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.

In the State of Palestine, very few children of primary school age are excluded from education, but nearly five per cent of 10-15-year-old children and one out of three 6-9 year-olds with disabilities are out of school. The aim of this study is to identify who these excluded children are, where they live, and to understand why they are not in school. Based on a global initiative led by UNICEF and UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics, it aims at providing a more in-depth analysis, using a unique conceptual and methodological framework to develop comprehensive profiles of out-of-school children and link them to the barriers and bottlenecks that led to school drop-out. It takes into consideration a variety of factors such as socio-economic factors, the quality of education, and the influence of the environment, the community and the school. This study aims not only at understanding what barriers and bottlenecks prevent access to school, but also at taking action about it. Based on research findings, it proposes practical ways of removing these barriers to get children back to school, and to keep the children who are at risk of dropping out in school. By promoting and implementing sound policies that address exclusion, we can make a substantial and sustainable reduction in the number of out of school children. Keeping children in school or getting them back into school and learning safely is a collective effort, which must be brought to the forefront of policy makers’ agendas. UNICEF and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education hope that all relevant stakeholders will use the results and the practical recommendations of this study. It will help every child in the State of Palestine to fully realize their right to safe and quality education, to the benefit of all.

This report outlines the results of the survey “Out of School Children in Ukraine – A Study on the Scope and Dimensions of the Problem with Recommendations for Action”, which was conducted in January 2016 by GfK Ukraine, with the support of the UNICEF Country Office in Ukraine. The necessity of this study was determined by the impact of internal migration from the non-government controlled areas (NGCA) to other regions of Ukraine, on the education system, as well as by the lack of complex data on IDP access to school in the areas of settlement.

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.

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).

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 Living Standards Survey (HLSS 2008) - Estimated population (UIS 2008).

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).

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).