Strengthening Accountability for
better development results in
Education
By Mrs Lavina Banduah
Executive Director
Transparency International Sierra Leone
Focus of the Presentation
Global Accountability Mechanisms
– The Education for All Global Monitoring
Report and
_ The School Report of the Global Campaign
for Education
Background
Education For ALL
• At the start of the new century, governments
and the international community set targets
to dramatically improve educational
opportunities for children, youth and adults
over the next 15 years. They underscored that
education is vital to reducing world poverty
and fostering a more equitable, peaceful and
sustainable future.
In April 2000 more than 1,100 participants from
164 countries gathered in Dakar, Senegal, for the
World Education Forum.
The participants, ranging from teachers to prime
ministers, academics to policymakers, nongovernmental bodies to the heads of major
international organizations, adopted the 2000word Dakar Framework for Action, Education for
All: Meeting Our Collective Commitments
Goals of the EFA
• Expand childhood care and education
• Provide free and compulsory primary education
for all
• Promote learning and life skills for young people
and adults
• Increase adult literacy by 50 percent
• Achieve gender parity by 2005, gender equality
by 2015
• Improve the quality of education
What is the EFA Global Monitoring Report
• The Education for All Global Monitoring Report is
the prime instrument to assess global progress
towards achieving the six 'Dakar' EFA goals to
which over 160 countries committed themselves
in 2000. It tracks progress, identifies effective
policy reforms and best practice in all areas
relating to EFA, draws attention to emerging
challenges and seeks to promote international
cooperation in favour of education.
• The publication is targeted at decision-makers
at the national and international level, and
more broadly, at all those engaged in
promoting the right to quality education –
teachers, civil society groups, NGOs,
researchers and the international community.
• Whilst the report has an annual agenda for
reporting progress on each of the six EFA
goals, each edition also adopts a particular
theme, chosen because of its central
importance to the EFA process.
• The report is mainly coordinated by UNESCO.
Aims of the Report
• The Education for All Global Monitoring Report
aims to inform education and aid policy through
an authoritative, evidence-based review of
progress and a balanced analysis of the most
critical challenges facing countries.
• It also aims to hold the global community to
account by rigorously assessing progress,
analyzing effective policies, spreading knowledge
about good practice, and alerting the world to
emerging challenges.
• THEMATIC FOCUS of the Report by year
• 2002 - Education for all: Is the world on track?
• 2003/2004 - Gender and education for all: the leap to
equality
• 2005- Education for all: the quality imperative
• 2006 - Literacy for life
• 2007- Strong foundations: Early childhood care and
education
• 2008 - Education for All by 2015: Will we make it?
• 2009 - Overcoming inequality: why governance matters
• 2010 - Reaching the marginalized
• 2011- The hidden crisis: Armed conflict and education
Global Campaign for Education
• A movement started in 1999 to end the
worldwide crisis in education. It focuses
specifically on targeted attacks on schools and
other abuses affecting education.
Main Aim of the Campaign
• 1 Goal comprising 10 points
• To make Education for all a Reality
• An Annual Report is produced each year
wherein the GCE holds donor governments to
account for their promises on education, using
the ‘School Report’ as the method to
benchmark their performance.
• The report also tracks progress in terms of
access to formal education in schools for
which a School Report Card is produced.
• The Report is supported by ActionAid, Plan
International, VSO, Save the Children, Oxfam
and Education International.
KEY SUCCESSES
• Have provided more insight for govt and
stakeholders on the annual thematic focus of the
report
• Helped govt and other stakeholders to track
progress made
• Stimulated commitment on the part of govt to
improve the education sector
• By enriching understanding of education issues,
the report acts as a springboard for debate,
knowledge-sharing and advocacy.
KEY CHALLENGES
• Contribution to the content of the report has not been very
inclusive and participatory especially at local level and
within decentralized system of govt.
• Limited/No follow up on recommendations/issues raised
with regards to every annual thematic focus with up to date
reports on progress made
• Reports not widely publicised at national level
• The need for active political will and commitment to
implement the recommendations of the reports
• The overarching message of the GMR is that despite
notable progress made by many developing nations, the
world is not on track in moving towards the EFA goals.
Recommendations for improvement and supporting
structures to enable them to be used as instruments
to hold providers and recipients more accountable
• National Monitoring Reports to also be compiled
annually by every contributing countries
• A specific body to be set up for effective coordination
of govt and key stakeholder efforts
• Annual Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys of the
education sector
• Regional Steering Committee to be established for
periodic reviews, tracking progress across the board
and conducting impact assessment
• Govt to compile and popularize the reports as well as
provide details on aid received and locally generated
revenue allocation to the education sector as well as
details of utilization of these funds to enable proper
monitoring by stakeholders esp. CSO’s.
• A thorough review of the present Education Systems in
all countries to assess how conducive and beneficial it
is within the varying country context
• Clearly defined short, medium and long term results
and benchmarks to measure progress and impact
• The need to further assess thoroughly the benefits of
education or else it would undermine the aims of the
EFA goals
Key Lessons of National Mutual Accountability
Frameworks in the Education Sector
Positive
• Increased interaction and trust among stakeholders to
pursue a common objective led to a dramatic change in
provider and recipient behaviour that has created
significant results
Negative
• Preconceived notions easily give way to suspicion and
mistrust and undermines commitment
How can participation of providers and nongovernmental stakeholders be broadened at
both global and national level
• Strengthening established linkages and
networks to further promote collaboration
and cooperation
• Institute a Peer Review Mechanism
• Establish national and global steering or
working committee of specific and/or both
groups
How can these mechanisms intensify their
efforts to address the special needs of low
income conflict affected countries which are
lagging behind in achieving the EFA Goals
• This year’s GMR report ‘The hidden crises: Armed
conflict and education’ is an excellent and timely
account of the way in which conflict is destroying
opportunities for education globally. More than
40 per cent of out-of-school children live in
conflict-affected countries; these same countries
have some of the largest gender inequalities and
lowest literacy levels in the world.
• Against this background, these reports should
incorporate sections specifically focusing on
these countries annually.
• In addition, these countries should join the
EFA Fast Track Initiative.
What is the Fast Track Initiative (FTI)?
• It was created as the first ever global compact on
education, to help low-income countries achieve
a free, universal basic education.
• It was launched in 2002 as a global partnership
between donor and developing country partners
to ensure accelerated progress towards the
Millennium Development Goal of universal
primary education by 2015.
• All low-income countries which demonstrate
serious commitment to achieve universal primary
completion can join the FTI.
The FTI Compact
• Based on mutual accountability
• Aims to provide the incentives and resources
to empower poor nations to build and
implement sound education plans.
Within this framework, developing countries are
responsible for taking ownership of crafting
national education plans, with budget
accountability and a greater commitment of
political and financial resources, while donor
countries commit to providing the additional
technical know-how and funding required
ensuring that no country that has met its
obligations would fail for lack of resources or
technical capacity.
Key Facts worthy to note
• 28 million children are out of school in
conflict-affected countries
• Education accounts for just 2% of
humanitarian aid
• 6 days of military spending by aid donors
would close the US$16 billion Education for All
external financing gap
GENERAL RECOMMENDATION
• Donor institutions to increase their focus/aid to the education
sector
• Governments to increase allocation to the education sector to
compliment donor support.
• Government and donors to work towards aligning education aid
with the education-related MDGs and EFA goals.
• Review and reduce education aid spent on scholarship and training
fees in provider countries
• And commit more to primary education.
• Mechanisms to be put in place both at donor and recipient level to
ensure proper accountability of Education Aid channelled through
national public financial management systems.
• Donors in the education field to work towards improved
coordination of their intervention in the sector as this remains a
major challenge.
• The need for constructive engagement in
instances, where there is less consensus
between government and providers
regarding key priorities for national policy
goals and for delivery of development
cooperation to support them.
Strengthening capacity of civil society with
technical assistance and funding support to
perform their monitoring/oversight and
advocacy roles.
Thank you for your attention