FSM = F Also includes scholarships. Capacity Building/Strengthening projects/support for education ministries included here. P Cook Island P Source: NZAID office, W T able Cook Islands Fiji Islands Kiribati RMI FSM Palau PN Samoa Solomon Islands Timor Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu P acific R Programme T otal % a b c d 80 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 80 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Future Directions for Pacific Education and Training -82 Date 30-Jun-02 30-Nov-05 31-Mar Closing Date Oct-01 Oct-76 31-Dec-87 31-Dec-88 31-Dec-01 31-Dec-89 31-Dec-92 31-Dec-01 21-Jun-00 29- 19- acific Effective otal for 2 5 5 0 2 5 Country 100 % of T Each Subtotal 27,800,000 54,400,000 26,900,000 109,495,976 orld Bank’s Support for Education in the P W Amount 395,976 ($ million) 13,900,000 13,900,000 4,000,000 9,400,000 6,000,000 35,000,000 5,000,000 5,000,000 16,900,000 ustralia 2004. , A roject roject II Education orld Bank office, Sydney Country A4.5 -Leste rimary Emergency School R eadiness P F undamental School Quality P Education I P Secondary Education Education Development P rimary Education Education III Education T able T imor P apua New Guinea Solomon Islands Samoa T otal Source: W 81 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 81 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Table A4.6 European Union’s Funding in the Education Sector in the Pacific ($ million) National Programs Years Total Amount Cook Islands 2003-2006 1.00a Fiji Islands 2004-2008 23.00a Kiribati (TVET) 2002-2006 7.00 Marshall Islands 2005-2007 0.85a Papua New Guinea — Samoa 0 Solomon Islands — Timor-Leste — Tonga 2004-2008 1.50a Tuvalu 2003-2007 2.50a Vanuatu — Total Country 34.85 Regional Programs PRIDE 2003-2008 9.00 US-HRD 2002-2007 5.50 Total Regional 14.50 Grand Total 50.35 — = data not available. PRIDE = Pacific Regional Initiatives for the Delivery of Basic Education, TVET = technical and vocational education and training, US-HRD = United States Human Resource Development. a Covers all sub-sectors, except university, and refer mainly to education infrastructure, equipment and learning materials. Source: European Union office, Fiji Islands 2004. 82 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 82 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Future Directions for Pacific Education and Training T otal 31,739 449,554 481,293 2004 5,000 223,539 228,539 egional rograms R Programs 2003 18,751 135,538 154,289 egional P 2004 3,415 21,465 24,880 V anuatu 2003 4,573 4,573 2004 57,883 57,883 Islands acific Countries, and R Countries Solomon (in $) 2003 10,129 10,129 2004 1,000 1,000 Kiribati — 2003 ugust 2004. — und. unding for the Selected P 2004 ’s F ’s F iji Islands, A F iji Islands roject. 2003 5,000 5,000 UNICEF riendly Schools P a A4.7 Child F UNICEF = United Nations Children — = data not available. a Source: UNICEF office, Suva, F T able Education Sector/ Subsector Y ear Early Childhood P rimary T otal 83 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 83 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy Appendix 5 Proposed ADB Education and Training Sector Activities, 2005-2007 2005 2006 2007 Regional Technical Strategies for skills Implementation of Pacific Assistance development in the Pacific Education Strategy (possibly implement with ($100,000) PRIDE) for $800,000 1. Expenditure reviews and financial sustainability analyses in at least three PDMCs 2. Develop empirical evidence on prevalence and sources of low education performance of disadvantaged groups in Cook Islands, RMI, Samoa, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu Collaborates with other Possible technical Cook Islands donors to follow up on ADB assistance for sector basic education project in analysis and follow up Cook Islands project Kiribati Technical assistance for Skills Development Program Marshall Islands On going TA 4458-RMI: Technical assistance for Increasing Ownership and sector analysis and support Effective Demand for Improved Education Micronesia, 38201-01 Education and Federated States Health Sector Strategy of Papua New Participate actively with Explore cofinancing Guinea AusAID and the World Bank possibilities with AusAID in joint HD Sector Strategy for LIFE Project. for Education Samoa 1. SWAp based education Innovative program in sector project approved SchoolNet Pilot Project 2. Policy and Strategic Plan completed. completed Solomon Islands Technical assistance for sector analysis and support Tonga Explore possible involvement in SWAp, especially in Skills Development area. Tuvalu Initiate SWAp based education program support with the implementation of TA for Education Reform and Development Project Vanuatu 38609-01 Rural Productive 38570-01Technical and Skills Development Vocation Education Training ($300,000) (Total $200,000) AusAID = Australian Agency for International Development, HD = human development, JFPR = Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, LIFE = literacy is for everybody, PDMC = Pacific developing member country, PRIDE = Pacific Regional Initiatives for the Delivery of Basic Education, RETA = regional technical assistance, RMI = Republic of the Marshall Islands, SWAp = sector wide approach, TA = technical assistance. 84 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 84 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Future Directions for Pacific Education and Training Appendix 6 Sector–Wide Approaches The central objective of the sector–wide approach (SWAp) is the development and implementation of a comprehensive sector development program that is sustainable and supported by all major stakeholders. In most instances, the first task to be tackled in a SWAp is the joint effort of all partners to review the key issues of access, equity, quality, efficiency, relevance, and management capacity facing the sector. Sources of financing (including public, private, and external) need to be identified as part of this process. On this basis, a long-term (usually 10 years) strategic plan is developed to provide a framework for the detailed programming of investments and expenditure requirements over an initial 3–5 year period. In many countries, the education and training sector plan are closely linked to the national development plan, poverty reduction strategy, and medium-term expenditure framework to ensure that investment in education and training effectively support national development priorities and have an explicitly agreed claim on public resources. An important element in the process is analysis and dialogue on the affordability and sustainability of specific investments and policies. The longer-term resource implications of some policies and investments (often externally financed) may exceed the resources projected to be available and may jeopardize their sustainability. In several countries, an education sector financial projection model has been developed to assess the longer-term financial feasibility of proposed policies and investments. This has often helped to focus the policy dialogue and has stimulated the search for alternative more cost-effective solutions. Education reform, especially as it concerns issues of teaching, learning, and resource allocation, cannot be implemented by the mandate of central authorities. Local ownership is of the essence. Reforms not supported by teachers and parents have failed almost invariably. A central feature of successful education reform is the effectiveness of the processes for stakeholder involvement and ownership. Where governments have taken a proactive role in involving teachers, head teachers, parents, and communities in identifying issues and needs in education and training, change has often occurred. Many SWAps support broad consultative and participatory processes. 85 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 85 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy The effectiveness of SWAps is strongly determined by the quality of monitoring and progress reporting systems. The shift toward results-based program management can only happen when baseline data and trends in key performance indicators are regularly collected, analyzed, and used for policy review and adjustment purposes. In several countries, the absence of effective implementation, monitoring, and progress reporting is jeopardizing the effectiveness of the SWAp strategy. 86 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 86 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Future Directions for Pacific Education and Training Appendix 7 The Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) ADEA is a network and a partnership. This means that ADEA is neither a funding agency nor a traditional organization or investment project. ADEA is a network of: • Development Agencies • Education specialists and researchers • Nongovernment organizations active in education • African Ministries of Education ADEA’s mission is to: • Promote dialogue and partnerships • Develop consensus on policy issues facing education in Africa • Reinforce African Ministries’ capacities to develop, manage, and implement education policies • Promote the sharing of experiences and successful strategies • Promote nationally-driven education policies, projects, and programs History ADEA was established at the initiative of the World Bank in 1988. Then called “Donors to African Education” (DAE), its objective was to foster collaboration and coordination between development agencies in support of education in Africa. ADEA now focuses on developing partnerships between Ministers of Education and funding agencies in order to promote effective education policies based on African leadership and ownership. Steering Committee The ADEA Steering Committee is ADEA’s governing body and primary instance for the coordination among funding agencies and 87 Better Learning,BetterFuture-beth.pmd 87 01/08/2005, 10:11 AM Better Learning, Better Future: Education and Training Sector Strategy African ministries of education. The Steering Committee is composed of 10 African ministers of education, chosen by their peers, and funding agencies (currently 20). Its deliberations are best characterized by their professionalism and informality. Caucus and Bureau of African Ministers The Caucus and Bureau of African Ministers of Education are central to ADEA’s efforts to strengthen policy dialogue. 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