Regional Overview: Sub-Saharan Africa: On The Road To Education For All: Progress and Challenges
Regional Overview: Sub-Saharan Africa: On The Road To Education For All: Progress and Challenges
Regional Overview: Sub-Saharan Africa: On The Road To Education For All: Progress and Challenges
Regional
overview:
sub-Saharan
Africa
Childhood stunting and low birth weight are indicators of or more. Botswana, Cape Verde, the Comoros, Mauritius,
the long-term health impact of malnutrition. Thirty-eight Namibia and South Africa have reached child mortality
percent of children under age 5 suffer from severe or rates below the world weighted average of 74‰.
moderate stunting in sub-Saharan Africa; the highest
subregional rates are found in central and eastern Africa. Maternal health is intricately related to children’s health.
Of the forty-nine countries worldwide where stunting Mothers who are malnourished and suffering from
prevalence rates are 30% or more, thirty are in sub- micronutrient deficiencies face higher risk during
Saharan Africa (Figure 1). About one in seven children in pregnancy and childbirth, and are more likely to give birth
the region is born with low birth weight. In the Comoros, to underweight babies. The failure of health systems to
Guinea-Bissau, the Niger and Sierra Leone, the share rises provide effective antenatal support, safe delivery and post-
to about one in four or more. natal care also contributes to mortality, low birth weights
and child illness. The rate of births with skilled attendants
Child mortality rates help gauge children’s well-being. present is 45% in sub-Saharan Africa, among the world’s
While mortality rates are falling worldwide, most of sub- lowest. Being poor or belonging to particular indigenous or
Saharan Africa will not meet the Millennium Development ethnic groups increases the disadvantage for expectant
Goal of a two-thirds reduction from 1990 levels by 2015. On mothers. Successful policies to improve maternal and child
average, 158 of every 1,000 children born in the region will health include scaling up maternal and child care
die before reaching age 5. In Angola, Liberia, Mali and services,2 achieving results through international aid
Sierra Leone, the rate is over 200‰. Some progress has partnerships, removing cost barriers to vital maternal and
been made in some of the world’s poorest countries, child health services3 and assuring access to education.
including Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique and the United Nearly 40% of women with no education gave birth without
Republic of Tanzania, which have cut child deaths by 40% receiving any antenatal care, compared with 6% of women
with secondary education.
Figure 1: High levels of child stunting are holding back progress in education Enrolment in pre-primary education has nearly doubled in
Severe and moderate stunting among children under 5, selected countries, 2000–2007 1 sub-Saharan Africa since 1999: around 10 million children
enrolled in pre-school programmes in 2007. On average,
Sub-Saharan Africa however, only 15% of children in the region were enrolled
Cameroon
in pre-primary education that year, compared with one-
Kenya third in developing countries as a group. Between 1999
Uganda and 2007, gross enrolment ratios (GERs) increased in
Côte d’Ivoire
Mali
most countries in the region, rising by more than 20%
Burkina Faso in Burundi, Liberia and Senegal. While seventeen
Guinea sub-Saharan African countries had coverage rates of less
Benin
C. A. R.
than 10% in 2007, GERs were above 50% in Cape Verde,
D. R. Congo Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Mauritius and South Africa,
Eritrea and above 100% in Liberia and the Seychelles.
Lesotho
Nigeria
Somalia Two of the most pronounced barriers to early childhood
U. R. Tanzania programmes are household poverty and low parental
Equat. Guinea
Liberia
education, regardless of age, gender or place of residence.
Zambia Lack of access also can be due to distance and cost. For
Sierra Leone example, children in Zambia’s poorest 20% of households
Chad
Guinea-Bissau
are twelve times less likely to participate in early childhood
Mozambique care than children in the wealthiest 20% of households,
Comoros and the factor rises to twenty-five in Uganda. Public
Angola
Rwanda
investment should be geared towards narrowing
Malawi disparities, targeting marginalized groups and providing
Ethiopia services that are of good quality and accessible to the poor.
Madagascar
Niger
Burundi
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
2. In the United Republic of Tanzania, increased health spending has focused on
Severe and moderate stunting (%) diseases that affect the poorest districts. Coverage of key maternal and child health
services was expanded and recruitment of community-based midwives and health
workers was increased.
Note: Countries included are those with a proportion of stunted children of 30% or more.
1. Data are for the most recent year available during the period specified. 3. Eliminating charges for basic health services is often followed by a rapid rise
Source: Table 2 below. in the uptake of services, especially by the poor, as evidenced in Ghana, Senegal,
Uganda and Zambia.
ED-2010/WS/8
E D U C AT I O N F O R A L L G L O B A L M O N I T O R I N G R E P O R T 2 0 1 0 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA REGIONAL OVERVIEW 3
Universal primary education Figure 2: Progress towards universal primary enrolment has been uneven
Change in net enrolment ratios in primary education, selected countries, 1999 and 2007
Progress towards universal primary enrolment has been
significant in the region since the World Education Forum in Sub-Saharan Africa
school – the highest of any Education for All region – and Uganda
32% are likely to enrol late. In Burkina Faso, Mali, the Niger Mauritius
S. Tome/Principe
and Senegal, more than 70% of out-of-school children are
U. R. Tanzania
expected never to enrol.
Madagascar
Some countries are making no progress towards universal override gender discrimination. Aid donors can play an
primary education while others are registering reversals. important role in supporting gender parity efforts. In Chad,
Progress has been limited in countries with no data for instance, a USAID-funded programme is providing
available on net enrolment for either 1999 or 2007, including scholarships for girls and backing community sensitization
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone and campaigns to promote girls’ schooling.
Somalia. Primary school participation backtracked in Cape
Verde, Equatorial Guinea and Malawi. Eritrea and Liberia For millions of children entering primary school, their
suffered reversals related to current or recent conflict. journey is often marked by late entry, dropout and grade
repetition. While intake rates are going up in the region, in
The expansion of primary education has gone hand in hand half of the countries 50% or more of the children entered
with progress towards gender parity.5 Seventeen of the school over the official starting age in 2007. In Burkina Faso,
forty-one countries with data in sub-Saharan Africa have most children entering school at the appropriate age
achieved gender parity in primary education (see Table 2). progress through to completion, but the net intake rate in
The regional gender parity index (GPI) of the GER was 0.90 in 2006 was just 27%. Conversely, Malawi had a 62% net intake
2007, compared with 0.85 in 1999, but eighteen countries rate in 2006, but fewer than half the official age entrants
remain below that average. In countries with low enrolment made it through to completion. In half the countries in the
levels, such as Burkina Faso and Ethiopia, moving towards region, almost one in three children enrolling in primary
gender parity from a low starting point has helped generate school drops out before completion. Even the first hurdle
large increases in primary enrolment. In Equatorial Guinea, is challenging: in 2006, the median percentage of students
Liberia and Togo, greater parity was achieved at the cost of in the region who dropped out of the first primary grade
decreased boys’ enrolment. Girls’ enrolment might outstrip was 9%. Malawi and Uganda have relatively high NERs,
that of boys in some areas where the demand for boys’ yet between one-quarter and one-third of pupils drop
labour is higher. For example, poor rural families in out of first grade, in some cases never to return. Repetition
highland areas of Lesotho are particularly dependent on is also common: the region’s median percentage of primary
boys to herd cattle, with the result that dropout rates are school repeaters in 2007 was 13%, and the maximum was
high after grade 3. 32% in Burundi.
Sustained progress towards gender parity in the region Cohort tracking can provide a more integrated perspective
requires changing attitudes towards girls and household on the distance to universal primary education than gross
labour practices as well as maintaining girls in school once intake rates and NERs alone. Using Malawi as an example,
they reach puberty. In West Africa, some of the world’s Figure 3 shows the proportion of children entering primary
poorest countries with low enrolment ratios have shown that school at the official age and tracks their progress to
political leadership and practical measures, such as building completion. For every 100 children of the appropriate
separate latrines and community satellite schools, can primary school entry age, 62 will enter on time and only 11
will complete the last grade. By and large, cohort tracking
5. Gender parity is considered to be reached when the GPI is between 0.97 and 1.03. underlines the daunting scale of the challenge: many
Figure 3: Children who start primary school have varying chances of completing the last grade
Net cohort completion rates: the example of Malawi
100
Primary In Malawi, the net intake rate into the
school entry first grade of primary school was 62% in
age pupils
2006. The survival rate to grade 5 was 43%
and the primary completion rate 18%.
From these rates, it is possible to estimate
62 the prospects of a cohort of pupils aged 6
Net intake rate Cohort that
into first grade
(the primary school starting age)
enters at the
of primary (62%) correct age completing the six-year cycle.
If repetition and dropout rates remain
unchanged, 62 of 100 pupils will enter the
27 first grade of primary school at the correct
Survival to grade 5 Net cohort age. Of these, 27 will make it to grade 5,
(43% of the cohort survival to
entered) grade 5 11 and 11 will graduate from the final grade.
Primary completion Net cohort
rate (18% of the completion rate
cohort entered)
Sources: Global Monitoring Report Team calculations; EFA Global Monitoring Report 2010, annex, Statistical Tables 4 and 7.
E D U C AT I O N F O R A L L G L O B A L M O N I T O R I N G R E P O R T 2 0 1 0 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA REGIONAL OVERVIEW 5
governments in sub-Saharan Africa have to double the will be some 25% by 2025. Almost two-thirds of the
net intake rate by 2010 to make universal primary entry population is under 25. Every year between 7 million and
possible by 2015. 10 million young Africans enter labour markets
characterized by high unemployment, low productivity,
In sub-Saharan Africa, there were more than 21 million chronic insecurity and poverty-level incomes. In countries
out-of-school adolescents in 2007, equivalent to 38% of the such as Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, young
lower secondary school age group. Thirty-nine percent of people face about five years of reported inactivity before
lower secondary school age adolescents were still enrolled finding work. Also, youth with secondary and tertiary
at the primary level. Cost, distance to school, labour market education have higher rates of unemployment than those
demand and – especially for girls – social, cultural and with lower levels of attainment in Burundi, Cameroon,
economic barriers limit smooth transitions from primary Kenya and Nigeria.
to lower secondary. This concern is now at the centre of the
Education for All agenda in many countries: in sub-Saharan Vocational programmes have suffered from a combination
Africa, universal basic education is an increasingly of underfinancing, poor design and weak links to labour
prominent policy goal. markets. Deep spending cuts in the region during the 1980s
and 1990s further compromised quality in vocational
Youth and adult skills: expanding education. Other difficulties include the fact that many
countries track students into vocational streams far too
opportunities in the new global economy
early – often in the face of concerted resistance from
Technical and vocational education programmes can parents. Evaluations point to low rates of absorption
strengthen the transition from school to employment, offer of graduates into the workforce – under half in some
second chances and help combat marginalization. Vocational countries, including Madagascar, Mali and the United
education is offered through a bewildering array of institutional Republic of Tanzania.
arrangements, public and private providers and financing
systems. While some countries supplement general education Traditional apprenticeships and on-the-job training are by
in schools with vocational options from companies or training far the most important routes to skills development for the
institutes, others offer distinctive vocational options in majority of African youth, but they tend to be biased against
secondary school. Governments in sub-Saharan Africa have women and the very poor. Research in Ghana has
to strike a delicate balance between general and vocational highlighted a bias in vocational enrolment towards regions
education. The latter is often considered a safety net for failing and social groups that are already better off. In Burkina
students. Improving its quality and relevance is the most Faso, only one-third of interventions involving vocational
effective antidote to that perception. education were oriented towards disadvantaged groups,
mainly through microcredit programmes. In the United
The region’s secondary GER was the world’s lowest at 34% Republic of Tanzania, out of twenty-eight programmes
in 2007. Country GERs ranged from less than 11% in the reviewed, only three targeted the poorest youth, three
Niger to more than 97% in the Seychelles and South Africa. targeted rural areas where the vast majority of the poor
The share of technical and vocational education in secondary live and only one targeted youth with no education.
enrolment in the region was also among the world’s lowest
at 6% in 2007. In thirteen of the twenty-five countries with Across the region, vocational education is undergoing major
data, the share was less than 5%, but it was around 20% reform. In Cameroon, four ministries have developed a
in Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. sector-wide vocational training plan linked to the national
National skill development policies are likely to succeed poverty reduction strategy. In Ethiopia, new curricula have
only if they dramatically increase the flow of students into been drawn up and qualification systems restructured to
secondary schools generally. Girls are being left behind match skills development with labour market needs. In
in general secondary and even more so in vocational Rwanda, a 2007 strategy set out to change the image of
education. Between 1999 and 2007, the average GPI in vocational education and a Workforce Development Agency
secondary education slipped from 0.82 to 0.79, and girls has been created to oversee coordination and facilitate
account for 39% of technical and vocational enrolments private sector involvement. There are also signs that
in 2007. Public policy interventions need to strengthen vocational education is re-emerging as a priority in
opportunities for young girls to make the transition development assistance.
from primary school.
The priority is to increase enrolment, retention and
Vocational education broadly aims to equip young people progression through basic education into secondary school.
and adults with the skills and knowledge they need to cross Vocational education has the potential to play a far greater
the bridge from school to work. The economic crisis has role, however, not least in providing second-chance
made that crossing even more hazardous. The region’s opportunities to marginalized groups.
share of the world’s youth population, currently about 17%,
6 REGIONAL OVERVIEW SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA E D U C AT I O N F O R A L L G L O B A L M O N I T O R I N G R E P O R T 2 0 1 0
Despite these positive trends, the number of illiterate adults The Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for
increased by nearly 20 million in the region. Some countries Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) conducted
witnessed large absolute increases in the number of adult assessments between 2000 and 2002. Findings showed
illiterates: over 1 million each in Burkina Faso, Senegal and that over 70% of grade 6 students in Malawi, Namibia
the United Republic of Tanzania and 4 million in Ethiopia. and Zambia and over 50% in Lesotho and South Africa had
not acquired basic numeracy skills. National income levels
Rising literacy rates have been accompanied by increasing are not the only factor influencing learning achievement:
gender parity. In Burkina Faso, Burundi and Malawi, female Lesotho and South Africa have much higher per capita
literacy rates more or less doubled and have increased incomes and government resources than Kenya, but
twice as fast as male rates. Still, in 2000–2007, the region’s register lower primary school learning achievement.
average GPI of the adult literacy rate was 0.76, and female
adult literacy rates were still below the 1985–1994 average The poor quality of education in childhood is reflected
for male literacy. Gender disparities are magnified by wider by illiteracy rates among adults who spent several years
structures of disadvantage and marginalization. In South in school. In twenty-one sub-Saharan African countries,
Africa, for example white youth and white adult women 22- to 24-year-olds with five years of education had a 40%
have near-universal literacy levels, compared with just probability of being illiterate. Those with seven years of
70% among black women. education had a 20% chance of being illiterate.
E D U C AT I O N F O R A L L G L O B A L M O N I T O R I N G R E P O R T 2 0 1 0 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA REGIONAL OVERVIEW 7
Once girls are in school, they tend to perform as well as, Pilot studies in Mali and the Niger in 2007 also
or better than, their male classmates. Among francophone demonstrated promising approaches to improving reading
countries in sub-Saharan Africa participating in the skills at relatively low cost.
Programme d’analyse des systèmes éducatifs de la
CONFEMEN (PASEC), there were no large gender One of the most important requirements for sustained
differences in second and fifth grade performance in French progress towards better quality in education is an improved
or mathematics. For the thirteen countries participating in learning environment, encompassing school infrastructure,
the 2000–2002 SACMEQ assessments, gender differences textbook availability, the learning process and the
in sixth grade English were on the whole either statistically interaction between children and teachers.
insignificant or small. In mathematics, about half the
participating countries showed no statistically significant – A poor school environment with badly ventilated
gender difference. In the rest, males’ average scores classrooms, leaking roofs, inadequate sanitation or lack
tended to be higher but the differences were not large.6 of materials represents a significant barrier to effective
learning. A recent survey of primary schools in two
In many developing countries, including in sub-Saharan Nigerian states found that over 80% of classrooms
Africa, differences in performance across schools are in Enugu and 50% in Kaduna either did not have a
linked to the teaching environment, often marked by large blackboard, or had one that was barely usable.
variations in class size, availability of books and teaching
materials, teacher quality and school building standards. – A detailed evaluation of Ghana’s basic education system
In the 2000–2002 SACMEQ countries, differences among found that improvements in mathematics and English
schools accounted for 37% of the variation in student test scores from 1988 to 2003 had been brought about
reading performance. in part through increased availability of textbooks.
Home language and family composition also affect student – Time spent on effective learning is what matters for
performance. Fifth grade students from Cameroon’s achievement. In Ethiopia, children were in class and
Bamileke language group scored 48% on the PASEC literacy learning for a third of the time schools were officially
test, compared with 56% for students from the Ewondo open.
language group. A longitudinal study in Ethiopia found that
42% of 12-year-olds who had lost their mother between Teachers are the single most important education
ages 8 and 12 were unable to read, while for children with resource. In many countries, shortages of trained
both parents living the figure was 23%. teachers pose a major barrier, at all education levels, to
achieving Education for All. Within countries, marginalized
Small-scale reading assessments conducted in several groups are particularly disadvantaged with regards to
low-income countries paint a worrying picture. While these access to trained teachers. The pre-primary pupil/teacher
tests are not nationally representative, they often point to ratio is 40:1 or higher in Benin, Liberia, Uganda and the
very low levels of fluency in reading. Estimates vary, but United Republic of Tanzania. In Kenya, the national ratio
reading fluency in excess of forty words per minute is of pupils to trained pre-primary teachers is 54:1, but in
thought to be required for comprehension. In the Gambia, the arid, largely pastoral district of Turkana, one of
children in grades 1 to 3 were able, on average, to read six Kenya’s poorest, the ratio is 123:1.
words correctly in a minute. In Liberia, students in grade 2
could read eighteen words per minute and fewer than forty Increasing the recruitment of primary teachers has gone
words by grade 3. A 2008 study of grade 3 students in hand in hand with higher enrolment in primary education
the Woliso district in Ethiopia found that 36% could not since 1999. Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa –
read a single word in Afan Oromo, the local language. including Burkina Faso, Burundi, the Niger and Senegal7 –
have more than doubled the teacher workforce, in most
Assessing reading skills early in primary school provides cases improving the pupil/teacher ratio. Although countries
an opportunity to identify children with low learning set their own targets for pupil/teacher ratios, the most
achievement and take remedial measures that can help widely used international ceiling in primary education is
prevent dropout and grade repetition. Involving schools and 40:1. In 2007, twenty-two countries in sub-Saharan Africa
communities is a key to successful policies to improve had ratios above this ceiling.
reading skills. In the Malindi district of Kenya, teachers were
trained for five days on a set of carefully designed lessons The lack of trained teachers is also of concern. In 2007,
to teach effective reading skills to grade 2 students: reading the share of trained primary school teachers in the region
speeds improved by 80%, on average, after the training. ranged from 15% in Togo to around 100% in Côte d’Ivoire,
6. Seychelles was the exception: girls’ performance compared with that of boys was 0.65 7. In Senegal, the increase in teachers is due to the creation of more schools, upgrading
of a standard deviation higher in English and 0.38 higher in mathematics. of schools with incomplete primary education cycles and double-shift teaching.
8 REGIONAL OVERVIEW SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA E D U C AT I O N F O R A L L G L O B A L M O N I T O R I N G R E P O R T 2 0 1 0
Kenya, Mauritius and the United Republic of Tanzania. The EFA Development Index
Furthermore, Madagascar, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and
Togo had ratios of pupils to trained teachers in excess of The EFA Development Index (EDI) looks beyond individual goals
80:1. In Togo, the share of trained teachers in the workforce to provide a composite measure of progress, encompassing
has fallen from 31% to 15% as recruitment has shifted access, equity and quality. The index includes only the four
towards contract teachers. most easily quantifiable goals, attaching equal weight to each:
universal primary education (goal 2), adult literacy (first part of
A recent review of teacher deployment patterns examined goal 4), gender parity and equality (goal 5), and quality (goal 6).9
differences across subnational regions in ten countries in The EDI value for a given country is the arithmetic mean of
sub-Saharan Africa. In some countries, pupil/teacher ratios the four proxy indicators. It falls between 0 and 1, with 1
varied by a factor of three. While low ratios are often found representing full achievement of Education for All. For the
in rural areas with highly dispersed populations, high ratios school year ending in 2007, EDI values are calculated for
tend to be concentrated in areas marked by poverty and twenty-five countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Table 1 situates
acute disadvantage. In Uganda, northern regions affected these countries in relation to the full achievement of Education
by conflict were marked by pupil/teacher ratios in excess for All: an EDI value of 0.97 to 1.00.
of 90:1 – nearly double the national average.
An additional 1.2 million teachers have to be recruited in Table 1: Most countries in sub-Saharan Africa are far from achieving EFA
sub-Saharan Africa to reach universal primary education Distribution of countries by EDI score and distance to EFA overall achievement, 2007
by 2015. Although the effort needed to close the gap varies
by country, many governments have to expand recruitment EFA achieved Close to EFA
by 4% to 18% annually. For some countries, this means (EDI between 0.97 and 1.00) (EDI between 0.95 and 0.96)
before 2015. Thus, a total of 2.4 million 8 teachers is Botswana, Cape Verde, Kenya, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi,
Mauritius, Namibia, Sao Tome Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana,
needed in the region by 2015. and Principe, Swaziland, Zambia Guinea, Lesotho, Madagascar,
Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger,
Senegal, Togo, Uganda
Recruitment is just one part of a far wider set of issues (8) (17)
that governments have to address. Attracting and retaining
well-qualified candidates and improving teacher morale Source: Table 2 below.
are increasingly difficult. Balancing teacher salaries with
budgetary constraints increases the risk that less qualified
teachers might be recruited. There is evidence from West
Africa that increased recourse to contract teachers has No country has achieved or is close to achieving the four
compromised education quality. most easily quantifiable EFA goals.10 Eight countries rank in
an intermediate position with EDI values ranging from 0.80
to 0.94 and seventeen are far from achieving EFA, with EDI
below 0.80.
9. Reliable and comparable data relating to goal 1 (early childhood care and education)
are not available for most countries, and progress on goal 3 (learning needs of youth
and adults) is still not easy to measure or monitor. For further explanation of the EDI
methodology, see the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2010.
10. In the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2009, one country in this region, Seychelles,
was listed among countries having achieved EFA; it is no longer included because
8. The parts do not add up to the total due to rounding up of teacher recruitment figures. of a lack of recent data on the primary adjusted NER and survival rate to grade 5.
E D U C AT I O N F O R A L L G L O B A L M O N I T O R I N G R E P O R T 2 0 1 0 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA REGIONAL OVERVIEW 9
Very low EDI values (below 0.60) are reported in Ethiopia, Marginalization in education
Mali and the Niger. With the exception of Madagascar, which
has achieved near universal primary enrolment, countries Governments across the world constantly reaffirm their
ranking low for EDI face multiple challenges: school commitment to equal opportunity in education and
participation is low, quality is poor, adult illiteracy is high international human rights conventions establish an obligation
and gender disparities are marked. for them to act on that commitment. Yet most governments
are systematically failing to address the extreme and
Analysis of EDI movement can help identify important persistent education disadvantages that leave large sections of
priority areas and those that have suffered from relative their population marginalized. These disadvantages are rooted
neglect. For the period from 1999 to 2007, changes in the in deeply ingrained social, economic and political processes
EDI can be calculated for eight countries in sub-Saharan and unequal power relationships – and they are sustained by
Africa. The EDI for Ethiopia and Mozambique increased by political indifference. They are also often reinforced by
more than 30% and that for Zambia by 14%, primarily due practices within the classroom. The failure to place inclusive
to large increases in the primary NERs. The survival rate to education at the centre of the Education for All agenda is
grade 5 in Mozambique also increased significantly. The EDI holding back progress towards the goals adopted at Dakar.
for Malawi decreased slightly, by 0.9%, while those for
Lesotho, Mauritius, Namibia and Swaziland increased by 2% Measuring marginalization — a new data tool
to 6%. These small increases resulted from improved
primary adjusted NERs, while the other goals barely moved. Measuring marginalization in education is inherently difficult.
More recently, between 2006 and 2007, the EDI rose by 5% There are no established cross-country benchmarks
or more for Burkina Faso, Namibia, the Niger and Sao Tome comparable to those used for assessing extreme income
and Principe, but fell by 8% for Togo. poverty – and national data are often not detailed enough to
enable marginalized groups to be identified. The 2010 Report
includes a new tool, available online, that provides a window on
the scale of marginalization within countries and on the social
composition of the marginalized. Called the Deprivation and
Marginalization in Education (DME) data set,11 it also identifies
groups facing particularly extreme restrictions on educational
opportunity (Box 1). The data set focuses on three core areas:
The DME data set can illustrate how mutually reinforcing effects
work to create extreme educational disadvantage. In the case of
Nigeria, a child spends over six and a half years in school, on
average. Wealthy urban boys and girls average around ten years
in school, compared with fewer than three for poor rural females.
Over half the ‘education poor’ are Hausa speakers — a group that
makes up one-fifth of the population. Gender and rural-urban
divisions reinforce this disadvantage: Hausa girls from poor rural
households average fewer than six months in school.
Figure 4 shows that absolute deprivation in education compared with a national average of over six years. In
remains at extraordinarily high levels throughout much Kenya, over 70% of Somali young people have fewer than
of sub-Saharan Africa, despite the progress of the past two years of schooling while the national average is 8%.
decade. Factors leading to marginalization do not operate
in isolation: wealth and gender intersect with language, Educational marginalization is also high in conflict-affected
ethnicity, region and rural-urban differences to create areas. In an eastern district of Chad where conflict has led
mutually reinforcing disadvantages. to large-scale internal displacement and there is a large
population of Sudanese refugees, over 90% of the youth
Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in those have fewer than four years of education.
countries where the official language is not the most
common language spoken at home, many children are Time spent in school is just one dimension of marginalization.
taught in a language other than their mother tongue, There are also marked gaps in learning achievement linked
contributing to extreme educational disparity. In Nigeria, to socio-economic status. Having a home language different
the education attainment gap between the highest from the official language of instruction is also commonly
and lowest performing language groups is six years; associated with lower test scores.
in Mozambique, youth who speak Jaua average one
year in education, compared with five years for Getting left behind
Portuguese speakers.
Marginalization in education is the product of a mixture of
Cross-country analysis reveals that in some cases, inherited disadvantage, deeply ingrained social processes,
identifiable social or livelihood groups face almost unfair economic arrangements and bad policies. These
universal disadvantage. In Uganda, 85% of Karamajong processes are examined with respect to the five groups
pastoralists have fewer than two years of education, most severely affected by marginalization.
Education poverty: Extreme education poverty: The wealth effect: The gender effect:
Population with fewer than Population with fewer than People from the poorest Girls from the poorest households
100 4 years of education 2 years of education households who are who are in education poverty 100
in education poverty
90 90
80 80
Share of the population with fewer than 4
60 60
50 50
40 40
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
Namibia, 2006
Swaziland, 2006
Gabon, 2000
Kenya, 2003
Congo, 2005
Lesotho, 2004
Uganda, 2006
Ghana, 2003
Zambia, 2001
Cameroon, 2004
Malawi, 2004
D. R. Congo, 2007
Nigeria, 2003
Liberia, 2007
Burundi, 2005
Gambia, 2005
Rwanda, 2005
Benin, 2006
C. A. R., 2000
Madagascar, 2004
Niger, 2006
S. Tome/Principe, 2000
Togo, 2005
U. R. Tanzania, 2004
Average number Average number of years of education: Average number of years of education:
of years of education: between 6 and 8 years fewer than 6 years
more than 8 years
Source: UNESCO-DME (2009).
E D U C AT I O N F O R A L L G L O B A L M O N I T O R I N G R E P O R T 2 0 1 0 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA REGIONAL OVERVIEW 11
Being born into poverty is one of the strongest factors additional hurdle: 60% of girls interviewed in Kibera
leading to marginalization in education, and both the expressed fear of being raped, and it was not uncommon
incidence and depth of poverty are more marked in for both boys and girls to have witnessed acts of physical
sub-Saharan Africa than in any other region. Household violence. A common response to the fear of violence
surveys consistently point to parental inability to afford and harassment in slums is to stop going to school.
education as a major factor behind non-attendance.
In countries that have abolished formal school fees, – In low-population density rural areas, long and
the cost of uniforms, transport, books and supplies sometimes dangerous journeys to school are an
can create barriers to school entry and completion. important part of marginalization, particularly for girls.
Although more children from poor households have In the western Sahelian region of Chad, a distance to
entered school in Malawi and Uganda since they school of greater than a kilometre led to a steep decline
abolished fees over a decade ago, half the households in enrolment. Yet average walking distances are often
with children who have dropped out of school cite lack many times greater than this. Education systems also
of money as the main problem. are unresponsive to pastoralist livelihoods and their
inherent mobility. The ten most arid Kenyan districts,
– Economic shocks, droughts or health problems can inhabited predominantly by pastoralists, have some
force poor households into coping strategies that of the lowest enrolment rates and largest gender
damage children’s education, especially girls’. In rural disparities in the country.
parts of the United Republic of Tanzania, income shocks
caused by crop losses increased hours worked by – For those living in conflict-affected countries, attacks
children by 30% and decreased school attendance on schools and forced migration are detrimental to
by 20%. In rural Uganda, crop losses associated with enrolment. Countries such as Chad, Kenya, Uganda and
drought resulted in far more girls than boys being taken the United Republic of Tanzania have absorbed millions
out of school or performing poorly in examinations. of people displaced by conflicts in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, Somalia and Sudan. Struggling
– Child labour is another corollary of poverty that hurts to achieve universal primary education for their own
education. While some children combine work with children, these countries are ill equipped to provide
schooling, this often has adverse consequences for education to large, vulnerable and extremely poor
learning. In Mali around half of all children aged 7 to 14 refugee populations, often speaking different languages.
report being involved in labour. The average workweek
is thirty-seven hours – more for the very poor – which Children with disabilities suffer from social attitudes that
severely compromises education prospects. stigmatize, restrict opportunity and lower self-esteem.
These attitudes are often reinforced by neglect in the
Group-based identities, such those related to race, classroom, insufficient physical access, shortages of
ethnicity or language, are among the deepest fault lines in trained teachers and limited provision of teaching aids.
education. Nine of every ten Peul speakers in Mali are in In Malawi and the United Republic of Tanzania, disability
education poverty with fewer than four years of education, doubles the probability of children never having attended
compared with only six out of ten Bambara speakers. school. Children with disabilities in Burkina Faso are
One reason children from disadvantaged ethnic groups 2.5 times as likely to be out of school.
perform poorly in school is that they are often taught in
a language they struggle to understand. A lack of home HIV and AIDS compound wider problems associated
language instruction is often part of wider processes with poverty and social discrimination, such as increased
of cultural subordination and social discrimination, economic pressure due to ill health of family members
reinforced by curricula insensitive to cultural diversity. and orphanhood. Two-thirds of the 33 million people
living with HIV and AIDS in 2007, and 90% of the 2 million
Disadvantages linked to poverty and ethnicity are often children with HIV, live in sub-Saharan Africa. Out of
reflected in location and livelihoods. Slums are focal eighteen sub-Saharan countries with recent national
points for educational deprivation, partly because many education plans, only Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia and
governments fail to recognize the entitlements of slum Rwanda have included detailed integrated strategies
dwellers to basic services. Kibera, one of the largest for children affected by HIV and AIDS. Orphans who
slums in sub-Saharan Africa, with an estimated population lose both parents or whose mothers have died are often
of 1 million, is a short walk from some of Kenya’s finest less likely to stay in school than children whose mother
primary schools. Yet the vast majority of Kibera’s children or both parents are alive.
are locked out of even the most basic opportunities for
education. Parents have to pay for poor-quality private
schooling, while non-slum children can access fee-free
government education. Security concerns present an
12 REGIONAL OVERVIEW SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA E D U C AT I O N F O R A L L G L O B A L M O N I T O R I N G R E P O R T 2 0 1 0
Levelling the playing field distances to school; the out-of-school population has
declined by 3 million and gender disparities have narrowed.
There is no single formula for overcoming marginalization in
education. Policies need to address underlying causes, such as More flexible approaches to provision could bring education
social discrimination and stigmatization, as well as challenges within reach of some of the world’s most marginalized
specific to particular marginalized groups. The inequalities that children. Such approaches include mobile schools for
the marginalized face are persistent and resistant to change, pastoralists, satellite schools, itinerant teachers and
yet progress is possible with sustained political commitment to multigrade teaching for remote areas, and specialized
social justice, equal opportunity and basic rights. Three broad training for teachers of children with disabilities.
sets of policies can make a difference. They can be thought of
as three points in an inclusive education triangle (Figure 5). Accelerated learning programmes can help provide a
second chance to children and adolescents, provided
Accessibility and affordability government and employers recognize such programmes as
legitimate for school and work. The scale of such teaching is
Removing school fees is necessary to reach the poorest not well known, but a survey in sub-Saharan Africa recorded
but is not enough on its own. Governments also need to 154 programmes in 39 countries reaching 3.5 million
lower indirect costs associated with uniforms, textbooks children. One programme has reached tens of thousands
and informal fees. In western Kenya, providing a free of out-of-school children in the most marginalized region of
uniform increased attendance in primary school by thirteen Ghana. Another has played a vital role in bringing education
percentage points among children who did not previously to thousands of children in Sierra Leone who missed out
own a uniform. Financial stipend programmes for on school due to conflict. Religious schools in Nigeria and
identifiably marginalized groups can lower household community schools in Zambia have also helped extend
costs and provide incentives for education. education to those not reached by public provision.
flows since 2004. Only 2% of the humanitarian and Box 3: The Fast Track Initiative
development aid to Liberia was allocated to education
during the post-conflict phase in 2004–2007. The problem The Fast Track Initiative (FTI) is an important multilateral
is not that too much is invested in security and alleviating framework for delivering aid to education in thirty-six
hunger; it is that too little is invested in education and countries, including twenty in sub-Saharan Africa.* However,
other development areas, which are no less important it has fallen far short of expectations due to limited
to post-conflict reconstruction. disbursement, lack of transparency in decision-making and
governance problems. The FTI’s Catalytic Fund has suffered
from low resource mobilization, poor disbursement rates and
Strong efforts on the part of donor and African countries
a narrow donor base. The EFA Global Monitoring Report 2010
alike are needed if the delivery of aid is to be improved calls for urgent, comprehensive reform of the FTI. Following the
in accordance with the Paris Declaration on Aid example of global health funds, a reformed FTI could be used
Effectiveness. Improved aid predictability and, when feasible, to harness more innovative sources of financing for education,
greater use of recipient government management systems including via private foundations and companies.
are particularly crucial. At present, the quality of a country’s Half of total Catalytic Fund disbursements were distributed
public financial management system is a weak guide to to only three countries: Kenya, Madagascar and Rwanda.
whether donors use it. Malawi scores lower on the CPIA
The Catalytic Fund has been dogged by poor disbursement
quality scale13 than Madagascar, Senegal and Sierra Leone, rates. An allocation to Senegal in 2007 had still not been
yet has a far higher share of aid using national management disbursed by April 2009. Two years after the initial Catalytic
systems. In addition, the international multilateral Fund allocation, Mozambique had received only
framework for cooperation in education needs to be US$29 million of a US$79 million grant.
strengthened through fundamental reform of the EFA Plan endorsement has not always led to aid delivery. Several
Fast Track Initiative (Box 3). conflict-affected countries in sub-Saharan Africa have been
through the FTI endorsement process, including Liberia and
Sierra Leone in 2007 and the Central African Republic in
2008. Three months after the FTI endorsed Sierra Leone’s
national education plan, US$13.9 million in Catalytic Fund
support for the country was approved. As of March 2009,
two years after the allocation decision, Sierra Leone was still
awaiting its first disbursement.
* Between 2002 and 2008, the following countries’ education sector plans
were endorsed: Benin, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Cameroon,
Ethiopia, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar,
Mali, Mozambique, the Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal,
Sierra Leone and Zambia.
13. The Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) is a World Bank diagnostic
tool that ranks country performance on an ascending scale from one to six.
16 REGIONAL OVERVIEW SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA E D U C AT I O N F O R A L L G L O B A L M O N I T O R I N G R E P O R T 2 0 1 0
Primary education
Survival rate
NER GPI Out-of-school to last grade %
total of GER children2 total of trained Pupil/teacher
(%) (F/M) (000) (%) teachers ratio3
1999 2007 1999 2007 2007 1999 2006 2007 1999 2007 Country or territory
… … … … … … … … … 41 Angola
50 80 0.67 0.83 244 … 65 72 53 44 Benin 4
80 84 1.00 0.99 49 82 75 87 27 24 Botswana
35 58 0.70 0.87 1 002 61 69 88 49 49 Burkina Faso 4
… 81 0.80 0.93 244 … 58 87 57 52 Burundi
… … 0.82 0.86 … 78 59 62 52 44 Cameroon 4
99 85 0.96 0.94 12 … 88 83 29 25 Cape Verde
… 56 … 0.71 310 … 50 … … 90 Central African Republic 4
51 … 0.58 0.70 … 47 30 35 68 60 Chad
49 … 0.85 0.88 … … 72 … 35 35 Comoros
… 54 0.95 0.93 244 … … 87 61 58 Congo
52 … 0.74 0.79 … 62 75 100 43 41 Côte d’Ivoire
33 … 0.90 0.81 … … … 96 26 38 D. R. Congo
89 67 0.79 0.95 20 … … 31 57 28 Equatorial Guinea
33 41 0.82 0.83 349 95 60 87 47 48 Eritrea
34 71 0.61 0.88 3 721 51 58 … 46 … Ethiopia 4
… … 1.00 … … … … … 44 … Gabon
72 67 0.86 1.07 80 86 64 … 37 41 Gambia 4
57 73 0.92 0.99 930 … 83 49 30 32 Ghana 4
45 74 0.64 0.85 362 … 77 68 47 45 Guinea 4
45 … 0.67 … … … … … 44 … Guinea-Bissau
63 86 0.97 0.99 769 … 84 99 32 46 Kenya 4
57 72 1.08 1.00 101 58 62 66 44 40 Lesotho 4
42 31 0.74 0.89 447 … … 40 39 24 Liberia 4
63 98 0.97 0.97 20 51 42 55 47 49 Madagascar 4
98 87 0.96 1.04 314 37 36 … … 67 Malawi
46 63 0.70 0.80 763 66 73 … 62 52 Mali 4
91 95 1.00 1.00 5 99 98 100 26 22 Mauritius
52 76 0.74 0.87 954 28 45 63 61 65 Mozambique 4
81 87 1.01 0.99 45 82 88 95 32 30 Namibia
26 45 0.68 0.75 1 262 … 70 98 41 40 Niger 4
58 64 0.79 0.85 8 221 … … 51 41 40 Nigeria
… 94 0.98 1.02 88 30 … 98 54 69 Rwanda 4 Notes:
86 97 0.97 0.98 0.1 … 74 … 36 31 Sao Tome and Principe 4 Data underlined are for 2004.
Data in italics are for 2005.
54 72 0.86 1.00 506 … 53 … 49 34 Senegal 4 Data in bold italics are for 2006.
… … 0.99 0.99 … 99 … … 15 12 Seychelles Data in bold are for 2008 or 2007
for survival rate to last grade.
… … … 0.90 … … … 49 … 44 Sierra Leone 4 The averages are derived from both
… … 0.54 … … … … … 28 … Somalia published data and broad estimates for
countries for which no recent data or
94 86 0.97 0.97 642 57 … … 35 31 South Africa reliable publishable data are available.
74 87 0.95 0.93 26 64 74 94 33 32 Swaziland 1. Data are for the most recent year
available during the period specified.
79 77 0.75 0.86 222 44 45 15 41 39 Togo
2. Data reflect the actual number of
… 95 0.92 1.01 341 … 25 93 57 57 Uganda children not enrolled at all, derived
… from the age-specific enrolment ratios
50 98 1.00 1.00 143 83 99 40 53 U. R. Tanzania of primary school age children, which
68 94 0.92 0.97 108 66 75 … 47 49 Zambia 4 measure the proportion of those who
… … … are enrolled in either primary or
83 88 0.97 0.99 281 41 38 Zimbabwe secondary school (primary adjusted
NER).
3. Based on headcounts of pupils
Weighted average Weighted average Sum Median Weighted average and teachers.
4. Fast Track Initiatitve (FTI):
56 73 0.85 0.90 32 226 … 69 87 41 44 Sub-Saharan Africa countries with endorsed sector plans.
Sources: EFA Global Monitoring Report
80 86 0.91 0.95 68 638 … 81 85 27 27 Developing countries 2010, statistical tables; UNESCO
Institute for Statistics; OECD-DAC
82 87 0.92 0.96 71 791 90 89 … 25 25 World online CRS database.
18 REGIONAL OVERVIEW SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA E D U C AT I O N F O R A L L G L O B A L M O N I T O R I N G R E P O R T 2 0 1 0
Table 2 (continued)
Tertiary
Secondary education education
Angola … … … … 13 0.76 … … 3 …
Benin 4 41 0.58 20 0.52 19 0.47 32 0.57 5 …
Botswana 89 1.07 58 1.00 74 1.07 76 1.05 5 1.00
Burkina Faso 4 24 0.77 8 0.61 10 0.62 18 0.74 3 0.50
Burundi 20 0.75 8 0.63 … … 15 0.72 2 0.46
Cameroon 4 32 0.80 16 0.78 25 0.83 25 0.79 7 0.79
Cape Verde 99 1.13 60 1.28 … … 79 1.18 9 1.21
Central African Republic 4 … … … … … … … … 1 0.28
Chad 23 0.41 12 0.56 10 0.26 19 0.45 1 0.14
Comoros 41 0.75 27 0.78 25 0.81 35 0.76 … …
Congo … … … … … … … … … …
Côte d’Ivoire … … … … 22 0.54 … … 8 0.50
D. R. Congo 46 0.58 27 0.49 18 0.52 33 0.53 4 0.35
Equatorial Guinea … … … … 33 0.37 … … … …
Eritrea 43 0.73 18 0.67 21 0.69 29 0.70 … …
Ethiopia 4 39 0.67 11 0.64 12 0.68 30 0.67 3 0.34
Gabon … … … … 49 0.86 … … … …
Gambia 4 60 0.98 36 0.91 30 0.67 49 0.96 … …
Ghana 4 74 0.92 32 0.82 37 0.80 53 0.89 6 0.54
Guinea 4 47 0.61 24 0.45 14 0.37 38 0.57 5 0.28
Guinea-Bissau … … … … … … … … … …
Kenya 4 87 0.88 35 0.86 38 0.96 53 0.88 3 0.57
Lesotho 4 45 1.29 24 1.22 31 1.35 37 1.27 4 1.19
Liberia 4 … … … … 29 0.65 … … … …
Madagascar 4 36 0.96 12 0.91 … … 26 0.95 3 0.89
Malawi 39 0.87 16 0.74 36 0.70 28 0.83 0.5 0.51
Mali 4 44 0.64 18 0.65 16 0.52 32 0.64 4 …
Mauritius 99 1.02 80 0.96 76 0.98 88 0.99 14 1.17
Mozambique 4 26 0.74 7 0.66 5 0.62 18 0.73 1 0.49
Namibia 76 1.17 32 1.16 58 1.11 59 1.17 6 0.88
Niger 4 15 0.64 4 0.50 7 0.60 11 0.61 1 0.33
Nigeria 35 0.82 28 0.79 23 0.89 32 0.81 10 0.69
Rwanda 4 24 0.92 13 0.85 9 0.99 18 0.89 3 0.62
Sao Tome and Principe 4 64 1.11 18 0.88 … … 46 1.07 . .
Senegal 4 35 0.80 14 0.65 15 0.64 26 0.76 8 0.55
Seychelles 116 1.09 106 1.21 113 1.04 112 1.13 . .
Sierra Leone 4 46 0.69 17 0.69 … … 32 0.69 … …
Somalia … … … … … … … … … …
South Africa 95 0.99 99 1.09 89 1.13 97 1.05 15 1.24
Swaziland 66 0.87 38 0.94 45 1.00 54 0.89 4 0.98
Togo 49 0.57 26 0.42 28 0.40 39 0.53 5 …
Uganda 27 0.87 12 0.67 10 0.66 23 0.83 … …
U. R. Tanzania … … … … 6 0.82 … … 1 0.48
Zambia 4 58 0.91 33 0.86 20 0.77 43 0.89 … …
Zimbabwe 58 0.99 31 0.87 43 0.88 40 0.93 … …
Sources: EFA Global Monitoring Report 2010, statistical tables; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; OECD-DAC online CRS database.
E D U C AT I O N F O R A L L G L O B A L M O N I T O R I N G R E P O R T 2 0 1 0 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA REGIONAL OVERVIEW 19
Education finance
Total aid Total aid to basic
Total public expenditure to basic education education per primary
on education as % (constant 2007 school age child
of GNP US$ million) (constant 2007 US$)
2006–2007 2006–2007
1999 2007 annual average annual average Country or territory
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