The IIEP Letter - June 2016 - Financing Education 2030

NEW GOALS, SAME CHALLENGES?

The new education-related Sus-tainable Development Goal (SDG 4) will require a substan-tial mobilization of resources:

human, physical and financial, from do-mestic and international sources. As stated in the declaration of the Education 2030 Framework for Action, which was adopted by 184 Member States in 2015, this means “sustained, innovative and well-targeted financing and efficient implementation ar-

rangements, especially in those countries furthest from achieving quality educa-tion for all at all levels and in emergency situations". However, this will not come without a challenge. Insufficient funding was one of the major hurdles to achieving Education for All (EFA). With education now a cornerstone of the SDGs, financing and planning for this broader, more holistic vision of education will require a renewed commitment from governments, smart

By Mariela Buonomo Zabaleta, Programme Specialist, IIEP

HIGHLIGHTS

BRIDGING THE FUNDING GAP

NEWS

NATIONAL EDUCATION ACCOUNTS IN LAO PDR

EDITORIAL PLANNING FOR EDUCATION 2030

BREAKING BARRIERS

SCHOOL GRANTS IN MADAGASCAR

VOL. XXXII N°1 JANUARY-JUNE 2016 Financing Education 2030

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NEWS AND ANALYSIS ON EDUCATIONAL PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT

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2 - THE IIEP LETTER VOL. XXXII N°1 / FINANCING EDUCATION 2030

THE IIEP LETTER IS PUBLISHED TWICE ANNUALLY IN

ENGLISH, FRENCH, SPANISH AND RUSSIAN.

ALL ARTICLES MAY BE REPUBLISHED WITH CREDIT

TO THE AUTHORS AND IIEP-UNESCO.

GET IN TOUCH WITH US – WE WELCOME YOUR FEEDBACK:

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ISSN 1564-2356

T he fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 4) is an

opportunity the world cannot afford to miss. It is an

opportunity to create education systems in which all children and

youth can be imbued with an intellectual curiosity that encourages

them to continue to learn, analyse and think critically for their

lifetime, beyond their school years. The new agenda, with ten

targets, is bold and ambitious. It calls for all countries to guarantee

inclusive, quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for

all children and youth by 2030.

As a capacity development institute specializing in educational

planning, IIEP is preparing itself to ensure it provides Member

States the kinds of support they need to forge their own path

towards making this aspirational vision for education a reality.

IIEP support can come in the form of technical assistance, training,

new policy research and information sharing on salient issues in

educational planning and management. With equity and quality

having now taken the front seat, we are also working towards

better integrating learning into the planning process, from sector

diagnosis through to monitoring and evaluation.

But all of this hard work – by Member States, partners and

others in the global education community – will fall short without

adequate levels of funding for education. Just as important are

strong collection, analysis and use of education financing data

so policy-makers are able to distribute resources efficiently and

effectively. This is why we are dedicating the first issue of our

relaunched newsletter to Financing Education 2030.

We hope you enjoy reading this debut issue, which is now titled

The IIEP Letter. We look forward to sending it to you twice yearly

and involving you as a participatory reader in pursuing together

the new Education 2030 agenda. We welcome your feedback and

wish you an enjoyable, informative read.

New goals, same challenges? 1-3

EDITORIAL Planning for Education 2030 2

SDGs: an ambitious vision 4for education

Lao PDR lifts the fog on education financing 6 – 7

BREAKING BARRIERS IN EDUCATION School grants in Madagascar 7

Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys: Lessons from experience 8 – 9

FROM THE DESK OF A PLANNER Interview from Liberia 9

Trade-offs in education 10policy

Unearthing the impacts 11of financial decentralization

The complexity of education funding: an opportunity for reform? 12 – 13

HIGHLIGHTS Bridging the funding gap 14

TRAINING PROGRAMMES In their words: experiences 15from the IIEP MOOC IIEP PUBLICATIONS A talk with the author 16

IN THIS ISSUE

E D I T O R I A L

PLANNING FOR EDUCATION 2030

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By Suzanne Grant Lewis, Director, IIEP

The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of UNESCO or IIEP. The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this review do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO or IIEP concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning its frontiers or boundaries.

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resource allocation, de-fined priorities and improved data on what is being spent and how.

ENSURING FREE PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

The pledge for free primary education in the EFA goals resonated in many deve-loping countries. Households bear both direct and indirect costs of schooling, crea-ting a barrier to education in many coun-tries. Since the Dakar conference in 2000, several governments have reduced the cost barrier by eliminating fees for attending primary education. This had an immediate impact on overall enrolment, particularly among disadvantaged groups, such as gir-ls and orphans. The lessons derived from the implementation of this strategy are all the more relevant for the new agenda, as it aims to reach 12 years of free, publicly funded primary and secondary education, and not only fee-free schooling.

GOVERNMENTS HAVE THE MAIN RESPONSIBILITY FOR PROVIDING EQUITABLE FINANCING

The right to education cannot be achie-ved without a clear commitment from go-vernments to mobilize financial resources. The international community supports a benchmark of allocating at least 4 per cent to 6 per cent of GDP to education, and/or devoting at least 15 per cent to 20 per cent of public expenditure to education. Although country realities vary, increased and improved domestic financing for edu-cation is key for reaching SDG 4. But as much as the overall level matters, the way governments invest in education can also make a difference.

Empirical research on the links between financial resources and learning outcomes has revealed that what matters most is how resources are spent – rather than how much. However, the mobilization of domestic re-sources will not suffice in many countries. As suggested by several cost projections for reaching SDG 4, some countries, particu-larly low-income ones, will still require ex-ternal funding sources to be able to make progress toward the targets. Education 2030 reaffirms the need for more effec-tive aid, but also stresses South-South and triangular cooperation as means of imple-mentation, as well as strengthening existing multi-stakeholder partnerships.

ADEQUATE FINANCING IS NOT ONLY ABOUT LEVELS

The priority given to the universality of educational quality in the new agenda is

clear. The new framework considers quality as an integral part of the right to education, and this accent calls for more cohesive and systemic strategies and appropriate finan-cial arrangements. Furthermore, resources should be allocated more equitably across regions and schools, and also be better tar-geted to address different forms of margi-nalization.

IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS ARE EQUALLY IMPORTANT TO ACHIEVE SECTOR GOALS

Some aspects of education financing are intuitive: schools need to be established and equipped, teachers and other staff need to be paid, and scholarships delivered. Other aspects do not figure prominently in news headlines, but have visible consequences on the ability of governments to fulfil educa-tion commitments. The budget might not be properly aligned with sector priorities, and even when the necessary resources are budgeted for, the actual execution level mi-ght be low due to institutional and capa-city constraints. Delays in paying teacher salaries, for example, might lead not only to service disruption but also to lower mo-tivation among education workers. There might be coordination challenges among the different actors - e.g. between the mi-nistry of education and that of finance. And accountability of financing procedures and mechanisms can be weak, instead of trans-parent and effective. All of these aspects can have significant consequences on the ability of governments to provide education.

MORE AND BETTER FINANCIAL DATA FOR EVIDENCE-BASED PLANNING

Many countries grapple with scant in-formation on the full cost of education. Who finances education; how much is spent and on what; where do the funds go; who benefits; what are the unit costs? These are questions that cannot be answe-red without a comprehensive approach. To help implement a global practice of impro-ved knowledge and reporting on education financing, IIEP (together with the IIEP Pôle de Dakar) has collaborated over the past three years with the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, with the support of the Glo-bal Partnership for Education, on a project aimed at developing national education ac-counts in eight countries.

Evidence-based planning requires cohe-rent and interlinked information systems, including financial, management, human resources and quality components. It also requires adequate capacity in budgeting, financial management and performance re-porting. More reliable information systems would contribute to improved sector plan monitoring and also help in assessing the cost-effectiveness of alternative strategies to reach sector objectives. Only by taking into consideration the many facets of education financing can we truly fund an education system that will enable future generations to thrive.

Moroccan students during an Arabic class at a primary school in Tifelt, near Rabat.

••• CONTINUED

THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION CANNOT

BE ACHIEVED WITHOUT A

CLEAR COMMITMENT FROM GOVERNMENTS

TO MOBILIZE FINANCIAL

RESOURCES.

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS: AN AMBITIOUS VISION FOR EDUCATION

Two thousand and f i f teen was a landmark year for international development with the adoption of Trans-forming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals

(SDGs) and 169 targets demonstrate the scale and ambition of a new universal agenda.

The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon hailed the 2030 Agenda as a “universal, transformative and integrated agenda that heralds a historic turning point for our world". The SDGs

The Millennium Development Goals have paved the way to a new vision for global sustainable development. The implications for

education are vast and well-worth the effort.

are expected to shape national government priorities, policies and financing decisions in areas from education to environment, hou-sing to health, climate change to care and work. The adoption of the SDGs are particularly momentous for education. 2015 was the endpoint of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and its Goal 2 on education, but also for the Education for All (EFA) Goals first mooted in Jomtien, Thailand in 1990 and reaffirmed in Dakar, Senegal in 2000.

By Jordan Naidoo, Director, Education for All and International Education Coordination, UNESCO

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Paynesville Community Elementary School in Monrovia, Liberia.

SDG 4: QUALITY EDUCATION

The new education agenda encapsulated in Goal 4 - ‘Ensure in-clusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong lear-ning opportunities for all’ - is holistic, ambitious, aspirational and universal, and inspired by a vision of education that transforms the lives of individuals, communities and societies. The agenda attends to the unfinished business of the EFA goals and the education-re-lated MDGs, while effectively addressing current and future global and national education challenges.

When it comes to Goal 4, the Transforming our World do-cument proposes a supremely ambitious and transformational vision; one that sees a world with universal literacy and with equitable and universal access to quality education. It commits unequivocally to this at all levels — early childhood, primary, secondary, tertiary, technical and vocational training. All people, irrespective of sex, age, race or ethnicity, and persons with disabi-lities, migrants, indigenous peoples, children and youth, especial-ly those in vulnerable situations, should have access to lifelong learning opportunities that help them acquire the knowledge and skills needed to exploit opportunities and participate fully in so-ciety.

TOO AMBITIOUS?

Like the overall SDG agenda, SDG 4 and Education 2030 have received mixed reactions, especially with regard to their increased scope and level of ambition. The Global Education Monitoring Report is scathing in its criticism describing the education targets as unrealistic, overambitious or too costly in its February 2015 policy paper, Where do the proposed education targets fall short?

Expanding the focus beyond primary education to include universal secondary education, TVET and higher education have received some of the severest criticism. Critics insist that ensu-ring universal upper secondary education in the next 15 years is beyond the reach of most countries and that even universal lower secondary completion is not projected to be reached in low- and middle-income countries until the latter half of the 21st Century. Most NGOs and civil society groups, however, categorically sup-port “twelve years of free, publicly-funded formal quality educa-tion for all by 2030, nine of which should be compulsory".

MATCHING EDUCATION AND LABOUR MARKET NEEDS

The reality lies somewhere between these two positions. The SDG agenda relative to secondary education may be too ambitious and beyond the reach of many countries. On the other hand, effec-tive, evidence-based policies on post-primary education are of vital importance as many developing countries are starting to see a bul-ge in secondary and post-secondary enrolment – the product of the achievement of near-universal access to primary school. Globally, participation in upper secondary education is also on the rise with gross enrolment at 63 per cent in 2013 compared to 45 per cent in 1999, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

With higher levels of skills being demanded in the labour mar-ket, greater priority should be given to the transition from primary to lower and upper secondary education. Addressing this challenge is bound to be complex and somewhat daunting. Besides requiring substantially greater finances and resources, as well as very large numbers of teachers capable of teaching at advanced levels, coun-tries will need to deal with the quality of teaching and learning, relevant pedagogy, the curriculum design, and so on. Meeting these challenges will require a combination of using existing resources more effectively – that requires both understanding which inputs are key, and which are not—and a range of innovations that may fundamentally alter the current methods of instruction.

Finding ways to deliver and promote access to high-quality post-primary education, and to ensure that education is relevant to labour market needs, is a challenge we must address. The be-nefits outweigh the costs.

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LAO PDR LIFTS THE FOG ON EXTERNAL FINANCING

Over the past three years, the Lao People's Democratic Republic has been involved in an international project

aimed at supporting countries in develo-ping a national education account (NEA). Key questions explored have included how much does the government and its partners spend on education; what do they pay for; and what is the average level of financing per-student across different levels in formal and non-formal education?

How does external financing complement public funding for education in this Southeast Asian country? Where does the funding go and how stable

is it? A project aimed at developing national education accounts uncovered the answers to these vital questions.

NATIONAL EDUCATION ACCOUNTS

An NEA is a comprehensive informa-tion system that helps produce reliable and transparent data on education spending from all sources, including government, household and external funders across all education levels. Having all financial flows in a system compiled under one coherent framework is important for all countries committed to offering fee-free basic edu-cation and implementing the broader

Education 2030 agenda. However, many countries – including Lao PDR – have long struggled with scarce information on education financing. To help address this, IIEP together with the IIEP Pôle de Dakar and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics launched a project in 2013 to support the development of an NEA in eight countries.

CLARITY EMERGES

Prior to developing the NEA, education officials in Lao PDR did not have informa-

By Ousmane Diouf, Programme Specialist, IIEP

Ousmane Diouf joins stu-dents during a mission to Lao PDR.

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tion on expenditure rates at the different le-vels of education, or data on how external funding compared to government spending. The NEA revealed that financing data for projects and programmes managed outside of the national system were not always available. It also found that donor inter-ventions were not always coordinated and were generally fragmented. For example, from 2009 to 2014, donor disbursements often fell short of commitments by more than 40 per cent.

OVERALL AID DECLINES, BUT NOT FOR EDUCATION

External aid to Lao PDR has dropped from $651.94 million in 2010 to $232.15 million in 2014. However, this has had less of an impact on external financing for edu-cation. In fact, the proportion of aid direc-ted towards the sector increased from 5.29 per cent ($32.60 million) in 2010 to 13.58 per cent ($31.52 million) in 2014.

EXTERNAL VS. PUBLIC

The NEA aimed to establish how much of the total public education expenditure is supported by development partners.

The data revealed that this figure can fluc-tuate year to year. In 2009, it amounted to 24 per cent of the total education cost. It then decreased to 21 per cent in 2010 and to 15 per cent in 2011. The percentage of external expenditure peaked in 2012 at 25 per cent, before dropping to a low of 7 per cent in 2014.

PUBLIC EXPENDITURE TOPS EXTERNAL FUNDING

The NEA also revealed that external education expenditure as a percentage of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was always less than one per cent, making this contribution to education less than public expenditure, which has been on the rise in Lao PDR. The most notable jump was from 2012 to 2013 when public expenditure increased by 94 per cent.

HOW IS EXTERNAL FUNDING USED?

In 2014, the NEA showed that external education funding is mainly directed towar-ds four categories: scholarship and support to families, teaching and learning materials, capital, and other recurrent operations.

NEAs are also used to know how much

is spent at different educational levels. In Lao PDR, it was revealed in the 2014 ana-lysis that the highest external expenditure per-student occurred in technical and voca-tional training. On average, $407.64 was spent per student, over 71 times more than a student from primary school ($5.71). Combined with public funding, the expen-diture per technical and vocational training student ($919.26) still remained higher than that for higher education ($752.01) and primary students ($168.22).

MATCHING RESOURCES WITH PRIORITIES

Overall, the exercise in developing an NEA in Lao PDR indicated that resources are not always directed towards priorities. To help address shortfalls, policy-makers in the country are working to improve coor-dination and are inviting donors to pool funds for better resource allocation. Going forward, the institutionalization of the NEA is also key to securing sustainability in education financing.

Madagascar is one of a growing number of developing countries that has recently implemented school grant policies that allow

schools to receive funding directly from the central authorities. This results in schools having more autonomy and unprecedented say in how their finances are managed. The fundamental aim of these policies is to improve equity: by delegating resources to the school level, the intent is to ensure that all children – even the poorest and the most marginalized – are able to go to school and learn. For the past six years, IIEP has studied school grant policies to determine their use and usefulness.

IIEP recently travelled to the Madagascan capital, Antananarivo, to meet one family awaiting to feel the benefits of school grants. Aina, a six-year-old girl, is

the only one out of her five siblings who can currently attend school. Her mother, who makes a living selling pottery, does not earn enough to pay the fees for all of her children. Their story is portrayed in the film Aina’s School, set to be released by IIEP this fall. Featuring IIEP experts Candy Lugaz and Anton de Grauwe, the film explores some of the findings from the research programme on the potential for school grant policies to help realise the Education 2030 agenda.

Stay tuned for more information on the film and visit the IIEP website for more information on school grants.

Breaking barriers in education

COULD SCHOOL GRANTS HELP MORE STUDENTS LIKE AINA ATTEND AND

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PUBLIC EXPENDITURE TRACKING SURVEYS:

LESSONS FROM EXPERIENCE

Public Expenditure Tracking Sur-veys (PETS) are audits of finan-cial flows that aim to measure the proportion of government

resources actually benefiting schools. They make it possible to determine whether re-sources reach their intended destination, or if there are leakages along the way. The scope of PETS can vary according to the type of expenditures tracked and of the number of levels of public administration involved.

Over the past decade, IIEP has helped build the capacity of a number of national teams to design and implement PETS in a

PETS are an important tool decision-makers can use to ensure government funding reaches the classroom. But

what are the conditions for their success?

range of countries, including Cambodia, South Africa, Ghana and Uganda. More recently, it provided technical support to the national team in charge of carrying out a PETS in Burkina Faso at the request of UNICEF. Here are some of the conclusions drawn from all of these experiences.

AN ACCURATE PICTURE OF SUPPLY

PETS allow planners to get an accurate picture of education supply, especially in contexts where public accounting systems function poorly or provide unreliable in-formation. They provide invaluable indica-tions to planners regarding:

By Muriel Poisson, Head of Research, IIEP

THE MAIN CHALLENGE

TODAY IS TO GET POLICY-MAKERS

TO CONSIDER PETS AS A VALUABLE

DIAGNOSTIC TOOL IN THE EDUCATION SECTOR ALONGSIDE

OTHER EXISTING TOOLS.

Students in Burkina Faso.

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IIEP What is the state of resource mobilization in education right now in Liberia?DB Liberia’s education budget is projected to increase from 13 per cent of total public expenditure in 2014-15 to 18.8 per cent by 2019-2020. The Ministry is also looking into piloting public-private partnerships that will be funded by partners. Private partners will sign an agreement with the government and clear responsibilities will be indicated, as well as how they will be held accountable. The schools will continue to be owned by the government; teachers will remain on the civil service payroll; and all partners will be required to abide by government policies. The pilot will not be a standard public-private partnership. Informed by a thorough review of lessons learned in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond, we’re developing and piloting a framework that’s quite new. We also have an allocation of $11.9 million from the GPE but the prospects are not very good in the face of global trends and the falling prices of commodities and raw materials, especially for Liberia.

IIEP What was the impetus for establising this partnership? DB Over 30 per cent of primary school children are not in school, more than 20 per cent are not learning, and only 20 per cent of students enrolled in grade one transition to upper secondary. The dropout rate is high and less than 47 per cent of senior high school candidates passed the West African Exams in 2014. There is a serious need for quality improvement and all options are on the table. IIEP How will this expand learning opportunities for Liberia's children and youth today? DB We anticipate that this pilot will inform the sector on what works and what doesn’t, and if we should scale-up. Finally, the fundamental right of choice must be upheld. Parents must be afforded the opportunity to choose what kind of education they want for their children and not have the state impose it on them.

From the desk of a planner

Interview with David Woods Baysah, Senior Project Manager Education Delivery Unit, Ministry of Education in Liberia

• The detection of leakage points and the identification of distortions in the use of resources;• Estimates on the rate of leakage in flows of teacher salaries, school grants, supplies, textbooks, food (they can vary from 10 per cent of rule-based funds in the case of Tan-zania to more than 70 per cent of food dis-tributed to schools in the case of Peru);• The understanding of how leakages vary according to school size, location, student poverty levels, funding modalities, etc.;• More globally, the availability and relia-bility of financial data at various tiers of government.

KEY REQUIREMENTS FOR PETS SUCCESS

Criticism of PETS has emerged over time, emphasizing the scarcity of successful experiences beyond the first PETS exercise undertaken in Uganda at the end of the 1990s. Key requirements for a PETS suc-cess have indeed often been overlooked and can be summarized as follows:• Consulting with ministries of educa-tion at each stage of the process, building

ownership and ensuring that recommenda-tions are followed;• Avoiding multiplication of the number of flows analysed or combining a PETS with other investigations (e.g. teacher ab-senteeism); • Mobilizing a national team to perform the survey, both to develop the necessary national expertise and to promote a better understanding of risks;• Using a rigorous survey methodology (paying particular attention to sampling methods) in order to counter those who could be tempted to challenge the results of the investigation.

PETS CAN HELP REDUCE LEAKAGES

Another important condition for suc-cess is to consider PETS as part of a broader strategy aimed at empowering communities to claim their entitlements. The Ugandan experience illustrates that the release of tracking survey results through mass me-dia can significantly contribute to reducing leakage by promoting social ownership. However, reducing leakage over the long-term requires a number of measures, such

as sensitizing head teachers and parents about their entitlements; publishing mon-thly transfers of public funds to districts and schools; and setting up penalties for distorted behaviors.

HOW TO INTEGRATE PETS INTO SECTOR DIAGNOSIS?

The main challenge today is to get po-licy-makers to consider PETS as a valuable diagnostic tool in the education sector alongside other existing tools, and to use them in a recurrent manner. PETS should be considered by planners as one of the key tools used to measure the efficiency of public spending at the sectoral level. By casting light on problems of opacity in fi-nancial flows at various administrative le-vels, PETS can substantially contribute to improving financial transparency and ac-countability.

Visit the ETICO resource platform for more information on PETS.

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TRADE-OFFS IN EDUCATION POLICY

Identifying education policy goals inevitably means coming to terms with budgetary parameters. This in-volves identifying which goals are

realistic and what possible means of achie-ving them should be adopted. Trade-offs in education policy are based on this pro-cess of weighing up various scenarios that focus on the aims of the education sector. This means pinpointing the needs of each educational level – from early childhood to higher education – and estimating their implicit costs. Such needs assessment and education policy option cost estimates are central to action taken by IIEP Pôle de Da-kar in support of national staff teams. In practice, this needs assessment exercise is based on a financial simulation model of main education system indicators. The mo-del may contain several hundred possible options and objectives that need to be de-fined.

TRANSITIONING FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

A needs assessment is inherently fact-oriented. For example, to achieve a given level of sectoral coverage – say, 100 per cent of children enrolled in primary schools – it will look at how many schools will have to be built and how many teachers recruited, how much will be needed in terms of tea-ching and play facilities, and how many administrative staff should be employed. It also estimates what levels of financial resources will be required to achieve these education policy goals. Various scenarios for achieving these goals will then be de-fined and quantified, in terms of school construction, the average salary of tea-chers, the number of teaching hours and the amount of scholarships.

A key variable affecting all concerns is the student-teacher ratio. Achieving smal-ler classes means employing more teachers,

When determining education policy goals, political ambitions and high expectations can often be at odds with limited

resources. Policy-making seeks to reconcile both of these conflicting forces by engaging in trade-offs.

By Jonathan Jourde, Communications Officer, IIEP Pôle de Dakar

thus leaving a smaller budget earmarked for other expenditure. It is important to fix a relatively competitive salary to attract quality teachers while also enabling the recruitment of enough teachers to achieve acceptable ratios without compromising at-tainment standards. If these two needs are not reconciled, the system will tend to re-gulate itself, either through the student-tea-cher ratio as it moves upwards, or through the recruitment of community teachers paid directly by parents (to compensate for the lack of government-paid teachers). In the long-term, the effects may be highly problematic.

AN EXERCISE IN FINANCIAL BUT ALSO POLITICAL SUSTAINABILITY

Technical and financial questions such as how many schools will need to be built continually arise during the course of edu-cation policy trade-offs. However, it should be emphasized that such questions do not only concern technical experts. On the contrary, the political dimension is central

to any decision. For example, if a country with a 60 per cent completion rate in pri-mary education is determined to reach 100 per cent and the government is poli-tically committed to this target, 100 per cent becomes a non-negotiable objective. One response here may be to postpone its achievement and set a target date compa-tible with the resources on hand. However, the political goal is always a government responsibility.

The country makes its own decisions regarding the model, and endorses its own scenario for achieving the results of future education policy. It is the government that stakes its credibility on the options selec-ted and the realism of its policy aims will be instrumental in determining the model’s sustainability.

A version of this article first appeared in the Pôle de Dakar magazine, PôleMag.

Working session on a financial simulation model at the IIEP-Pôle de Dakar.

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UNEARTHING THE IMPACTS OF FINANCIAL DECENTRALIZATION

Decentralization has been said to allow for the provision of more relevant, pertinent and cost-ef-fective investment in education.

The devolution of decision-making power to sub-national governments and school actors in areas ranging from defining curri-culum and learning programmes to school infrastructure and management of teacher careers has permeated education reforms in practically all countries since the 1980s.

Arguments favouring these policies assume that actors closer to schools are in a better position to incorporate ac-tual needs into decision-making. Other proponents say the capacity to generate resources required for quality service can be leveraged by making sub-national go-vernments and school actors accountable. Decentralization has also been linked to more democratic governance of a public education system.

Despite all these presumed virtues, in-ternational trends are not unidirectional. Several countries that have decentralized the management of their educational sys-tems have more recently resorted to some

SDG 4 requires financing that reaches the classroom and effective and efficient use of resources. But do we know how different systems of governance affect the use of resources?

By Marcelo Souto Simão, Programme Specialist, IIEP-Buenos Aires, and Mariela Buonomo Zabaleta, Programme Specialist, IIEP

kind of re-centralization, while in others, the central government has deepened the level of delegation to actors operating at lower levels. Some reforms that meant the partial reversal of previous decentraliza-tion policies have tried to foster equitable treatment of schools in decentralized sys-tems marked by strong regional disparities. In some cases, they have also tried to com-pensate for fragile institutional capacities.

Empirical evidence on the effects of reforms in both directions is abundant. Unfortunately, this evidence is not accumu-lative: studies adopt different and even in-compatible definitions of decentralization. The plurality of analytical frameworks has limited dialogue among research traditions and investigation of individual cases has prevailed over comparative studies that could lead to more general conclusions. More surprisingly, very few studies have directly addressed the question of whether decentralization leads to more efficient use of available resources. At IIEP, we are trying to fill in this knowledge gap with new research that focuses on the impact of financial decentralization on an education

system’s efficiency, effectiveness and equity. Launched in January with support from

the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity, the soon-to-be concluded first stage aims to describe the different institutional arrangements through which decision-making power is decentralized. This includes the distribution of regulatory, executive and oversight com-petences, the decentralization of financial resources and the design of accountability mechanisms.

Covering approximately twenty coun-tries from Europe, the Americas and Afri-ca, the research will explore alternatives for further quantitative and qualitative inquiry intended at establishing the causal links between decentralization and policy outcomes. The final report, databases and research tools will be freely available to encourage collaboration among academics and practitioners.

Kinder class of San Alfonso Public School (around 60km east of Santiago, Chile).


THE COMPLEXITY OF EDUCATION FUNDING: AN OPPORTUNITY FOR REFORM?

Education lies at the heart of global discussions on building more integrated and equitable societies. Governments worldwide have significantly increased

resources for education to reduce poverty, improve health, and promote democratic coexistence. But is there enough spending and enough fiscal effort?

By Sylvia Montoya, Director, UNESCO Institute for Statistics

Students in a classroom in Livingstone, Zambia in Fe-bruary 2016.

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Analysis of education expenditure data usually fo-cuses on distribution of public resources to stu-dents, teachers and schools by educational level. But, it is equally important to examine the sources

of funding that can have a significant impact on income distri-bution and poverty.

To understand this impact, it is essential to review the tax structure, its efficacy and its role in the redistribution of income, as well as the use of other funding sources such as public debt (which threatens fiscal sustainability) and Official Development Assistance (ODA).

THE LIMITATIONS OF ANALYZING SPENDING PER STUDENT

Expenditure per student sheds light on investment levels and the differences in student opportunities by region, but not the qua-lity or efficiency of spending.

While North America, Europe and Central Asia have the hi-ghest average government spending per primary and secondary students (in terms of GDP), sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia spend more in proportion to their means compared to other re-gions.

A NUANCED LOOK AT COUNTRY-LEVEL SPENDING

Expenditure on education as a percentage of both GDP and total government spending indicates the weight of education in the national budget.

Data for 2011 shows that South Asia spends the least on edu-cation as a percentage of GDP, at 3.8 per cent, while Latin Ame-rica and the Caribbean, Europe and Central Asia invest the most, at 5.2 per cent and 5.1 per cent of GDP respectively – above the global average of 4.5 per cent.

Education expenditure as a percentage of total government spending is another indicator of a country’s commitment to edu-cation. The regions with the lowest average spending are North America (11 per cent) and Europe and Central Asia (12 per cent), while Latin America and the Caribbean (16.9%) and sub-Saharan Africa (16.6 per cent) spend the most.

Using both indicators allows for a more nuanced perspective on education financing. For example, North America has a rela-tively high value in terms of GDP, but a low value in terms of total government expenditure. Given the wealth of the region, one would have expected to see a strong commitment to education in terms of total government expenditure, yet in relative terms they are spending less.

TAXATION IS ONLY PART OF THE EQUATION

While taxes play a central role in income distribution, in terms of education expenditure, countries don’t only rely on their own resources. They can also receive transfers that can exceed their own revenues.

Education expenditure is influenced by tax structure and effi-ciency. Tax revenues include consumption taxes or indirect taxes and income taxes directly from individuals and businesses. A tax structure based primarily on indirect taxes severely limits the re-distributive capacity of the tax system, and is highly inefficient compared to direct taxes based on an individual’s level of income.

One in three companies in Europe and Central Asia do not re-port sales information for tax purposes. The rates are even higher in East Asia and the Pacific and in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than half of companies do not report data.

Average tax payments (number) by region, 2014

51,74

36,6547,40 43,46

33,41

58,34

010203040506070

East Asia &Pacific

Europe &Central Asia

La�n America& Caribbean

Middle East &North Africa

South Asia Sub-SaharanAfrica

Firms that do not report all sales for tax purposes (% of firms)

(Source: UIS/based on World Bank indicators)

Taxes can create distortion in an economy by modifying indi-vidual behaviour and income distribution. Of course, taxes relative to income varies among countries. While the tax burden in the United States and 15 countries in the European Union increases with income quantiles (expressed by a ratio higher than 100), the opposite is true in many Latin American countries. The relative tax burden is higher for the lower quantiles in El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua, where the poorest lose more of their income to taxes than their wealthy counterparts.

DO WE NEED TO REFOCUS OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE?

ODA is another source of education funding. The regions which receive the highest net ODA – South Asia and sub-Saha-ran Africa – spend the least on their primary and secondary stu-dents. South Asia has the highest proportion of population, glo-bally, of compulsory school-age children. Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest population of compulsory school-age children living in low-income countries.

Financial aid should be designed in such a way as to avoid crow-ding out or distorting domestic financing. It should be aligned with country-led programmes and agendas, encouraging ownership and investment in statistics for evidence-based decision-making. There is a need to ensure targeted and long-term funding.

To achieve sustainability and social development, and reduce inequality, countries need to focus on better taxation policies and efficient use of ODA along with effective strategies to lower debt.

Participate!

WHAT ARE YOUR COUNTRY'S PRIORITIES FOR EDUCATION 2030?

RESPOND BRIEFLY TO THE QUESTION

BELOW AND BE FEATURED

IN OUR NEXT ISSUE - E-MAIL US AT:

[email protected]

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THE COMPLEXITY OF EDUCATION FUNDING: AN OPPORTUNITY FOR REFORM?


H I G H L I G H T S

BRIDGING THE FUNDING GAP

S T R AT E G I C D E B AT E

Aid to education needs to increase by seven times to fill the finance gap yet it has fallen 4% between 2013 and 2014.

The annual total cost of reaching universal pre-primary, primary and secondary education of good quality in low- and lower-middle income countries is slated to rise from $149 billion in 2012 to $340 billion, on ave-

rage, between 2015 and 2030. In low-income countries, the total cost is projected to triple. To improve education quality, spending per student will also need to increase from $70 to $197 per prima-ry school student by 2030.

However, without an extra $39 billion in education funding each year, poor countries face an uphill battle. During IIEP’s first strategic debate of the year, “Financing the Education 2030 Agen-da – key issues and challenges for national planners”, the message was clear: the world will remain far from reaching the global goals unless major action is taken.

To address the funding gap, countries are called on to allo-cate at least 4 to 6 per cent of GDP to education and at least 15 to 20 per cent of public expenditure to education. The decline in aid to education, which has not returned to peak levels reached in 2010, must also be reversed.

The financing in low-income countries is most worrisome, amounting to $21 billion, or 42 per cent of total annual costs. And with only three billion dollars coming from international aid, Aaron Benavot, the Director of UNESCO’s Global Education Mo-

nitoring Report (GEM Report), said there is still an $18 billion shortfall.

“This gives you an idea of how ambitious the targets are rela-tive to current expenditures, relative to current aid flows, and re-lative to the decline in aid at the international level', said Benavot. "Where is the money going to come from?”

Paul Coustère, IIEP’s Deputy Director, said there is little reason to think Official Development Assistance (ODA) to education will multiply – seven times – to fill the funding gap. While there is a need to further develop global models for costing and resource mobilization, the country level approach has more potential to bridge the financing gap. Still, Coustère also advocated in favour of developing an international fiscal base to fund global public goods.

Within this context, the need for clear and transparent infor-mation around financing flows has taken on new urgency. Planners need to know where funds come from, how well they are managed and whether allocations are engendering the intended outcome.

Visit the GEM report online for more information on Pricing the Right to Education and visit iiep.unesco.org for more informa-tion on our Strategic Debates.

By Michaela Martin, Programme Specialist, IIEP

15

T R A I N I N G P R O G R A M M E S

IN THEIR WORDS:

EXPERIENCES FROM THE IIEP MOOC

PENGLONG NGOR (CAMBODIA, 2013-14) is now the Director of the Teacher Training Department of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport.

ENID HANZE AND ELIFAS NAKALE (NAMIBIA, 2014-15) are now in the top committee of the Ministry of Education's National Team of Education Analysts.

ANA SANTOS (CAPE VERDE, 2009-10) is now the Director General of the Studies, Planning and Cooperation Office of the Minister of Education, Family and Social Inclusion.

TOTO RAHARIMALALA MARIE LYDIA (MADAGASCAR, 2007-08) is now the Minister of Employment, Technical Teaching and Professional Training.

SAHONDRA LALAO OLGA RANAIVOSON (MADAGASCAR/2004-05) is now the Director General in the Ministry of Employment, Technical Teaching and Professional Training.

Where are they now?

By Mioko Saito, Programme Specialist, and Jimena Pereyra, Training Specialist, IIEP

The IIEP Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Learning Assessments, organized from 1 to 26 February 2016, gave

2700 educational professionals worldwide a unique training experience to review tools to assess learning outcomes and re-flect on the most appropriate assessment framework for their national education systems. From Belgium, Qatar and Nige-ria, three participants share some of the highlights.

Tom Vandenbosch, Educational Advi-sor at WWOB, Education for Development, Belgium:

“As an education advisor working on strengthening teacher and school leadership development for better learning outcomes in different countries worldwide, my advice has to be based on available evidence, inclu-ding results from learning assessments. This MOOC allowed me to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to better understand the characteristics of different learning as-sessments and assess the advantages and disadvantages of their use in terms of the country context".

Jomana Karmid, Stages of Early Edu-cation Specialist, Ministry of Education, Qatar:

“As the Government of Qatar is com-mitted to improving quality in education

starting from early childhood, this MOOC was an excellent opportunity to go deeply into core issues related to learning assess-ments and to reflect on ways to improve assessments at early stages of the education system.

It provided me with high quality trai-ning. I felt as if I were studying and prepa-ring for a Master’s degree due to the depth of knowledge provided! Throughout the course, I had access to key publications and resources, and was able to meet and inte-ract with other professionals from the edu-cation sector worldwide".

John Okewole, Researcher and Ins-tructional Designer, at the Yaba College of Technology, UNESCO-UNEVOC Center for Research and Sustainable Development, Nigeria:

“This IIEP MOOC has been very en-riching to my professional development. I highly appreciated the course readings, as-signments, inputs from the IIEP experts, the insightful interviews with renowned specia-lists in the field of learning assessments, and the group work, which provided me with the opportunity to meet and work with other educational professionals in Nigeria.

As a result of this MOOC, I am plan-ning, together with the other members of my group, to start advocating for the im-provement of assessments in our country. We are currently planning to prepare a pa-

per on the state of assessments in the Ni-gerian education system, which will include the practical steps that need to be taken for their development".

Participants were not only able to im-prove their knowledge and skills, but also meet and interact with other educational professionals worldwide. An active and proactive community of professionals has now been created in the field of learning as-sessments, which will remain connected via the IIEP Learning Portal.

Join this community by registering at http://learningportal.iiep.unesco.org.

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REMEMBERING KOFFI N'DOLI JOSEPH

IIEP EXPRESSES ITS DEEP SADNESS AT THE PASSING OF KOFFI N’DOLI JOSEPH. A FORMER IIEP TRAINEE AND DEAR FRIEND, JOSEPH COMPLETED THE ADVANCED TRAINING PROGRAMME IN 2014-2015. JOSPEH WAS IN CHARGE OF STRATEGIES, PLANNING AND STATISTICS AT THE MINISTRY OF NATIONAL EDUCATION IN CÔTE D'IVOIRE. IIEP EXTENDS ITS CONDOLENCES TO JOSEPH’S FAMILY AND FRIENDS.


PLANNING

EDUCATION

WITH AND

FOR YOUTH

Anjan Hopma and Lynne SergeantThis book presents key solu-tions for ministries of educa-tion striving to empower youth voices and involve them in the process of designing better edu-cation systems.

EDUCATIONAL

ACCESS, EQUITY,

AND DEVELOPMENT:

PLANNING TO MAKE

RIGHTS REALITIES

Keith M. LewinFundamentals of Educational Planning No. 98Key concepts for planning basic education through to 2030 are explored in the latest installment of the IIEP series, Fundamentals of Educational Planning (No. 98).

PALESTINE: LESSONS

FROM UNESCO’S

CRISIS-DISASTER

RISK REDUCTION

PROGRAMME IN GAZA

Bilal Al Hamaydah,Jo Kelcey, and Ferran J. LloverasThis study provides a detailed description of UNESCO’s cri-sis-disaster risk reduction pro-gramme to protect education from attack in the Gaza Strip, Palestine.

NEPAL: LESSONS FROM

INTEGRATING PEACE,

HUMAN RIGHTS, AND

CIVIC EDUCATION

INTO SOCIAL STUDIES

CURRICULA AND

TEXTBOOKS

Melinda SmithLessons from the Ministry of Education’s efforts - with support from development partners - to revise the Social Studies curriculum to promote education for peace, human rights, and civics education.

I I E P P U B L I C A T I O N S

IIEP In the book, you use a broad definition of the term access. Can you explain?KL Access to education for development refers to much more than physical access. Any useful definition must include the idea that learners who are physically present should also be learning things of value. This idea was central to the thinking behind the World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien in 1990, and is reflected in the SDGs. Meaningful access to education brings together ideas of entry to school at an appropriate age, age in grade progression to complete basic education on schedule, regular attendance, an appropriate learning environment with

adequate amounts of qualified teachers and learning materials, and achievement consistent with educational outcomes defined by the national curriculum at different levels.IIEP How do you hope your key messages can inspire those working towards Education 2030?KL First, universal access to broadly defined basic education is within reach in all countries where there is political will and minimum levels of good governance and social stability. Second, there are characteristically different patterns of access and inclusion signified by flows of children through formal school systems and by numbers of students out of school at different stages.

Different starting points should determine strategies to deliver rights to education. Third, a combination of approaches is needed to ensure enrolment and progression at the right age and pedagogies that manage learning and do not leave children behind or permit silent exclusions. Fourth, support is needed for qualified teachers and the provision of adequate learning resources, appropriate buildings located by school mapping, and investment in formative assessment. The SDGs also have to offer something more than Education for All that puts content into learning, and links curricula to outcomes likely to enhance Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

A talk with the authorIIEP SAT DOWN WITH KEITH M. LEWIN, THE AUTHOR OF EDUCATIONAL ACCESS, EQUITY, AND DEVELOPMENT: PLANNING TO MAKE RIGHTS REALITIES.

Nepal: Lessons from integrating peace, humanrights, and civic education into social studies curricula and textbooks

Melinda Smith

International Institutefor Educational Planning

Education Sector Planning

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DOWNLOAD ALL IIEP PUBLICATIONS FREE OF CHARGE OR ORDER A HARD COPY AT WWW.IIEP.UNESCO.ORG

Keith M. Lewin

Educational access, equity, and development: Planning to make rights realities

98

UNESCO: International

Institute for Educational

Planning

Fundamentals of Educational Planning

Fun

dam

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Ed

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About the Book

Universal access to learning through basic education lies at the heart of development. Despite consistent efforts over 25 years, more than 250 million children still fail to complete a full cycle of basic education successfully. The UN Sustainable Development Goals reaffirm commitment to the rights of all children to education. This book presents key concepts for planning basic education through to 2030, drawing attention to different zones of exclusion and inclusion. The author develops an expanded vision of access that includes learning, charts the dynamics of education system development, and identifies clusters of

countries with different challenges. This book provides new frameworks for planning for those who wish to

make the right to education a global reality.

About the Author

Keith Lewin is Emeritus Professor of International Development and Education at the University of Sussex. He directed the Centre for International Education for 17 years (1995–2011) and is the Founding Director of the International Master’s programme, which opened in 1979. He holds degrees in Physics, Science Policy, and Development from Manchester and Sussex Universities, is a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences, and holds honorary Chairs in Beijing and Hangzhou. He has worked extensively on education and development for

the major bilateral and multilateral aid agencies and for many national governments in Africa

and Asia. Since 2005 he has directed the DFID Consortium for Research on Educational Access,

Transitions and Equity (CREATE).

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: IIEP

9:HSTCSA=XVX]YU:ISBN: 978-92-803-1384-0

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Keith_Lewin _98.indd 1 05/10/15 11:26

Palestine: Lessons from UNESCO’s crisis–disaster risk reduction programme in Gaza

Bilal Al Hamaydah, Jo Kelcey, and Ferran J. Lloveras


Education Sector Planning

PALESTINE

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About the book

Young people, being a main stakeholder in education, ought to be involved in educational planning. This simple idea is examined in all its facets in this publication, which argues that, in addition to a rights-based defence, research provides several grounds for involving young people in planning,

notably the benefits to be obtained by both parties. For example, planners can gain efficiency-enhancing insights from users of the education system, while youth build their transferable skills for the world of work. Although recognizing obstacles – such as the difficulty of finding representative samples of youth delegates and the lack of technical knowledge among young people – the authors conclude that, given the significant benefits of youth participation, Ministries of Education should make the necessary efforts to overcome these. To help them to do so, this book presents solutions which can be adapted to a number of contexts. A thorough review of the extent of youth engagement in existing national education and youth policies and plans is presented in the second half of the book, along with a summary of what lessons can be learned from these experiences.

About the authors

Anja Hopma currently works for a Paris-based French charity which supports students from low-income backgrounds (Frateli). Before this, as a research assistant at IIEP, she worked on fee-free policies and decentralization reforms in education. She has done research in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Vanuatu, and managed a project on early childhood education in Cambodia for a French NGO (Chemins d’Enfances). She completed her Master’s in International Development in 2012 at Sciences Po Lille.

Lynne Sergeant is an Information Specialist at IIEP, where she has been working on the Institute’s youth engagement in education programme since 2012. Before joining IIEP, she worked as a librarian at the University of Hertfordshire (UK), in the education service at the British Council in Paris, and as an education and social policy research assistant at the British Embassy, Paris. She received her Master of Arts in Translation from the University of London.

ISBN: : 978-92-803-1383-3



IIEP Policy Forum

Planning education with and for youth

Plan

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Anja HopmaLynne Sergeant

Documents

The IIEP Letter - June 2016 - Financing Education 2030