Education For All (EFA)
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What is the Education For All (EFA)?
Education for All (EFA) is an international commitment first launched in Jomtien, Thailand in 1990 to bring the benefits of education to “every citizen in every society”. Partners comprised a broad coalition of national governments, civil society groups, and development agencies such as
UNESCO
and the World
Bank. In the face of slow progress over the decade, the commitment was reaffirmed in Dakar, Senegal in April 2000 and then again in September 2000, when 189 countries and their partners adopted two of the EFA goals among the eight
Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) to be achieved by 2015.
The EFA commitment is specifically to:
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- Ensure universal primary education for all children by 2015 (also an
MDGs)
- Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education (also an
MDGs)
- Improve early childhood care and education
- Ensure equitable access to “life skills” programs
- Achieve a 50 percent increase in adult literacy by 2015
- Improve all aspects of the quality of education
Progress on MDGs
Despite considerable EFA progress in recent years, at least 52 of the 154
developing countries will face difficulty in achieving universal completion of
primary education by 2015 unless efforts are accelerated substantially. And
though gender gaps in primary and secondary enrollment are narrowing, 43
developing countries will not meet the 2005 gender parity goal, of which 30 are
unlikely to meet it by 2015 without intensified actions. Low-income countries
face the greatest challenges to reaching the MDGs. Notably, at least 44 of the
81 low-income countries will face difficulty in achieving universal completion
of primary education by 2015 without accelerated efforts. And though their
gender gaps in primary and secondary enrollment are narrowing, 32 low-income
countries will not meet the 2005 gender parity goal, of which 22 are unlikely to
meet it by 2015 without intensified actions.
What does it take?
Sustained effort is at the heart of achieving EFA. Countries need to put appropriate policies in place, implement reforms and programs within strategic education sector and national development plans, and adequately fund primary education. Key principles include inclusiveness and equity - and thus the need for scaling up and targeting of hard-to-reach, disadvantaged groups; and a focus on results and outcomes - calling for steady attention to education quality and support to service-delivery levels (school and classroom) as much as possible. Important World Bank analytical work has helped (i)
redefine the universal primary education goal as
Universal Primary Completion, recognizing that
learning takes place not when children enroll but
only when they complete a quality primary education;
and (ii) establish a "indicative framework” of benchmarks comprising measures of quality, efficiency, and domestic resource mobilization found key to success in countries that have realized gains on EFA. Achieving EFA will take multi-dimensional efforts:
- improving access and equity
- focusing on girls’ education and in particular improving their dropout and retention rates
- helping education systems cope with HIV/AIDS, which puts education systems at grave risk
- promoting early childhood development, proven to improve learning outcomes
- protecting EFA prospects in post-conflict countries
- and advancing adult literacy and non-formal education for children and youth, including
orphans who have no access to more traditional and formal schooling.
Examples of countries’ efforts to achieve EFA may be found at these sites:
Related Resources
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