European Commission

FACT SHEET – EDUCATION

OUR AIM

The European Union actively promotes access to quality basic education for all children, youth and adults. This global commitment was agreed upon at the World Education Forum in Dakar in 2000, when the international community signed up to the Education for All Movement whose six overarching goals aim to meet the learning needs of all children, youth and adults by 2015. These goals have been informing the EU’s activities in the educational sector ever since.

The commitment to Education for All is coupled with a pledge by the EU to achieve the Millennium Development Goals of completing universal primary education and gender equal-ity in all education levels as part of its work in development.

Reaching the Education for All goals and education-related Millennium Development Goals has been challenging for many countries, especially those facing difficult circum-stances. The EU has embarked on several initiatives that support research in such states – including those in crisis – and encourages greater dialogue at country level between national actors and development partners.

HOW WE WORK

The EU delivers aid to support education in developing countries in one of three different ways: by project, by sector or via general budget support. Between 2007 and 2013, the EU has financed support to education through two different instruments:

• Geographical: African and Caribbean and Pacific coun-tries receive support through the European Development Fund; Latin America, Asia and South Africa, through the Development Cooperation Instrument; and for selected countries bordering on the European Union, through the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument.

• Investing in People Programme: a budget is allocated under this thematic programme’s priority area ‘Education Knowledge and Skills’. This focuses on promoting equal access to quality basic education for hard-to reach chil-dren and improving opportunities for vocational education and skills training.

WHERE EU FUNDS ARE SPENT

Current EU support – €4.2 billion, focussed on 42 countries (2007/8 – 2013)

● Sub-Sectors: Total bilateral support to basic education (primary and secondary) and Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET): €2.9 billion. Total support to higher education programmes with the developing world: €1.3 billion.

● Fragility: More than a third of the countries supported under the current programming are fragile, conflict- affected or post-conflict countries.

Facts & figures

Since 2004, thanks to European Commission support:

● More than 9 million pupils have been enrolled in primary education.

● More than 720,000 primary school teachers have been trained.

● More than 85,000 new female students have been enrolled in secondary education.

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THE EU’S WORK IN EDUCATION WORLDWIDE

HIGHER EDUCATION

The EU also puts emphasis on building high-quality tertiary capacity through networking, supporting inter-university cooperation projects as well as mobility of students and scholars. Cooperation between universities in developing regions and in Europe has been funded under several programmes: ALFA (Latin America), TEMPUS (Neighbour-hood), EDULINK (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) and Eras-mus Mundus (worldwide).

Following on from the success of its European student exchange programme Erasmus, launched in 1987, the EU established Erasmus Mundus, the main EU higher education programme promoting mobility and developing cooperation links between higher education institutions and programmes worldwide. Results: Since 2006, Eras-mus Mundus has funded around 68 partnerships to the tune of €282 million. These partnerships have involved

685 Higher Education institutions and around 12,000 students and academic staff from the European Union and partner countries.

By improving higher education opportunities around the world, Erasmus Mundus simultaneously contributes to the development of partner countries and promotes greater mutual understanding between people, countries and cultures.

One student whose career prospects in his home country were enhanced by studying in Europe was B. Ghulam Shabbir, today employed at the Advocate High Court in Karachi, Pakistan.

EDUCATIONAL AID: CHANGING PEOPLE’S LIVES

Somalia

Fewer children attend school in Somalia than almost any-where else in the world. In 2007, the gross enrolment rate for Somalia was 32%, with just 23% of girls enrolled in school compared with 42% of boys. These low rates are in large part due to the internal conflict that has gripped Somalia for the last two decades. Displacement and vio-lence have resulted in a weak and fractured government infrastructure, and educational services are limited.

Efforts by the EU are underway in Somaliland and Puntland, two autonomous regions in the north of Somalia, to raise the quality of education and extend access to schools to a greater number of children, particularly girls.

A major deterrent to the participation of girls in education, especially those of secondary school age, has been a lack of basic facilities on site for girls. Across the whole of Somalia, it is estimated that only 31% of students in sec-ondary schools are female. Of principal concern to many girls is that schools do not afford them a learning environ-ment where their dignity and privacy are respected. As a way of overcoming this barrier to education, the EU directed funds in 2008 to the establishment of five ‘Girl-Friendly Spaces’ in Somaliland and Puntland.

Girl-Friendly Spaces offer secondary school girls a com-mon room of their own, where they can socialise with their female friends, study and pray in safety and privacy. Adjoin-ing these common rooms are toilets and wash facilities for the girls so that they no longer need to return home early from school to access toilets that have privacy.

“Our Girl-Friendly place has increased the quality of education for girls. It has increased because we have so many services here, like books to read.”

Amina Ahmed Warsame, Student, Gambool High School, Garowe, Puntland.

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“I am very thankful to European Commission which awarded me an Erasmus Mundus Scholarship to undertake the European Master in Law and Economics Programme 2005-06 to achieve my aim in life. I also appreciate it for providing opportunities to third countries students for creating leaders in different disciplines.”

B. Ghulam Shabbir. Advocate High Court, Karachi, Pakistan

The 26th June Secondary School in Hargeisa, Somaliland, has reported that the creation of a girl-friendly space on its premises had an immediate positive effect on enrolment figures. Shortly after the school’s Girl-Friendly Space opened, the number of transfers to the school increased by 16% (61 girls).

Zimbabwe

After ten years of economic decline, Zimbabwe’s once highly regarded educational system collapsed in 2008. Some 8,000 schools closed and thousands of teachers either went on strike or left their posts. Those who carried on teaching worked in basic learning environments with little or no teaching materials to hand out, resulting in many

young pupils dropping out of school. It was, in the words of Zimbabwe’s Minister of Education, David Coltart, a “catastrophic situation”

In 2009, the European Commission, along with a number of other international donors, committed funds to the Edu-cation Transition Fund to assist the Zimbabwean Minis-try of Education in supplying essential textbooks to its 5,644 primary schools. Originally an emergency one-year pro-gramme, it was extended to 2011 to allow for the delivery of textbooks to the country’s 2,337 secondary schools. More textbooks were able to be purchased and supplied by UNICEF, the Education Transition Fund’s managers, after sufficient savings on the initial bulk purchase of text-books.

Although the delivery of approximately 23 million textbooks to Zimbabwe’s primary and secondary schools meets only one pressing requirement of the country’s underperforming educational system, its effect on teaching quality in class-rooms around the country was considerable: teachers’ morale rose, parents confidence in schools was restored and many children resumed their education.

The European Commission has subsequently committed funds to the second phase of the Education Transition Fund’s activities, which will run until 2015. These activities tackle a number of problems faced by the educational sector, such as underfunding of schools, rising school fees, and delivery of learning materials and equipment for the teaching of science, which require a longer-term investment and approach.

Pakistan

Northern Pakistan is not an area associated in the pub-lic mind with making education of women a priority. How-ever, contrary to common expectations, the desire of women to get an education in the area is generally very strong. This has been evidenced by the popularity of the EU-funded programme Northern Pakistan Education Programme (NPEP). The programme finally made avail-able the resources needed to run educational schemes for girls and boys in the area, which had hitherto been lacking.

“In 2008, we had no textbooks. We really had no materials at all as we couldn’t afford them. Still, the parents of our pupils, most of them farmers, wanted their children to come to school. Today, we have our textbooks from the Education Transition Fund. Most of our children can read now and our pass rates have improved. More children are turning up to school. There is a lot of community pressure to go to school here. If people find out that a child is not going to school, it’s slightly shameful.”

Ms Zamuchiya, Acting Head, Belmont Primary School, Goromonzi District.

“I am the first female student to get a degree in any university from my village… It’s solely due to the scholarship”.

Jamhoor Bibi, awarded a BSc in zoology from the Karakoram International University, Gilgit,

through the EU’s Northern Pakistan Education Programme. She is one of 900 female students

who were awarded scholarships through Aga Khan Educational Services Pakistan’s Female

Human Resource Development Programme.

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According to Khadija Khan of the Aga Khan Educational Services Pakistan, the NPEP has prompted an educational revolution in northern Pakistan. Says Khan: “The change is enormous; one can hardly think about it. NPEP is a very unique programme. It has changed the lives of peo-ple here in the Northern Areas.”

As a result of the EU’s educational programme in the area, attendance of boys and girls at school has risen from practically zero to nearly 80 per cent. Many female students are also now going on to higher education aided by scholarships funded by the European Com-mission, and administered by the Aga Khan Educational Services Pakistan.

WHY BOOST LITERACY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES?

Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, one of the world’s poorest countries, wom-en’s education is key to the fight against poverty. Educated mothers are able to break the family cycle of illiteracy. According to statistics from the UN Girls Education Initia-tive, around 33% of girls drop out in the primary level. The situation is worse in urban slum areas where 26% of primary school age girls have never enrolled in schools.

One of the primary reasons why girls are not enrolled in school is that poor families consider it more important for children to work and contribute to the family income. In an effort to break this cycle, the EU is supporting three NGO contractors – Dhaka Ahsania Mission, BRAC, and Save

the Children USA – to run 10,000 community-learning centres which offer flexible primary school education to young children. The flexibility of the education services offered mean that pupils are still able to fit in paid work or duties at home while they complete their studies.

“Girls with their literacy and numeracy skills can help their parents in their day-to-day life – who are, in most of the cases, illiterate – and teach their siblings as well. The skills gradually give them a sort of empowerment.”

G. F. Hamim, Dhaka Ahsania Mission, UNIQUE Project Coordinator.

WHY BOOST LITERACY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES?

• Literacy empowers people. Women who take part in literacy programmes have better knowledge of health and family planning. Literate parents are more likely to send their children to school and to help them with their studies.

• A child born to a mother who can read is 50% more likely to survive past the age of five.

• Literacy develops societies on political level. Literate people are found to be more civically engaged – whether in labour unions, community activities or politics.

• Literacy is crucial for economic development and fighting poverty. Literacy has been found to have a positive effect on GDP per capita. If all children in low-income countries could read, it is estimated that poverty could drop by 12%.

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