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Financing ECCE: an international perspective

Nicole Bella

Anaïs Loizillon(UNESCO)

OECD, 21 June 2010

EFA Global Monitoring Report

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EFA global Monitoring Report: Who we are?

Monitoring progress towards the six EFA goal agreed to by 164 countries in 2000 in Dakar, Senegal

Hold all parts (governments and the international community) accountable of their commitments

Eight editions published to date, with the 2010 Report being on the issue of marginalization in education

Prepared by an independent team housed at UNESCO

Funded by eleven donors

– (Six EFA goals ranging from ECCE, universal primary education, learning needs of youth and adults, adult literacy, gender parity and equality to quality of education, with 2015 as a deadline for achievement)

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Early childhood care and education

Early childhood care and education (ECCE): first of the EFA goals

o Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education (ECCE), especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children

• Care dimension: child well-being and health (also part of the MDG agenda

• Education dimension: pre-primary education

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Education for all begins with ECCE

ECCE can create the foundations for a life of expanded opportunity

o It can be a springboard for success in primary school by favouring school readiness;

o It can offset social, economic and language-based disadvantage, especially for vulnerable and disadvantaged children

o Yet, ECCE programmes remain neglected in many countries around the world, suffering from public under-investment

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Participation in pre-primary is improving

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Pre-primary education: not sufficiently funded

Pre-primary education is not given a priority in public spending on education

o Gobally, the median share of pre-primary education on total public spending on education was only 4.4% in 2008

o In several low-income countries (i.e. Bhutan, Comoros, Uganda, etc.), the share was nil

o In half of OECD countries, the share was higher than 8%, ranging from the value nil in Turkey to about 14% in Hungary and Spain

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Pre-primary education: not sufficiently fundedPre-primary and primary education as % of total public current expenditure on education

05

10152025303540455055606570 P re-primary as % of total expenditure on education

P rimary as % of total expenditure on education

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1015

2025303540455055606570

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More investment in pre-primary increases participation

The higher public spending on pre-primary education the higher also participation level

y = 0,0641x + 1,9226R 2 = 0,1724

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Pre-primary gross enrolment ratios (%)

Spain

Belgium

Hungary

FranceItalyMexico

Turkey Australia

Sw eden

Rep.Korea

Sw itzerland

Chile Poland

Greece

Finland

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Diversity of funding sources: implications for equity and expansion

Funding sources– Public (international, national, state, local)– Private (NGOs, religious groups, employers,

communities, households)

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International donors neglecting early childhood

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Belfield (2006) – short case studies

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Innovative financing mechanisms

Earmarking funds: tax to support ECCE development (Colombia, Jamaica)

Political commitment: national funds for ECCE (Brazil, Colombia)

Intersectoral councils: expand ECCE budgets (Brazil, Ghana, Kenya)

Public/private partnerships: block grants for seed funds (Indonesia)

Increasing equity: More favourable per learner funding for poorer schools (South Africa)

Targeting poor households: Conditional cash transfers (Chile, Colombia, Nicaragua)

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Data challenges

Quality of education financing data

ECCE as part of a holistic environment

Tracking for the very young (0 to age 3)

Variety of programmes and organisation

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