Education

Ten years after the launch of the Global Initiative for Out-of-School Children (OOSCI), it should be noted that while progress has been made in the fight against school exclusion, the scale of what remains to be done is still considerable, in West and Central Africa in particular. Between 2010 and 2018 the rate of children and adolescents outside basic education (primary and lower secondary) decreased slightly from 33 per cent to 32 per cent. Due to the growth in the school-age population of 6-15 year olds during the same period, rising from 108 million to 137 million children and adolescents (i.e. an increase of 27 per cent), this slight reduction in the rate actually hides an increase of 8.8 million in the number of children and adolescents out of school in the region. In 8 years, between 2010 and 2018, this number has indeed increased from 31.6 million to 40.7 million. These figures, which are further aggravated by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that occurred in 2020, invite a better understanding of the school exclusion factors as well as a better vision of their prevalence in the region, in order to develop appropriate public policies. This regional synthesis presents an inventory of the barriers to schooling as exposed by the national studies on children and adolescents outside of school conducted in 19 countries of the region between 2012 and 2019. All of these national studies have made it possible to take the measure of school exclusion through indicators and dimensions that each study has tried to implement as completely as possible without always succeeding. A list of barriers to schooling was however able to be drawn up for each country, with varying levels of detail concerning it. The data from these studies were supplemented by other sources.

This report outlines a framework for developing a system to monitor children and adolescents who are out-of-school (OOSC) or at risk of exclusion from education in Romania. Without an effective national monitoring system, it is difficult if not impossible to obtain accurate figures on out-of-school children and children at risk of exclusion. Moreover, without such a system related policies and strategies will not be evidence-based, or based on unreliable evidence, and possibilities for analyzing the causes of exclusion will be severely limited. To address these issues, a monitoring system needs to be based on a robust framework with clearly defined indicators, procedures and roles and responsibilities, and a clear understanding of information flows in the system and the potential information gaps and bottlenecks. Specifically, this report outlines a framework which can be used to: (i) Reliably identify OOSC and those at risk of exclusion, (ii) Analyze the causes of exclusion, and (iii) Develop and implement appropriate evidence-based policies and strategies to prevent exclusion.

The findings of the study are intended to inform education policies and strategies and on-going reforms that aim to accelerate progress toward achieving inclusive, high quality education for all in Romania. Specifically, the findings derived from the study are to be used in strategizing, designing and implementing policy and programmatic interventions to increase access to education for out-of-school children and those at risk of dropping out.

This study continues and complements a recent study conducted by UNICEF and the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), together with the Ministry of National Education – Directorate for Pre-university Education and Lifelong Learning, the National Institute of Statistics and the National Authority for Protection of Child Rights and Adoption, as part of the UNICEF and UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) global initiative on out of school children (OOSC). While the 2012 study focused on the participation in education of primary and lower secondary age children (7-14 years old), the current study reviews the situation of children of upper secondary age (15-18 years old), in order to have a more complete picture of this phenomenon, covering the entire primary and secondary education levels. On the basis of relevant statistical data collected yearly by the National Institute of Statistics, the current research aims to provide a clear picture of the status quo on education participation of children and youth in this age group and a better understanding of the situation of out of school children. As a result, the study assessed the extent of the out of school phenomenon in the case of upper secondary age children and youth, exploring their characteristics, and identifying barriers and challenges to school participation in upper secondary education. Hence, starting from the current research report data, we will be able to better detail the profile of children of upper secondary age who are out of school or at high risk of being out of school. This allows us to move forward in the complex process of identifying and eliminating the multiple forms of exclusion these children are faced with, through more effective and targeted education policies and interventions.

Paper prepared for a task funded by the Global Partnership for Education, September 2014. Background paper for Fixing the Broken Promise of Education for All.

Paper prepared for a task funded by the Global Partnership for Education, September 2014. Background paper for Fixing the Broken Promise of Education for All.

This fact sheet gives detailed statistics and data on the situation of out-of-school children in Djibouti between the years 2000 and 2013. It provides statistical information and graphs, highlighting the following areas; Numbers and percentages of out-of-school children The Five Dimensions of Exclusion Classification of the out-of-school population Schooling pathways of school aged children Out-of-school children by background characteristics Cumulative out-of-school risk related to combined characteristics Out-of-school children by location Barriers and policies/strategies

Building on a joint report which introduced the typology of out-of-school children and disaggregated data analysis in 2005, UNICEF and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) launched at the beginning of 2010 a Global Initiative on Out-of-School Children in order to stimulate more complex and more informed and monitored policy responses related to exclusion from education.

Country profile report highlighting key data and statistics on attendance by age, schooling pathways and main factors contributing to school exclusion using a number of recent surveys. Source: Household surveys in 21 countries of the region (2005-2009) - Estimated population (UIS 2005-2009).

Country profile report highlighting key data and statistics on attendance by age, schooling pathways and main factors contributing to school exclusion using a number of recent surveys. Source: Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA 2009) – Estimated population (UIS 2009).

Country profile report highlighting key data and statistics on attendance by age, schooling pathways and main factors contributing to school exclusion using a number of recent surveys. Source: Demographic and Health Survey (DHS 2009) - Estimated population (UIS 2009)

Country profile report highlighting key data and statistics on attendance by age, schooling pathways and main factors contributing to school exclusion using a number of recent surveys. Source: Demographic and Health Survey (DHS 2008) - Estimated population (UIS 2008).