Education with Equity
in Africa
ECOSOC Africa
regional meeting
Lome, Togo
12 April 2011
Yumiko Yokozeki
UNICEF Western and
Central African
Regional Office
Argument for education –
MDGs 2 and 3 and more
•Child right argument: basic education is
children’s right.
•Health argument: basic education contributes
to reduction of child and maternal mortality.
•Economic argument: basic education helps
people come out of poverty.
•Governance argument: basic education
cultivates good governance.
•Power of education: 2+3=8 and more
Vast disparity in access and quality
– global, regional and country-wide
• Africa region has the lowest enrolment ratio (NER primary
education is about 80%) with diversity.
• Estimated 31 million or more school-aged children are out of
school in 52 countries.
• In many countries with lower enrolment ratios, the quality of
educational supply is limited.
• Within each country, disparity is evident in economic
quintiles, gender, ethnic groups/geographical areas and
rural-urban data.
Sahel countries show a sharp contrast between the
richest quintile and the rest.
100%
100%
Burkina Faso
82%
80%
80%
60%
40%
Niger
52%
33%
33%
70%
60%
39%
40%
26%
28%
1
2
32%
37%
20%
20%
0%
1
2
3
4
5
0%
3
4
5
100%
Some post-conflict
countries show the same
contrast.
Liberia
80%
66%
60%
37%
40%
23%
42%
26%
20%
0%
1
2
3
4
5
Other countries show a sharp contrast between the
poorest quintile and the rest.
Cameroon
100%
81%
87%
92%
98%
80%
60%
Ghana
100%
80%
50%
60%
40%
72%
77%
82%
86%
59%
40%
20%
20%
0%
1
2
3
4
5
0%
1
2
74%
80%
5
79%
78%
4
5
54%
60%
40%
4
Nigeria
100%
Some other countries
have the bottom two
quintile distinctly
disadvantaged.
3
33%
20%
0%
1
2
3
Primary school attendance in
rural and urban children
100
90
80
70
60
50
urban
40
30
20
10
0
rural
Geographical disparity in
Cameroon
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Geographical disparity in Guinea
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Educational marginalization- combination of economic,
rural-urban, gender and ethnic factors
The case
14
of Nigeria
Ukraine
Average number of years of schooling
12
Cuba
10
Bolivia
Indonesia
9.7 years
Richest 20%
10 years
Rural
Urban
10.3 years
Rich, rural boys
Rich, urban boys
Rich, rural girls
Boys
Girls
8
Honduras
NigeriaCameroon
6
Urban
6.4 years
6.7 years Bangladesh
Poor, urban boys
4
Education poverty
Chad
Poorest 20%
3.5 years
Rural
3.3 years
2
Poor, rural girls
2.6 years
Extreme education poverty
0
C. A. R.
Rural Hausa
0.5 years
Poor, rural Hausa girls
0.3 years
Access to primary education
in Cote d’Ivoire
100.0% rich
90.3%
south
76.6% boys
64.4%
71.8% poor
84.7% rich
north
46.7% poor
72%
National
average
86.6%
south
67.1% girls
51.1%
north
Allain Mingat (2009)
93.7% rich
82.6% poor
77.8% rich
30.9% poor
Equity analysis in education:
analysis of constraints and barriers and measures
Who are
deprived ?
Major
constraints
Measures to
include these
children
Some good news …
• In many countries, the gap between the groups in
access in primary education is narrowing.
• In Western Cape in South Africa, the learning gaps
between the rich and the poor have reduced
significantly (next slide).
• Ghana and Tunisia recorded the largest gains in the
world in science scores in 8th grade from 2003
through 2007 and among the largest gains in
mathematics score (TIMSS 2003/2007).
Western Cape narrowed the literacy inequality gap in 4 years
– the bottom three quintiles caught up to the second richest.
Source: McKinsey & Co Report 2011
Conclusion
• Regional and national disparity is evident.
• In-country disparity is vast and this can be betterunderstood by intersection of multiple factors –
economic, gender, geographical region, social
norms, etc.
• Equity-focused analysis – 1) identifying the
determinants of deprivation and major causes of
such deprivation, and 2) prioritising strategic shifts
in intervention
Thank you very much for
your attention