Ralph Emerson M.

Hernandez
 Central ASIA
East ASIA and the Pacific
South and West ASIA
Asia-Pacific Region :
- home to 4.3 billion people, constituting as much
as 60 per cent of the world’s population
(UNESCAP, 2013).

- considerable success by measure of the

Millennium Development Goals, particularly, in
reducing poverty.

- continues to face significant challenges,

especially in providing good governance,
improving the quality of life, and reducing
inequalities at the regional, sub-regional, and
country level.
 Education Development Context and
Regional Challenges
Though geographically large and culturally diverse, the
Asia-Pacific region has several common challenges for its
education development. Among these are issues and
challenges relating to equity, quality and governance.
Regionally, there have been great gains in improving access to
basic education at the primary and lower secondary education
levels, in increasing funding for education, and in addressing
gender disparity.
 Education Development Context and
Regional Challenges
A number of factors continue to inhibit equitable
participation in post-basic education including the demographic
profiles of learners (e.g. gender, language, religion, ethnicity
and social class), government policies (e.g. language of
instruction, fee structure and scholarship/incentives) and
environmental factors.
 Major National Policy Directions for
Education Development

Influenced by the EFA goals and in light of

emerging challenges, countries across the region have
put effort into improving several key aspects in
education. Increased emphases have been placed on
wider access to education, expansion of early
childhood education, improvement of the quality of
education, and inclusive education.
 Major National Policy Directions for
Education Development
1.Wider Access to Education
2.Early Childhood Care and Education
(ECCE)
3.Quality of Education
4.School Management
5.Improving Girls’ Participation in
Education
 Major National Policy Directions for Education
Development
1.Wider Access to Education

Governments across the region have endeavoured to

achieve universal primary education and make it accessible
through free provision. Many of the countries have achieved
positive results. Over time, the countries have thus increasingly
turned their attention to improving participation rates in
secondary and higher education.
 Major National Policy Directions for Education
Development
2.Early Childhood Care and Education
(ECCE)
In recognizing the importance of ECCE, countries of the
Asia-Pacific region have both developed and strengthened
their national ECCE policies while improving child survival and
nutrition. Overall, the gross enrolment ratios for pre-primary
education increased significantly from 2000 to 2012 in all sub-
regions of Asia-Pacific, especially in South and West Asia.
 Major National Policy Directions for Education
Development
3.Quality of Education
Many countries have initiated policies and programmes to improve
the quality of their education systems, especially through a focus on
learning outcomes. To address the seemingly apparent disconnect
between curriculum, pedagogy and the skills necessary to succeed in a
globalized and interconnected environment, many countries have
introduced policy reforms and innovations in education.
Examples:
a. Integrating 21st century skills in education policy and
practice (Japan’s ’Zest for Life’ to Indonesia’s ’Life)
b. Skills Education’ to the ’Alternative Learning System’
(Philippines, )
All of which aim to help improve skills development in non-formal
and informal sectors.
 Major National Policy Directions for Education
Development

4.School Management
To support the delivery of quality education, many countries
also have endeavoured to ensure better management and
governance of education systems and schools.
-Decentralized educational management,
-School-Based Management (SBM) systems,
which commonly involve both the community and
schools directly in the management and development
of curriculum.
-’Child Friendly Schools’ (CFS),
which aim to build responsible participatory governance and
strengthen community ties with the education sector.
 Major National Policy Directions for Education
Development

5. Improving Girls’ Participation in Education

-Achieved gender parity at the primary level, but is
still lagging at the secondary and tertiary level.
-Provide monthly stipends or scholarships to attract
girls to school,
- Provide food to girls in reward for high attendance
-Access to girls counselling services,
-Scholarships for girls at the secondary school level
-And female specific dormitories, resulting in
marked improvements in the attendance rate of
girls since 2000.
EFA Goal
in
Asia Pacific
EFA Goal 1: Early Childhood Care and
Education (ECCE)
Comprehensive early childhood care and
education foster young children’s physical, cognitive
and socio-emotional development at a time when
children’s brains are developing, with long-term
benefits for children. It is therefore vital that families
have access to adequate health care, along with
support to make the right choices for mothers and
babies.
EFA Goal 1: Early Childhood Care and
Education (ECCE)

1.Access and participation to pre-primary

education.

2. Teacher quality in pre-primary education.

EFA Goal 2: Universal Primary
Education (UPE)

Universal primary education is to ensure

that by 2015 all children, particularly girls,
children in difficult circumstances and those
belonging to ethnic minority groups, have access
to a completely free and compulsory education
of good quality.
EFA Goal 2: Universal Primary
Education (UPE)

1. Access and participation to primary

education.

2. Quality and efficiency of primary

education .
EFA Goal 3: Life Skills and Lifelong
Learning
The third EFA goal has been one of the most
neglected, in part because no targets or indicators were
set to monitor its progress. Although this goal tends to
receive some criticism for being too vague to allow
robust estimations of achievement, this section will
focus on progress of learning and life skills for youth
and adults in three parts: Secondary education,
Technical and Vocational Education and Training
(TVET) and non-formal education.
EFA Goal 3: Life Skills and Lifelong
Learning

1.Secondary education

2. Technical and Vocational Education and

Training (TVET)

3. Non-formal education
EFA Goal 4: Adult Literacy

Literacy is the foundation of lifelong learning.

There are still 781 million adults13 in the world
in 2012 who can neither read nor write. Globally,
there was a mere 2 percentage point
improvement in the adult literacy rate from 2000
to 2012. Almost two-thirds of illiterate adults are
women.
EFA Goal 4: Adult Literacy

1.Overview of global and regional adult literacy

and illiteracy
2.Country progress toward achieving the goal .
3.Gender and literacy
4. Literacy as continuum: understanding
beyond self-reported literacy rate
5.Access and participation in literacy
programmes
EFA Goal 5: Gender Parity and
Equality in Education
Gender parity, ensuring an equal
enrolment ratio of girls and boys, is the first
step towards the fifth EFA goal. The full goal –
gender equality – also demands appropriate
schooling environments, practices free of
discrimination, and equal opportunities for
boys and girls to realize their potentials
(UNESCO, 2013/4)
EFA Goal 5: Gender Parity and
Equality in Education
1. Gender disparity in access and
participation

2. Different patterns of gender

disparity in survival rates

3.Gender disparity in teachers

EFA Goal 6:Quality of education

The Asia-Pacific region has witnessed

great progress in basic education access and
participation, gender parity, and literacy;
however, there is growing concern about the
quality of learning at different levels of
education programmes. There is little
evidence to suggest that the quality in
education has improved in the region.
EFA Goal 6:Quality of Education

1. Teacher Quality

2. Student Learning Outcomes

 Data clearly shows that countries in the Asia-Pacific
region have made tremendous progress towards achieving the
six EFA goals, though there are many remaining issues and
challenges.
Goal 2 on universal primary education and Goal 5 on
gender equality are the most successful goals, with huge
progress in enrolment and reduction in gender disparities in
access and participation to primary education. Countries in the
region also saw significant progress in ECCE (Goal 1), and
lower secondary and secondary education enrolment (Goal 3).
For adult literacy (Goal 4), some countries were able to meet
the target, however, many will not achieve this goal by 2015.
Different issues and challenges in education
in the Asia Pacific Region
• Significant, sometimes widening, disparities, both between
and within countries, in enrolment, retention, progression and
learning outcomes, often on the basis of gender, socio-
economic status, ethnicity, language, geographical location,
and disability.
• Rapidly increasing demands for post-basic education and
pre-primary education, hence the urgent need to increase
equitable access to all levels of education from early childhood
to higher education and adult learning.
• Insufficient quality of education to effectively and efficiently
support and improve learning for all learners.
Different issues and challenges in education
in the Asia Pacific Region
• Poor quality of teachers and teaching often due to gaps
between policy and practice, a lack of systematic teacher
training and development, and non-conducive work
environments for teachers.
• Disconnects between what is taught in schools and education
programmes and what is needed for effective participation in
an increasingly inter-connected and rapidly changing world.
• A lack of long-term commitment to and sustained and well-
resourced action for education.
• Poor and opaque governance of education, including non-
transparency, weak accountability, corruption and malpractice.