(iv) Educational effects
Ideally, a nation would want to know how educational efforts
affect school processes, and the acquisition of knowledge, skills, attitudes and
behaviour. In reality, data are available only to indicate access to schooling,
continuing participation, graduation, and further learning attainment. The
degree to which these indicators are adequate proxies for the hoped-for effects
of basic education activities will vary among nations, systems, and
institutions.
Chart 4: Gross Enrolment Ratios by
Regions (1960-85)
Source: UNESCO.
The gross and net enrolment ratios (the common measures of
access) reveal once again the differences among nations and among the economic
categories of nations in their priorities for and efforts in meeting basic
learning needs (see Chart 4 for regional comparisons). Gross enrolment ratios
include under- and over-age pupils in addition to those of the normal primary
school age (usually six to eleven years old). Within the group of low-income
economies, gross enrolment ratios for males range from 20 to 30 percent
(Afghanistan, Mali, and Somalia) to over 100 percent (twelve countries). The
gross enrolment ratios for females are consistently lower with only one
exception (Lesotho with 125 percent for females versus 101 percent for males).
Net enrolment ratios (restricted to the primary school age
cohort) are less generally available but show a similar pattern: countries with
comparable economic conditions show significantly different education results.
Among the low-income economies, reported net enrolment ratios for males range
from 14 percent in Somalia and 31 percent in Guinea to 87 percent in Togo, 89
percent in Madagascar, and 99 or 100 percent in Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Female
net enrolment ratios reported for the same set of countries range from 8 percent
in Somalia, 15 percent in Guinea, and 20 percent in Burkina Faso to 96 percent
in Indonesia and 100 percent in Sri Lanka. Of course, these differences are not
solely a product of policy choices and priorities, but they do support the
contention that both societal willingness and effort must be considered in
evaluating the constraining effect of a nation’s financial capacity.
|
Box 2.03. DIKMAS: Income Generation and Literacy Programmes
for Women in Indonesia
DIKMAS is the Community Education Division of the Ministry of
Education and Culture in Indonesia. Its programme of combining employment -
oriented skill training closely linked with literacy efforts has helped
Indonesia move from about a 60 percent literacy rate to nearly 80 percent over
the past decade, while also providing earning opportunities for unemployed
out-of-school youth.
“Learning and Earning” opportunities are being offered
by the Kejar Paket A literacy and Kejar Usaha small enterprise programmes for
women in Indonesia. The programmes, using such facilities and activities as
village learning groups, reading courses, rural newspapers, and preparation for
primary school equivalency examinations, aim to eliminate illiteracy, especially
among women; to increase participation in child survival and development
activities; and to enable women to increase their income through loans for small
business. Most learners are poor, illiterate girls and women between the ages 13
and 44, with no fixed occupation. The community provides tutors and a venue for
classes, and a village task force manages funds for the programme.
In 1987 a midterm review found that Kejar Usaha group members
have been able to increase their income by as much as 34 percent a year, and
Kejar Paker A learners have been able to raise their income by 20 percent a
year. The Kejar Paket A scheme has also become an alternative to formal
schooling for primary school dropouts, who form 46 percent of learners. One
innovation of the Kejar Usaha programme is that loans are being extended through
the Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) on collateral furnished by UNICEF and the
government. This offers group members a chance to learn to deal with banks and
frees civil servants from having to keep detailed accounts of payments and
repayments.
A total of 5.6 million illiterates will be reached by the
programmes during Repelita V. The country's next five year development plan.
|
One of the most widely used indicators of educational
development is the female enrolment rate. Since females commonly are the last to
benefit from educational expansion and the first to suffer from reductions in
learning opportunities, their participation rates are a more sensitive indicator
of access than are total or male only rates. The general pattern of female
participation is one of lower aggregate enrolment rates with a notably greater
degree of equality at entry to primary schooling than at termination. This
finding indicates that attempts to improve gender equity must focus both on
access and on the continued participation of females.
Not indicated in the available data is differential achievement.
Anecdotal reports suggest that, even where participation in learning programs is
high, social and cultural factors which influence career expectations and role
definitions can indirectly affect learning achievement. A well-known example in
the United States is the question of girl’s achievement in science and
math.
Participation by students until the end of the primary school
cycle may be, however, a necessary if not sufficient condition for achieving an
acceptable level of basic learning. For 1980-86, completion rates (the
proportion of grade 1 enrollees who complete the primary cycle) reported by the
low-income countries ranged from around 15 percent (Benin, Guinea-Bissau, and
the Yemen Arab Republic) to 80 percent and above (Mauritania, Indonesia, Sri
Lanka, and Zambia). Since high completion rates can reflect policies that
restrict initial access opportunities in favour of elites, this indicator needs
to be viewed in the context of both access and achievement levels. Similarly,
reported levels of secondary school access indicate the effect not only of
primary schooling but also of other determinants, including the demand structure
of the labour market and the availability of secondary school places.
Educational patterns also differs among the middle-income and
the industrial market economies. For example, one lower middle-income nation
reports a gross enrolment ratio for males of less than 75 percent, while
twenty-five countries report ratios of 95 percent or above. Among the higher
income nations, the reported female net enrolment ratios range from 48 to 100
percent.
Two critical facts are not directly indicated by the tables in
the Data Annex. First, economically advantaged nations vary dramatically in how
effective they are in extending learning opportunities to their disadvantaged
populations. Second, the functional definition of basic learning may differ
among developed economies and may include some post-primary education.
Indicators related to these issues of access and definition may be derived,
however, from variations in the percentage of grade 1 students completing the
primary cycle and in the gross enrolment ratios at the secondary level.
A list of the desired effects of educational investments at the
basic education level must include initial access, continued participation,
equity for disadvantaged populations, and learning achievement. All
of these are of some concern in all countries. As in the case of economic
growth, however, the most disadvantaged nations face the most difficulty in
achieving the desired effects.
In summary, multiple indicators of educational processes and
effects are required to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of a
nation’s attempts to meet basic learning needs. The willingness of some
nations to invest in basic education despite adverse economic conditions and
their efforts to overcome financial constraints deserves both respect and
further study. Examination of a high-performing nation’s willingness and
effort may help identify aspects that can be transferred to other national
contexts.
The data on primary education efforts shed light on the
incomplete coverage of the current systems; they also define more precisely the
task of expanding basic education through primary schooling and equivalent
systems, public information, and adult education and training programmes. The
need for each nation to expand its out-of-school efforts is strengthened by the
realization that, for many nations, the goal of universal primary schooling will
not be attained in the immediate
future.
