Achieving Universal Primary Education by 2015: A Chance for Every Child

by Bruns, Barbara; Mingat, Alain; Rakotomalala, Ramahatra

• ISBN13: 9780821353455
• ISBN10: 0821353454
• Edition: CD
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-08-01
• Publisher: World Bank

Summary

One hundred and eighty-nine countries have committed themselves to eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aimed at eradicating extreme poverty and improving the welfare of their peoples by the year 2015. The second of the goals is: 'Achieve universal primary education,' with the specific target of ensuring that, by 2015, boys and girls everywhere will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.This book assesses whether the Millennium Goals can be met. Specifically it asks:- Where do we stand today in relation to the target of universal primary completion?- Is universal primary completion achievable by 2015?- If so, what would be required to achieve it, both in terms of education policy reform and incremental domestic and international financing?In a globally integrated and highly competitive world economy, no country can any longer consider primary schooling a terminal level of education for its labor force, but increasing the share of children who do complete primary school is the essential first step. In a borderless world, where the gulf between the educated, empowered rich and the stagnating and powerless poor increasingly poses threats to all, the achievement of universal primary completion is of global interest. Few global goals have been as consistently and deeply supported as the notion that every child in every country should have the chance to complete primary school. Perhaps it is time to make it a reality.The volume includes CD-ROM containing a 'hands-on' version of the simulation model developed by the authors and all of the background data used.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Acronyms	ix
Executive Summary	1	(22)
The Global Challenge of Education for All	23	(14)
Why Is Universal Primary Education So Important?	26	(3)
Why Universal Primary Education Must Mean Universal Primary Completion	29	(8)
The Global Scorecard: Progress since Jomtien	37	(24)
What Is the Primary Completion Rate?	37	(1)
Data Sources and Methodological Issues	38	(4)
Advances in Primary Completion during the 1990s	42	(14)
The Global Prospects for Universal Primary Completion by 2015	56	(5)
What Will It Take to Achieve Universal Primary Completion by 2015?	61	(10)
Determinants of EFA Progress	61	(5)
Implications for Accelerating EFA Progress	66	(5)
Costing the MDG of Universal Primary Completion	71	(42)
Service Delivery	74	(4)
System Expansion	78	(1)
System Financing	79	(3)
Country-Level Simulation Results	82	(19)
Aggregate Results	101	(6)
Requirements by Region	107	(2)
Estimating the Global Costs of Reaching the Education MDG	109	(4)
Implications for Countries and Donors	113	(14)
Importance of a Flexible Approach	113	(4)
Considerations for Developing Countries	117	(1)
Considerations for the Donor Community	118	(4)
The EFA Fast-Track Initiative	122	(3)
Conclusion	125	(2)
Bibliography	127	(4)
Technical Annexes	131