Equity and Learning in Primary Education
Risks and opportunities
Access to primary education is a basic right for every child. An effective primary education can build a solid foundation and open avenues for future success. With its profound implications on both the individual and society, primary education plays a crucial role in reducing extreme poverty and promoting social changes. The Sustainable Development Agenda acknowledges the importance of primary education in Goal 4 which stipulates that by 2030, the world should ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, including a target on universal access to primary education.
Significant progress has been made toward achieving universal primary education. In East Asia and the Pacific, more than 9 out of 10 children attend primary education and have completed it. Additionally, over the past two decades, the number of out-of-school children was reduced by over 30 per cent. However, 7 million children of primary school age remain out of school, with the majority of them coming from marginalized groups.
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the prolonged and recurring school closures the number of children out of school is expected to increase and jeopardise decades of progress: UNESCO estimates that the number of children out of school in the region could increase by 4 per cent.
And yet increasing school enrolment and participation is not enough. By the end of primary school, children should be able to read and write, and to understand and use basic concepts in mathematics and science.
The Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) conducted by UNICEF and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) in 2019 show that many children do not have foundational reading and numeracy skills, highlighting the massive challenge to achieving inclusive and equitable quality education for all. Across participating countries, 1 out of 3 children in Grade 5 is still performing at the level expected in the early years of primary education.
The COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating this learning crisis: the World Bank estimates that the number of children not able to read and understand a simple sentence at age 10 could increase by 19 per cent.
A lack of trained teachers, inadequate learning materials, makeshift classes and poor sanitation facilities make learning difficult for many children. Others come to school too hungry, sick or exhausted from work or household tasks to benefit from their lessons.
UNICEF’s work in primary education
Ensuring every child is in school is critical to achieving child rights and enabling education to play its role in poverty reduction and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals. And yet increasing school enrollment and participation is not enough. By the end of primary school, children should be able to read and write, and to understand and use basic concepts in mathematics and science. Given low learning levels across the region, and the millions of children excluded from primary education, urgent action is needed to promote inclusive learning, especially among the most disadvantaged children.
As COVID-19 continues to disrupt education systems worldwide, digital learning should become an essential service. This means connecting every child and young person to world-class digital solutions that offer personalized learning to leapfrog to a brighter future.
Key interventions of our work in Equity and Learning in Primary Education include:
- Improve measurement of learning outcomes
- Ensure primary education that is inclusive of every child, particularly the most marginalized, including those with disabilities and those from ethno-linguistic minority groups
- Develop teacher capacity to deliver inclusive education
- Improve the quality of the learning environment
