Carol Bellamy shares thoughts from EFF debate

In the 7th Education Fast Forward debate hosted by Promethean and Cisco on July 17, I was asked to give my thoughts about whether developing countries should focus their resources on access to education—ensuring all children can go to school—or quality of education—ensuring that children actually learn in class. This was my response: it is time for these two concepts to get out of their respective corners and come together.

Impressive progress in bringing children to school

Over the past two decades, emerging economies and poor countries were focusing mostly on bringing the large number of children out of school in class. The international community also focused on access: declarations at Jomtien, Dakar and the New York Millennium Summit focused on access.  Millennium Development Goal 2 says that “children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling by 2015”. No mention of quality.

This made sense because there were more than 100 million children out of school in 1999, and the priority was to ensure that these children’s right to an education was not wasted.

The results to date have been remarkable: the number of children out of school has declined significantly since 1999 with 57 million children out of school today. However we cannot be complacent. In every region except Asia, progress on access to education is stalling, and in Sub-Saharan Africa, the number of out-of-school children seems to be rising. The work won’t be done until all boys and girls around the world can go to school.

Access = quality and quality = access

Now that the 2015 horizon is on our doorsteps, the issue of quality of education is coming to the fore. There are currently an estimated 250 million children in school who are learning almost nothing. More than half of all children in school in the poorest countries cannot read anything by the end of grade 3.

So what actions do countries need to take to ensure a quality education?

If access means having enough schools, quality means that these schools are safe and well designed. It means that children don’t experience violence on their way to school or in school. It also means that classrooms are child-friendly, for example with a blackboard hung low enough on the wall for primary school children to see it and write on it easily.

If access means having enough teachers, quality means having enough well trained, well supported, and well paid teachers. More women teachers are needed to continue to improve the enrollment and completion rates for girls.

Quality also means paying more attention to education in conflict-affected countries. In such difficult contexts, going to school can bring children a sense of normality that is sorely lacking in their life. But the sector with the least support in conflict-affected countries is education.

Working hard on both fronts

Children out of school are still the ones in the poorest countries, in rural areas, in countries experiencing conflict. Children from poor households are three times more likely to be out of school. On the gender front, even though the gap is reduced in primary schools, there are still more girls not in school than boys.  At home, it’s mostly girls who help around the household, fetching wood or water, caring for their siblings, so they have less time for homework or reading.

But if we don’t focus on the quality of education, we will undermine all the hard won gains we have made so far to bring these children to school. That is why the Global Partnership for Education has adopted a specific strategic goal on quality. GPE’s objective is to see a dramatic increase in the number of children mastering reading and math by the end of Grade 3. They work with partners around the world on this goal and have defined specific indicators to monitor progress.

We should celebrate the successes we have obtained together, but there is still much work to be done. Education is everybody’s business.  During the debate, Anthony Mackay, CEO of the Centre for Strategic Education (CSE) in Melbourne, emphasized the role that partnerships can play in the education sector: governments (ministries of education, finance, health) should interact with parents, communities, employers and businesses to devise the best solutions for children.

We have to stop seeing access and quality as opposing arguments. Both have to be on the table.

Replay the Education Fast Forward Debate on PrometheanPlanet.com