EDUCATION FOR ALL IN THE CARIBBEAN: ASSESSMENT 2000 VOL I: SUMMARY

EDUCATION FOR ALL IN THE CARIBBEAN: ASSESSMENT 2000 SUBREGIONAL SYNTHESIS REPORT VOL I: SUMMARY DR. VENA JULES DR. AIGNALD PANNEFLEK January 2000

* The Caribbean as defined here includes: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, The British Virgin Islands, The Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, Montserrat, The Netherlands Antilles, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and The Turks and Caicos Islands.

Table of Contents List of Tables List of Figures List of Boxes Acronyms Acknowledgements Section One Background Information Structure of Education Systems Scope and Methodology Limitations Section Two Findings Issues, Goals and Targets References Annexes Rationale Statistical Annex List of Tables 1S Participation Rates of 0 6 years old in Haiti 1990, 1995 and 1997 2S Gross Enrolment Ratios Pre primary Caribbean Countries 3S Literacy Rates among 15 + (and GPI) in Caribbean Countries: 1990 1999 4S In school and out of school population in selected Caribbean Countries List of Figures 1S Trends in Participation Rates of 0 6 year olds in Haiti: 1990 1997 2S Trends in Preprimary enrollment Ratios 1995 1997 in Caribbean countries 3S Trends in Apparent and Net Intake Rates in Caribbean countries 1990/91 1997/98 4S Increases in Over and Under Aged Entrants in Grade 1 in Caribbean countries 1990/91 1997 1998 5S Haiti: Gross Enrolment Ratios 1990/91 1997/98 6S Caribbean Average GER with Haiti 1990/91 1997/98 7S Caribbean Average GER without Haiti 1990/91 1997/98 8S Relationship between the Economic Factors and Primary School Enrolment 9S Expenditure on Primary Education as a % of Total Expenditure on Education 1997 List of Boxes Box 1 Main problems encountered/anticipated with ECCE in St. Lucia Box 2 Reasons given why parents in Trinidad & Tobago may not be accessing ECCE facilities Box 3 Belize: Revision of Teacher Education using the Distance Education Mode Box 4 Anguilla: Pupil Performance

ACRONYMS AIR ANG A & B AR ASP BAH BAR BEL BER BVI CARICOM CI CONFINTEA V UNESCO CXC D ECCE ECD ECECDC EFA EMIS ET Fundashon Mangusá Fundashon Pro Alfa GDP GER GPI GR GUY H HAVO ICT IDB IMF Ja MAVO Mt NA NER NIR SKN La VNG S TT TC UNESCO UNICEF USA UWI VWO Apparent Intake Rate Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Associated Schools Projects Bahamas Barbados Belize Bermuda British Virgin Islands Caribbean Community Cayman Islands Fifth International Conference on Adult Educaton Caribbean Examination Council Dominica Early Childhood Care Education Early Childhood Development Early Childhood Education Care and Development Component Education For All Education Managament Information Systems Education Technology Mangusá Foundation Pro Alfa Foundation Gross Domestic Product Gross Enrolment Ratio Gender Parity Index Grenada Guyana Haiti General Secondary Education Information Communication Technology International Development Bank International Monetary Fund Jamaica Junior Secondary Education Montserrat Netherlands Antilles Net Enrolment Ratio Net Intake Rate St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent and Grenadines Suriname Trinidad and Tobago Turks and Caicos Islands United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organization United Nations International Children s Emergency Fund United States of America University of the West Indies Advanced Secondary Education

Acknowledgements A document such as this needs the support and contribution of many people. To these people the writers of the EFA Caribbean Synthesis Report wish to say: Thank you kindly! We acknowledge our sincere gratitude to: - Dr. Claudia Harvey for her faith in us and patience with the many delays; - The Regional Technical Advisory Group (RTAG), all friends and any of whom could/should have written this document, thanks for your constant support; - The country report writers and all from the many planning units, the researchers, who worked with them in, at times, impossible situations to collect and collate data for the national reports. Thanks to you all for your commitment in staying the course until the job was done, and providing the Caribbean with a virtual bank of timely education data. We hope countries would use these to facilitate students improved schooling; - To the Ministers of Education, Heads of Departments who gave their time and whatever resources could be garnered to do the task; - The participants of the regional workshop: EFA national coordinators workshop, representatives of donor-lender organisations, regional intergovernmental organisations, regional associations of teachers, organisations concerned with social and economic development and individual education specialists, university faculty and adult educators, who put the findings in focus, identified new and relevant issues and the recommended goals and targets. - The many writers of the monographs and case studies for the data, the explanations and the in depth scrutiny of the particular situation; - To Nicole Smith for the section on Caribbean economies; - To Catherine Agong and Celeste Jules for their invaluable research skills and computer assistance rendered; - To our colleagues who took time to read and re-read the many drafts of this document; - To our families, our work mates and students who put up with us and our many frustrations and nuances.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION This document presents a summary of the findings and issues arising from an assessment of education in the Caribbean sub-region in the decade of the 90 s. Recommended goals and targets for future action are also identified. The Caribbean sub-region as defined for the purposes of this assessment is comprised of the twenty-two countries. These are: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, The British Virgin Islands, The Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Montserrat, The Netherlands Antilles, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands. With the exception of Bermuda, as a group they form an arc that encircles the Caribbean Sea, while the Atlantic Ocean washes the eastern and/or northern shore(s) of most. Bermuda, further north at 32º, is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. Other than the striking comparabilities in their panoramic physical beauty, geologic origins and climate, these countries have many political, demographic, cultural and economic similarities. Political Their early political history included colonisation. This was followed by political independence, first for Haiti in 1804; then for twelve others between 1960 and 1983. The Netherlands opted to give its former colonies autonomous status in the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the early 1950 s; and Anguilla, Bermuda, The British Virgin Islands, The Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands have remained overseas territories of Britain. Their colonial history has also left a language legacy. Countries, which form the Commonwealth Caribbean are English speaking. Those that belonged to The Netherlands use Dutch as the official language. In Haiti, the official language is French. Demographic/ Cultural In each country, the capital cities and main towns are mainly ports. These are also the areas of densest settlement and in the respective countries, are linked to each other by a network of coastal main roads. Interiors therefore tend to be areas of sparse and dispersed settlement and road links between these and urban areas or even to each other are not always as well developed. With respect to population concentrations, Haiti is the one exception since its population is mainly (>70%) rural. Capital cities in the Caribbean are also the areas of greatest economic activity, and internal migration from the interior to these urban / semi-urban areas is prevalent. According to the U.S. Bureau of Census, International Data Base, the combined populations of these 22 countries in 1999 was 13,534,003 (See Table 1A) with some 20% to 25% being under 12 years of age. Most of this population has ancestral origins that derive from the same source. There are therefore similarities in appearance, religions and in other cultural practices such as music, dance, art etc. Economic With respect to this, the countries of the Caribbean are classified as developing and in the current globalised economic scenario, with their small productive base attempt to compete with far larger economies and negotiating space. While efforts have been advanced towards economic diversification, most of the countries are still mainly dependent on one primary economic activity. This implies that a decline in world commodity prices greatly affects the performance of balance of payments. This, for example, is reflected in the dependence of Trinidad and Tobago on petroleum prices, Suriname, Guyana and Jamaica, on bauxite prices and the OECS states on the market for bananas. Some of the countries face this with a fixed exchange rate; others float their currency in the world economic currents as they attempt to balance their payments. For a third group, political links retained with the metropole cushion them economically. In 1997, per capita GDP ranged from U$ 1300 to U$ 30,000 with Haiti and Bermuda representing either ends of that spectrum. All countries, except Bermuda and Turks & Caicos Islands carry the burden of external debt, the annual repayment of which eats into the financial resources needed for services such as education. General Traditionally the population has perceived education, via schooling as the means to a better life. The governments of these countries have therefore invested much of each country s scarce financial resources in schooling.

Today, at the turn of the century, all but two Caribbean countries are politically stable democracies. For the few who have experienced dictatorship, past periods of political instability have exacted a heavy toll on the functioning of their education systems. In one case there was a succession of over 13 governments (and 23 different Ministers of education) during a 20 year period. This case however is the exception and in 90% of the countries, political and economic stability has been rewarded with steady, visible achievements in economic growth and the education of the population. Structure of the Education Systems The countries of the Commonwealth Caribbean have all maintained and/or adapted many aspects of the British educational system despite efforts to respond to the specific needs of the Caribbean culture and people. Schooling is still therefore structured with the following levels: preprimary, primary, secondary and tertiary education. Most of the Caribbean countries have compulsory primary level education which is generally offered free of charge in the public schools. The majority of the countries maintain age 3 as the entrance age in formal pre-primary education. A few others such as Turks and Caicos Islands and Guyana maintain age 4. In the English speaking Caribbean, Early Childhood Education (for children aged 0 3 and 4-5) for the most part has been an endeavour of private initiative and is voluntary. With respect to ECCE, several descriptors are used. Some of the descriptors are: day care centres, pre-schools and play groups. Day care centres, nurseries and play groups tend to focus on the developmental aspect of the child ages 0-3, while the pre schools focus on preparation for primary education. This latter group is also referred to as pre-primary schools. The day care centres and playgroups function for the most part with some guidance and/or financial support from the government. According to Charles (1999), in most countries day care is administered by a ministry other than the ministry in charge of pre-primary education. The exceptions are Jamaica, Barbados, St. Kitts/Nevis and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The guidance from the ministry of education consists mainly in giving in-service training to teachers, providing handbooks to be used in those centres and some minor supervision.) Licensing is a requirement for the operation of day care centres and Pre- Primary education in the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Anguilla, Turks and Caicos Islands and St. Kitts Nevis (Charles,1999). In most countries however, there is no system of regulation for either Day Care or Pre-primary services.the Ministry of Education is responsible for the pre primary education generally (Charles, 1999). Primary education begins at age 5 in the English speaking Caribbean with the exception of Montserat where it begins at 4.5 years old. Primary school ends at age 11 in most countries, with the exception of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Haiti and Bermuda where it ends at age 12, and Montserat and St. Lucia where it ends at age 12.5 and age17 respectively. In most countries standardized tests are given at the end of the 6 th grade of primary education for admission to enter secondary education. The emphasis is on academics and Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies are the main areas tested. The exception is Anguilla and Montserrat where standardized tests are also given in the 3 rd and 5 th grade, St Kitts and Nevis in the 3 rd and 6 th grade, Bermuda in the 4 th and 8 th grade, Belize where a test is taken at the mid-point of primary school to measure level of achievement and in the 6 th grade to determine acceptance in secondary education. In St. Lucia, the common entrance examination is taken in the 7 th grade. In Belize no national standards has been specifically set regarding any agreed percentage of an appropriate age cohort which is expected to attain or surpass a defined level of necessary learning achievement. In Bermuda, however, there are nationally predefined pre-set standards which determine promotion from grade to grade. Some of the countries also have automatic promotion. Pre-school education in Haiti covers the ages of 3 to 6. The pre-school program in the public sector in Haiti lasts only one year, whereas in the private sector, it lasts 3 years. Pre-school education is not yet regulated in Haiti, however, the MENJS has distributed the pre-school curriculum and has put educational materials (pre-learning workbooks, educational games, teaching guides) on the market for better learning.

Formal basic education covers nine (9) years and is divided into three (3) cycles: a first cycle of 4 years, a second of 2 years, and a third of 3 years. In the first cycle, basic knowledge in writing, reading, and arithmetic is established. It is strengthened in the following cycle, the completion of which is ratified by a State examination (Certificate of completion of the second cycle). The third cycle enrols children ages 12 to 14 who have passed the examinations completing the second cycle. After 3 years of schooling, they take an official examination for Grade 9 that gives access to secondary education. At this stage, the pupil, whose age is approximately 14, receives a complete intermediate training, which leads to secondary education. As in the second cycle, the third is also ratified by State examinations (examination for completion of formal basic studies). Nevertheless, as of the end of the second cycle, the pupils may choose either to continue their general or academic training, or to direct themselves toward a technical or vocational education. Compulsory education covers the ages of six through 15 The Dutch Speaking Caribbean consisting of Aruba, the Netherlands Antilles and Suriname for the most part has adapted the Dutch System of Education with very few modifications. The main reason being that especially in Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles students depend on study in the Netherlands to further their education. The examinations on MAVO, HAVO, VWO come directly from the Netherlands and are graded in the Netherlands. Early Childhood Education in the Dutch Caribbean. The day care section of early childhood education is formalized and comprises the 0 to 3-year age span in the Dutch speaking Caribbean. Private initiative, churches and communities run the majority of these centres. The government subsidizes some of these centres, while others depend on the fees paid by parents. The Netherlands Antilles is in the process of legalizing the Day Care section of early childhood education. Teachers for these centres are being given the opportunity to follow degree programs to prepare them to deal with this group of children. As of 1998 pre-primary education or kindergarten education as it is called in Netherlands Antilles, and which comprises the 4-5 year age span, has been legalized. Kindergarten schools are therefore completely subsidized and only qualified teachers are appointed. Kindergarten education is also legalized in both Aruba and Suriname. In the Dutch speaking Caribbean, primary education lasts from grade 1 to grade 6. At the end of the sixthgrade, a national examination is administered to determine which type of secondary school a particular student should attend. Referral to the various types of secondary education depends on age, advice of the primary school principal and the achievement on the Dutch Language and Mathematics tests. Promotion is based on achievement. Students who repeat a year twice are promoted because of their age. Of the five islands of the Netherlands Antilles four are organized along the lines of the Dutch educational system of the seventies. One of these four, St. Maarten, in addition to the features of the Dutch system, also shows some organizational features of the educational systems of the U.S.A. and of the Caribbean. The fifth island, Saba, is organized to prepare its students for the Caribbean examinations according to the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC). Scope and Methodology Scope This report set out to present an analysis of the situation of education in 22 *Caribbean countries. To ensure participatory input from all the 22 countries comprising the Caribbean sub-region, a workshop was held in Jamaica in March of 1999. Twenty-one out of twenty-two countries were present to plan for the Assessment of the Education Achievement since 1990.

The purpose of this Assessment was: - To review achievements since Caribbean Governments agreed with the rest of the world to strive for Education for All by the year 2000 - To provide the necessary information for countries to assess their education systems and plan for ways to best meet the needs of their countries in the first decades of the new millennium. The International Consultative Forum on Education for All, which is responsible for the global coordination of the EFA 2000 Assessment provided General Guidelines to all countries. Each country was invited to establish a national EFA Assessment Group, which should appoint a technical sub-group to collect and analyse the various data needed. The Technical Guidelines included among other things general information regarding the core indicators, data sources, suggested analytical practices, and several issues to be kept in mind when implementing the EFA 2000 assessment. Eighteen core indicators were given and these indicators assessed: 1. Early Childhood Care and Development The indicators falling under this section were intended to assess the expansion of early childhood care and developmental activities, including family and community interventions, especially for poor, disadvantaged and disabled children. They measured the general level of participation of young children in early childhood programs and the country s capacity to prepare young children for primary education. In addition they assess the proportion of new entrants to Grade 1 who presumably have received some preparation for primary schooling through EDC programmes. 2. Primary Education The indicators falling under Primary Education assessed the expansion of access to primary education to cover all eligible children, but also the improvements of its internal efficiency so that all pupils actually complete the primary cycle. More specifically they assessed: a. enrolment ratios and intake rates b. public expenditure on primary education c. teachers qualifications d. pupil/teacher ratio e. measures of internal efficiency including repetition rates, survival rates and coefficient of efficiency. 3. Learning Achievement and Outcomes The indicators that fell under this section assessed the improvement of learning achievement such that an agreed percentage of an appropriate age cohort attained or surpassed a defined level of necessary learning achievement. In addition the literacy rate of the 12-24 year olds was to be stated. 4. Adult Literacy This target sought to assess the diverse policy actions and measures undertaken to develop literacy and other non-formal basic learning programs intended to meet the learning needs of various categories of adult learners. 5. Training in Essential skills This target addressed a wide range of learning activities at the basic level with the aim of imparting knowledge, skills and attitudes that are necessary for young people and adults in their everyday lives, in their work, and in order to improve their quality of life. 6. Education for Better Living This target addressed increased acquisition by individuals and families of the knowledge, skills and values required for better living and sound and sustainable development, made available through all education

channels including the mass media, other forms of modern and traditional communication, and social action, with effectiveness assessed in terms of behavioural change. In addition to endorsing and, where necessary, expanding the technical guidelines, the countries agreed to look in some detail at some qualitative areas. In expanding the guidelines, the countries agreed to insert tables to include the first cycle of secondary education because the Caribbean, unlike most other developing countries, had by 1990 attained universal primary education in all but one country. It was considered important therefore, for the Caribbean to include an assessment of access and quality to the secondary level. The International Forum requested that training in essential skills should be assessed, both as they are implemented in programs in schools and in programs out of schools. The specific areas identified for assessment in the Caribbean included: 1. Respecting the sanctity of life and value human dignity 2. Strengthening democracy and respect human rights. 3. Promoting and maintain stable families 4. Adopting healthier physical, mental and emotional lifestyles. 5. Recognizing and affirm gender equality and respect gender differences. 6. Valuing religious and ethnic and cultural diversity. 7. Respecting their cultural heritage and that of others. 8. Leading productive lives and take advantage of economic opportunities. 9. Using creativity and technology to sustain personal, social and economic development. 10. Resolving conflicts peacefully and promote a culture of peace. It was also agreed that children and youth should be exposed to conditions and experiences which would support their development towards the ideal Caribbean Person. The meeting noted that in some cases it may be possible to get quantitative data on these areas. However, even if such data were not available it is important to establish baselines to see how the Caribbean countries were doing in these areas so critical for the quality of life. The media was considered an essential aid to education. The assessment therefore also focused on issues related to the media. Such issues included: 1. Educational broadcasting (radio, television) used in schools. 2. Educational broadcasting used in out-of-school programs 3. Educational broadcasting used to enhance the skills of teaches in service. 4. Educational programs broadcast for the general public. 5. Public service announcements through radio and television. 6. Geographical diffusion of broadcasts, urban/rural, by region. 7. Newspaper and magazines with education columns, features or supplements. 8. Libraries, museums, book fairs used actively to promote and support basic education. 9. Street theatre and other forms of entertainment that convey educational messages. 10. Social mobilization campaigns to increase public awareness and knowledge, e.g. child vaccination, environmental protection, health hazards. Governments in the region have invested heavily in supports to education. The impacts of these supports were also to be assessed. 1. Guidance and Counselling 2. School service 3. Transportation 4. Textbooks 5. Library resources 6. School equipment 7. Parental involvement 8. Stakeholder awareness 9. Improved School Plant and Maximised use of School Plant 10. Improved attention to multiple intelligences (curriculum diversity)

11. Improved provisions for children with special needs. The countries agreed that the assessment should involve all stake holders: parents, teachers, employers, churches, non-formal education groups, various non-governmental organizations and community groups. Methodology National Coordinators were chosen by governments of each country. These coordinators were responsible for the completion of the country report with assistance from representatives of the public, private and nongovernmental sectors as well as from all other groups. To maintain consistency with regional and international guidelines, a technical committee was established to advise National Coordinators and review country reports. However by July, only 7 drafts were received; by September, a total of 12; and December, 19 were received. The information contained in this report was generated by the use of a variety of sources. The 19 Country Reports received. Educational researchers and practitioners who prepared case studies and monographs on specific aspects of education. To date one case study and fourteen monographs have been reviewed and accepted. Consultants who prepared reports. A regional workshop of EFA national coordinators, regional intergovernmental organisations, regional associations of teachers, adult educators, organisations concerned with social and economic development, individual education specialists, university faculty and donor-lender agencies. This workshop considered the draft regional synthesis, made recommendations and proposed goals and targets for consideration of Ministers of Education. The information thus garnered was used as the basis for the preparation of this sub-regional report. Limitations At the time of writing, (January, 2000), final reports had been received from nineteen of the twentytwo countries. Some quantitative data (tables) had also been received from one other. Within those twenty received however, many of the education indicators request ed as part of the country reports have not been dealt with mainly because data had not been available. Additionally, data received have not been consistent across all countries for the years under review. The limitations of resources had forced some countries to select two or three years and present more of a trend analysis. The selected years also varied among countries. The result is therefore spotted data in some cases, and from one indicator to the other, the countries supplying the data vary. This has therefore made the computation of a Caribbean synthesis difficult. Another very important limitation was the unavailability of year by year population estimates in the required age bands. Few countries had these data. The consequence was that at least one country used population figures from the last census take and this therefore gave rise to (theoretically) unsound/ incorrect figures. e.g. Net (not gross) intakes of 134% of the age group. Qualitative data provided revealed no real assessment of impacts or analysis of programmes offered. There is therefore a rich variety of programmes for better living or in essential skills mentioned from country to country but no impact assessments. Finally, except for the aims and goals, the early secondary education aspect of basic education was included in too few reports to allow any type of quantification or discussion.

SECTION TWO Findings EFA Assessment 2000 : Caribbean Sub-region. The Decade in Review GER:The total school population as a percentage of the official school entry age population. NER: New entrants of school age as a percentage of the official school entry age population Jomtien Objectives on EFA (1990-2000) Caribbean Achievements Unmet Targets Needs 1. Expansion of early childhood care and developmental activities, including family and community interventions, especially for the poor, disadvantaged and disabled children Gross intake rate: 1990 1995 0-3 year olds: ~7%; 3-5 year olds: ~ 87.9% ~ 81.8% Haiti: 0-6 year olds: ~ 20.7% ~ 44.6% 1997/98 ~5% ~ 80.3% ~ 64.3% Because of traditional and cultural practices, decision to be taken on how to treat with need. 19.7% are not participating representing some 48,563 (?) in 9 reporting countries. Steady growth but 35.7% (232,510 children) still excluded in 1997/98.! Declining enrolment from 1995 in many countries especially larger ones, therefore! Policy decisions are needed to guide plan of action for age group.! Increase in financial resources which for most is less than 1% of the education expenditure! Quality inputs, e.g. improving teachers' academic and professional qualifications. 2. Universal access to and completion of primary education by the year 2000 Primary: 5/6-11/12 year olds 1990/91 AIR (Gross) < 109.8% NIR: < 40.9% 1995 < 140.3% < 45.0% 1997/98 < 151.5% < 46.4% Gross Enrolment (GER): 12 countries < 89.4% Expenditure: < 108.6% < 116.6% GNP range: 0.4-5.1%; median 2%-3% Teacher Variables Teacher academic qualification requirement is not rigorously upheld in more then 50% of countries: < 74.6% < 80.9% Certified to teach: < 69.1% < 74.9% Teacher pupil ratio: < 1:22.4 < 1:22 S ystem Efficiency Factors: Average repetition rate to grade 5: < 10.1% < 11.6% < 9.6%!Student survival rate was maintained at <72-100% for both males and females in 1996 in most countries except Haiti where it was 55.0 % and decreasing.! Co-efficient of efficiency in the Caribbean averaged < 79.4 in 1996 except for Haiti where in 1997 it averaged 47.0 to grade 5 and 50.9 in all Primary Education.! Universal physical access is available but many not participating.! Increasing over-age entrants (esp. males)! For two large-island countries enrolment shortfalls among children aged 5-11 represent some 66,000 (?) children not participating in 1997.! Resource input too low generally although there seems to be little correlation between pupil enrolment and allocations to education.! Targeted levels (80%) of academically qualified and certified teachers not yet met.! Universal completion not yet attained : between 0-28% of primary school starters do not complete.! Some reduction in the repetition rates overall, but increasingly high rates among males and overall.! Better ECCE programmes to prepare pupils for later learning - quality issues need to be addressed throughout.! Data Management Issues e.g. Improvements in data quality, reliability, accessibility and technology to make this possible.! Since most of the non- participants are the poor and disabled, policy and programmes to make schooling relevant, accessible and affordable to all.! Higher levels of financial inputs.! Recruit teachers with stronger academic backgrounds - possibly B.Eds! Improvements in the quality of instruction

Jomtien Objectives on EFA (1990-2000) Caribbean Achievements Unmet Targets Needs < 78% master some preset norms in Reading and Math in 1996/97. < 77% in 1990/91. 3. Improvements in learning achievement based on agreed- upon percentages of an age group Some 20% - 30% of those enrolled and 15-20% of those who survive leave without those competencies in Math and reading/ writing.! Improve the quality of instruction, teacher competencies both academically & professionally.! Provisions of more resources so that students have information independently available to them. 4. Reduction of the adult illiteracy rate to half its 1990 level by the year 2000, with special emphasis on female literacy Considering that there are various defini-tions used, various methods to measure literacy, and also based on the fact that not all the countries used the same target population it is difficult to give a Caribbean sub-regional assessment of literacy. However, with each country using its own nationally define norms, and for different age bands between 1990-1999, values stated for literacy rates ranged between 54.1 % and 98.2 %. Even though there has been dedicated efforts to provide the adult population of the Caribbean. With access to education, there is still a notable gap between the current figures "and the criterion of a fully literate population. The available evidence does not seem to suggest that this gap was reduced by a half over the decade of the 1990's" Miller (1999:14) Need for a common definition of litercy across the region. Need to define the main terms associated with literacy e.g. functional literacy, semi literate, absolute illiteracy and peripherally literate. The definition must (i) respect the first language of the individual (ii) be sensitive to the modes of communication of the language. Need to develop instruments for measuring literacy at the various school levels. 5. Expansion of the basic education and training for youth and adults Most Caribbean countries did expand their provisions of basic education and training in other essential skills, but for the most part did not assessed changes and impact on health, employment and productivity. The impact targeted for in 1990 has not been achieved because of the "profound qualitative changes in the nature of work which the EFA Framework for Action did not anticipate" Miller (1999:18). Sustained and/or systematic evaluation of these programs to assess their effectiveness. Clear criteria and instruments to assess programme impacts. 6. Improvement in dissemination of knowledge, skills and values required for better living and sustainable development. Overall, Caribbean countries have increased their use of the media (print and electronic) to increase the sphere of education. Given the nature of this target dimension no measurements have been done over the decade. Sustained and/or systematic evaluation of these programs to assess their effectiveness. Clear criteria and instruments to assess programme impacts. In the countries of the Caribbean, from the 19 country reports received, and which each assesses the state of education in its particular country over the decade of the 90 s, quotes from each country s education plan give a clear indication that education is seen as essential both to the individual and to society. In these plans there is also a recognition of the need to bring the education systems and projected outcomes in line with global occurrences, current technological innovations and related country needs. An assessment of the efforts of Caribbean countries over the decade of the nineties in implementing their education plans, reveal that there have been some gains and some set-backs with respect to the educational goals and targets set at the World Conference in Jomtien and with respect to Caribbean originated targets linked to these goals. Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) ECCE in the Caribbean is organized in two tiers. - Tier 1 is referred to in most countries as Day Care and caters for children aged 6 months to 3 years. The service offered ranges from custodial to developmental care and is usually managed by Ministries of government outside of education such as Health and/or Social Services. Exceptions are Barbados where a Board has been set up and given this responsibility and Jamaica. In the latter, the Ministry of Education has recently been legally given the mandate. In general, because of where it is managed, the service rendered for Day Care tends to have more of a social assistance objective than an educational one. - Tier 2 is more generally cited as pre primary schooling and serves children 3+ to 5/6 years of age. This level comes under the purview of the Ministry of Education. - Both tiers are managed by a mix of state, state and partners, church, private, NGOs and other initiatives in all except three countries. In these countries, the pre primary division is totally part of the formal schooling process and the gross enrolment in two of the three is 100%+. All teachers in these two countries are academically qualified and professionally certified.

Day Care Services: Children aged 6months to 3 years 1. Day Care services cover between 4% and 33% of the related age group, depending on the country, and therefore are not evenly distributed across the Caribbean. 2. The Gross Enrolment Ratio for Day Care in the countries of Caribbean in 1998 was 5% (Charles, 1999), a 2% decrease from 1990 for the reporting countries. 3. Barbados (+10%) and St. Kitts and Nevis (+8%) were the two countries with increases in Day Care enrolment. 4. As mentioned above, two countries made sweeping changes to deal with the Day Care division of ECCE; Barbados, the board, and Jamaica, a shift by law to the Ministry of Education. In the short term, the special combined board in Barbados seems to have accomplished some return (+10%). 5. Haiti with a 64.3% enrolment in 1997 of children aged 0 to 6 years, has recorded a 43.6% increase in enrolment and participation of its population. Pre primary Services Fig. 1S : Trends in Participation Rates of 0 6 year olds in Haiti: 1990-1997 Gross Enrolment Ratio 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1990 1995 1997 Year Source: Country Reports, 1999 Fig. 2S Trends in Pre-Primary (3 to 5/6 year olds) Enrolment Ratios 1990 1997 : Caribbean Countries without Haiti Source: Country Reports (1999) Gross Enrolment Ratio 90 88 86 84 82 80 78 76 1990 1995 1997 Year

Table 1S Participation Rates of 0 6 year olds in Haiti for 1990, 1995 & 1997 1990 Population 1990 Enrolment 1990 GER 1995 Population 1995 Enrolment 1995 GER 1997 Population 1997 Enrolment 1997 GER 571,577 118,360 20. 7 630,078 218,007 44. 6 651,288 418,561 64. 3 Source: Country Report. Table 2S Caribbean Countries Gross Enrolment Ratios Pre-Primary Sector (3 5 year olds) GER: The total number of children enrolled as a percentage of the official school age population Countries 1990 Population 1990 Enrolment 1990 GER 1995 Population 1995 Enrolment 1995 GER 1997 Population 1997 Enrolment 1997 GER Bahamas 11,544 11,544 100 12,227 12,227 100 12,494 12,494 100 Barbados 8,032 4,232 52. 7 8,025 5,630 70. 2 7,855 5,346 68. 1 Belize 12,570 3,275 26. 1 13,628 3,306 24. 3 14,479 3,313 22. 9 Bermuda 1,038 1,384 113. 3 539 539 100 438 438 100 Dominica * 4,810 2,119 44 3,486 2,641 75. 8 3,508 2,584 73. 7 Grenada * 5,649 3,931 69. 5 4,512 3,438 76. 2 4,264 3,271 76. 7 Jamaica 154,180 145,791 94. 6 160,950 134,458 83. 5 173,190 140,803 81. 3 Netherland Antilles 6,663 7,052 105. 8 7,673 7,708 100. 5 7,837 8,161 104. 1 Suriname 19,151 16,968 88. 8 19,656 18,339 99. 3 20,178 19,279 95. 5 Average 225,627 198,286 87. 9 232,691 190,281 81. 8 246,249 197,686 80. 3 * 1990 Data taken from UNICEF 1999. Estimate 7. The Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) for pre primary education in 1997 for 9 Caribbean countries with consistent comparable data was 80.3%%. Mid-Decade (1995) their GER was 81.8%. In 1990, it was 87.9%. There has therefore been a decrease in pre-primary participation (in these 9 Caribbean countries at least). This decrease is expected to have an impact on readiness for later learning and therefore on level of achievements throughout primary schooling. 8. In the 9 countries analysed, the 19.7% who are not participating in pre-primary services represent approximately 48, 511 children. 9. The larger countries seem to have more difficulty meeting and maintaining their target than smaller ones. 10. The Bahamas, Bermuda and the Netherlands Antilles began and ended the decade with total enrolment at the pre-primary level. Eight other countries have increased their gross enrolment. These countries are: Anguilla (87.8% to 92.7%), Barbados (52.7% to 76%), Belize (25% to 26%), Guyana (81.9% to 93.6%), Haiti (20.7% to 64.3%), St. Kitts and Nevis (50% to 79%), St. Lucia (76.3% to 78.3%), Suriname (88.6% to 95.5%). 11. Countries in which pre-primary activities were conducted on the same site as the primary school were more successful at increasing their enrolment ratios. 12. The ECCE sector also faced many challenges. Among these was the rapid turnover of staff. The case of St. Lucia, reported in BOX 1 gives a picture of the setbacks in most Caribbean countries.

Box 1 Main Problems Encountered/Anticipated in St. Lucia Achievements of the ECECD Unit during the past decade were punctuted with many problems that affected its management capacity to deliver the best product. Among thern were: a rapid turnover of ECECD caregivers, most of whom decided to move on to other occupations because salaries were far too low; an absence of definitive legislation and operations of ECEDC centers; governing the licensing, staffing constraints, as a result of insufficient staff, hampered the ability to effectively monitor and assess the quality of service offered in the remote parts of the island; a significant number of centers recommended standards; still did not meet the minimum most administrators lacked management expertise to effectively operate their centers as viable business entities. That impacted offered; negatively on the quality absence of a Pseudo-Laboratory model - Early Children Centre. of services and programmes attached to the Unit to serve as That limited trainees' ability to gain practical on-the-job training and debars the trainer from conducting genuine laboratory observation of trainees; That limited trainees' ability to gain practical on-the-job training and debars the trainer from conducting genuine laboratory observation of trainees; Source: Country Report Source: St Lucia EFA Report 1999. a 13. The proportion of children enrolled and attending ECCE centers in the Caribbean has increased in eight countries. However, except for St. Kitts and Nevis (+ 5.8%), neither the percentage of GNP nor the percentage of total current education expenditure devoted to this level of the system, has. Per capita expenditure for ECCE entrants has therefore decreased where the quantum has also remained unchanged. 14. The teacher/pupil ratio in centers catering for children aged 6 months to 3 years is 9. In the pre primary sector, it is 30. The latter is therefore much higher than country stipulated and targeted rates. St. Kitts and Nevis and Barbados, both using around 7% of their education expenditure, are the only countries to have managed to keep their teacher/ pupil ratios below their targeted levels. 15. Inability to pay fees is a main reason why parents do not access ECCE centres even where they exist. Schooling support for children of lower income homes must therefore be included in any agenda aimed at universalisation. 16. Lack of awareness of the value of ECCE to the child, remoteness and lack of information to parents are other reasons for non-participation. See BOX 2

Box 2 Reasons Given Why Parents in Trinidad & Tobago may not be Accessing Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) 1. Access - There is need for those who need the facility. many more centres within easy reach of 2. Cost - The facility costs more than those who need it can afford to pay for it. The main cause of this is the high rate of unemployment, especially along the East West corridor, but also throughout both islands. There is also the attendant poverty that unemployment engenders. One notices, for instance, a pattern of January rather than September registration of children in Servol administered centres. The reason the parents give for this late registration is lack of money. Many state that they have to hold back pre-schoolers so that they could deal with the cost of sending the older ones to primary school in September when the new school year begins. In county Caroni, specifically, the reason given is that there is more money available or expected in January when the cane season begins. 3. Some parents believe that if, at a center, their children are not being taught to read and write from initial entry then that center is a waste of theirs and their children's time. There is therefore a lack of awareness of what early childhood care and education programmes should be about. 4. Parents who are at home sometimes do not see the need to use the ECCE centres and so keep the child at home with them to age five (5). 5. Distance between the nearest center and home sometimes forces a parent to decide not to use the available center. In some of these cases money is a factor for transportation costs. In others the concern is safety of the child. 6. If there is no known facilitative link between the available ECCE center and the primary school of choice, parents do not value the center. Parents seern to get some comfort, from the fact that attendance at a specific center would facilitate access to a "good" primary school at age 5. 7. Remoteness and lack of information. Other factors related to the low percentage of children attending the ECCE centres have little to do with parental choice. One such is extreme rurality and dearth of information in remote areas. Source: UNICEF 1997 Situational Analysis of Children and their Families In Reported Best Practices Three initiatives have emerged from Caribbean countries. Two have already shown positive quantitative results. The other is still very new (1998) and would need to be monitored. The first is the setting up in Barbados of the composite Board comprised of all the partners. The role of the Board is to oversee ECCE (0-5year olds) in the country. This board is comprised of the main interest groups (health, social services, education etc.). However the developmental aspects of the child remain the main focus. In Barbados, this together with a consistent 7+% of education expenditure devoted to ECCE seem so far to have brought visible results in a steady growth in enrolment rates for the age group. The second practice comes from Suriname where participation by those aged 3 to 5 has grown from 88.6% in 1990 to 95.5% in 1997. Suriname reports (translation):

ECD is not considered a problem in Suriname. Almost all the children aged four go to preprimary education. In the coastal area the participation ratio is considered as high as 100%. The fact that pre-primary schools are housed by primary schools could be a reason for the high attendance at this level. In this way parents are assured of enrolment of their child. The primary schools enrol first the children of their own pre-primary schools. Promotion to the primary is automatic. (p. 3). The third is the decisive step by Jamaica to enact and put into practice legislation to have developmental needs of all children aged 0 to 5 come under the aegis of the Ministry of Education. Primary Education: Pupils aged 5/6 to 11/12 Intakes : 5/6 year Fig: 3STrends in the Apparent and Net Intake Rates Fig. 4S Increases in Over & Under Aged in Caribbean Countries: Entrants in Grade 1 for Caribbean Countries: 1990/91 1997/98 1990/91 1997/98 Percentages 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 90/91 1995 97/98 Year AIR NIR Percent 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 90/91 1995 97/98 Year Source: Country Reports AIR: The total number of new entrants as a percentage of the official entry age population. NIR: The total number of new entrants of school entry age as a percentage of the official entry age population. 17. While for the first five years of the decade all Caribbean countries except one had a population of Grade 1 intakes more closely aligned to their stipulated school entry age populations, over the decade, there has been a widening of the gap between Net and Gross Intake ratios. This implies that decreasing numbers and proportions of children of the expected school entry age (Net) are entering Grade 1. In 1990/91, for 11 Caribbean countries for which there was consistent data available, this gap was 68.9%. In 1997/8, it increased to 105.1%. Over-aged (mainly) and underaged children are therefore being admitted into Year / Grade 1 in increasingly greater proportions. In two cases, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, gross enrolment ratios are high while both the gross and net intake ratios are low, indicating a possible beginning trend towards school refusal or entry into unregistered private schools with some later return to the public system. See Tables 2 A and 3 A in the statistical annex. Gross and Net Enrolment Ratios 18. If the Gross Enrolment ratios could be used to make an assessment, with one exception, universal primary education is a reality in Caribbean countries. Overall, enrolment is also stable and high (>90%). Over the decade of the 90 s, with the inclusion of Haiti, primary gross enrolment ratios showed an increase. However, for 11 countries together, without Haiti, GER ratios have decreased. This implies that lower proportions of children of whatever age are enrolled in primary schools. To give a picture of the magnitude of the problem, 2 countries, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, will be used as an illustration. If the data available are correct, then the enrolment figures for these two large islands represent the non-participation of some 66,100 children aged between 5 to 11 years in that year. See also Table 3 A in the Statistical Annex.

Figure : 5S Caribbean Countries : Gross Enrolment Ratios Primary Sector HAITI Gross Enrolment Ratio 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 1990/91 1995 1997/98 YEAR Figure: 6S Gross Enrolment Ratio 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Caribbean Average with Haiti 1990/91 1995 1997/98 YEAR Figure: 7S Caribbean Average without Haiti Gross Enrolment Ratio 110 105 100 95 90 85 1990/91 1995 1997/98 YEAR 19. With a belief in most countries that universal access had been achieved, much of the efforts have been focused on the quality aspects of systems. Cross-Cutting Concern 20. However, economic conditions created by structural adjustment in one country for which data were available seem to have had a very negative impact on maintaining desired levels of primary school enrolment. No study has been done to verify such a pattern in other countries.

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Figure : 8S Relationship Between the Economy and Primary School Enrolment (5-11 years) N. B. Note the synchrony between GDP, unemployment, migration and school enrolment rates. Expenditure 1984 1985 21. On the average, expenditure on primary education hovers between 3.0% to 4.0% of GNP and range from 15.3% to 65.6% of the total current expenditure on education. See Figure 9 S. By world standards 3.0% to 4.0% of GNP is considered low, but >50% of total education expenditure devoted to primary schooling is high and indicative of the felt level of importance of this school sector in Caribbean countries. Eight of the 22 Caribbean countries however invest less than 2% of GNP in primary level education. Cross Cutting Concern 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 N o. o f Em ig ran ts (000 s ) P rim ary Sc ho o l Enro lm ent Ratio (5-11 s ) GDP TT$ constant 1985 Unemployment Ratios 22. An important factor to note is the lack of correlation between high percentages of total current education expenditure on primary education or even high percentages GNP and high enrolment levels. The much stronger correlation is seen between (1)acceptably high primary level outcomes viz. the percentage of primary level graduates who master a set of nationally defined norms of academic performance (80% to 90%) and (2) a higher investment (7% education expenditure) in ECCE linked with 100% teachers at the primary education level academically and professionally qualified. Figure 9S Exp. in Pr. ED as % of Tot Exp on Ed (1997) 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 A & B BAR BEL Source: Country Reports BER Ja StK&N La Mont T&T T & C Haiti BVI Grenada Dominica

Teachers with academic qualifications 23. In 8 of the 19 countries reporting these data, 99% to 100% of the teachers had the required academic qualifications for teaching in 1997/8, and all except two countries, had increased their percentages of academically qualified teachers above the 1990 figure. Three countries, from time to time recruited teachers using criteria other than academic qualifications. Approximate across-the Caribbean averages at the beginning and end of the decade for 18 countries were: 1990= 74.6%; 1997/8 = 80.9%. Teachers with professional qualifications (Certified to teach) 24. Four countries operated throughout the decade with 99% to 100% teachers certified to teach. Nine others increased and five had a decrease in their percentage of professionally certified teachers. Over the decade there has been an apparent increase of 5.8% (69.1% in 1990/1 and 74.9% in 1997/98). Thirteen countries are still to meet their end of decade target of 80% teachers with professional certification. 25. There were decreases in the teacher/pupil ratio between 1990 and 1996 99 in 12 countries and increases in 6. In 1998, among the 18 countries reporting for that year, the median value was 1: 22. In 1990/91, it was 1 : 22.4. Box 3 Belize: Revision of Teacher Education using the Distance Education Mode One of the major objectives set for the teacher training component of Belize Primary Education Development Project (BPEDP) was: "Provide technical assistance to help introduce a new re-and-in-service training programme under which some700 primary school teachers would become professionally certified thereby increasing the percentage of certified teachers from 45% to 80% over the life of the project." To this end the programme at the college was appropriately restructured to stagger the previous two-year intramural programme followed by a third year of internship by having a Level 1 year for which those who complete are awarded a trained teachers certificate and an increase in salary. Level 1 graduates can then train in the Level 1 programme at a more advanced level after a period of practice. In a report relating to a World Bank supervisory mission (Sept. 8-17, 1998) the restructured programme is stated as being successful, having admitted 953 teachers at level 1 since 1990. Of 556 teachers who have completed the cycle 79% have fulfilled the requirements for level 1 certification. 343 are currently enrolled in the distance mode of Level 1 (1996, 1997, 1998 cohorts); 123 from the 1996 cohort graduated in 1999. The target of increasing the number of trained teachers from 45% to 80% has not been reached, the number having risen to just over 63% on an average. However, Corozal and Belize Districts have, shown a gain of having some 75% of their teachers trained. Other districts have shown a much lower level, but were even lower at the beginning of BPEDP in 1990. Source: Belize Country Report, 1999 26. The aims of promotion by readiness and mastery at each level have been implemented fully (2) or partially in 5 countries. Many are still locked into the system of automatic promotion. Automatic promotion is therefore still a feature of some education systems in the Caribbean and repetition rates are consequently low at between 1.5 and 5.7. Five countries had higher rates of between 6% and 26% in 1997. In most countries, repetition is considered a problem needing remediation. 27. Generally, repetition rates are higher among males than females throughout, reaching as high as twice as many males to females in some education districts in some countries.

28. The main factors put forward to explain high repetition and poor achievement rates are (1) poor reading skills and (2) the situation in which the language of instruction is not the (first) language of the child. Survival 29. With Gender Parity Indices of 1.0, both sexes seem to survive primary schooling equally well except for females in Suriname, Barbados and St. Lucia in some years of the decade. 30. Student survival in 1996 among the countries reporting varied between 72% and 100%. For Haiti, the figure was 55% and decreasing. What this means is that a sizeable proportion of those who begin participating in the primary schooling process never complete. For one country, this is 45% of the group; for others between 0% and 28%. Coefficient of Internal Efficiency 31. Over the decade, coefficient of internal efficiency values (quantitative summary of the consequences of repetition and drop-out on the efficiency of a system) both for up to Grade 5 and for all of primary schooling have decreased in the countries reporting. Values can however still be considered high at between 80 to 90 except for two countries which report values of 56.0 and 43.0 respectively. Maximum efficiency value is 100. Cross-Cutting Concern 33. Countries with low pupil/teacher ratios 20 and under (except Anguilla) and a full or nearly full complement of academically and professionally qualified teachers also had lower repetition, higher survival rates and a higher coefficient of efficiency. Teacher knowledge is the a critical issue. Percentages attaining some minimum standard 33. When compared with the percentages of children attaining some minimum level of achievement in Reading/ Writing and Mathematics, the internal efficiency data show that some 15% to 20% of students, each year, in all reporting countries, do not attain the desired achievement levels. The issue is therefore the number of students (15% to 20%), each year leaving without the necessary attainment levels. Table 3S Literacy Rates among 15+ (and GPI) in Caribbean Countries: 1990-1999 Countries Yea r Age Span Literate Total M F GPI Functional Literacy Absolute Literacy Bahamas 1995 98. 2 99 98 Belize 1996 75. 1 17. 3 7. 6 - Belizean Born 1996 79. 5 79. 3 79. 6 1. 0 - Belizean Foreign Born 1996 51. 3 52. 3 50. 2 1. 0 British Virgin Islands 1990 98. 0 Cayman Islands 1995 98. 0 Guyana 1998 97. 7 Jamaica 1994 > 15 75. 6 69. 4 81. 3 1. 2 St. Lucia 1990 15-24 54. 1 18. 7 27. 2 Netherland Antilles 1992 > 15 95. 6 95. 7 95. 5 1. 0 Trinidad & Tobago 1995 > 15 78. 0 12. 6 Source: EFA Country Reports 1999

Literacy 34. In the country reports and in two of the monographs received, literacy has been variably defined. Similarly there is no common ground in the modes of assessing and determining who is a literate person. It has therefore been impossible to make a reliable assessment of literacy in the Caribbean. There is therefore a clear need for a common study of literacy in the Caribbean in which terms are standardized. Only then will a true literacy assessment for the Caribbean subregion have meaning. 35. Additionally, low funding for adult and literacy education may be an indication that addressing the problem of illiteracy does not have high priority. Best Practices Each one teach one Literates to teach illiterates and vice versa since all have some knowledge they can share. Training in Essential Skills 36. In schools, many programmes have been put in place to increase students skills in literacy, oral expression, numeracy, problem-solving, ability to work and live together and improving the quality of their lives. Some of these are Lions Quest in Bonaire, Health and Family Life Education in Barbados and Turks and Caicos Islands, Cooperative Learning activities, Young Leaders Project and the activities of SERVOL in Trinidad and Tobago. However, except for the individual, positive oral assessment, no formal evaluation of the effects of such programmes on students lives is available. 37. Out of school programmes include Scouting, Cadets, Youth Parliament in the Netherlands Antilles, HEART and National Youth Services in Jamaica, the 4H in Belize, the vocational work with the National Training Board in Bermuda and SERVOL and YTEPP in Trinidad and Tobago. Programmes For Better Living 38. Overall, Caribbean countries have increased their use of the media (print and electronic), to increase the reach of education in many spheres. Barbados, for example, makes use of radio and an exposition for its Reading Festivals. The aims of these are to: encourage children to develop a love for reading help them recognize the importance of reading in everyday life make reading material more affordable show reading as an alternative recreational activity. St. Lucia increased its use of radio and television for story-telling and children s movies and radio for music programmes to Grades 1 and 2. Barbados used radio to improve Standard English usage. Like Trinidad and Tobago, the television was a medium for pertinent, focused, curriculum information through the ever popular school quiz. Results therefore indicate that much has been done to improve the lot of Caribbean children via education. There is however much more to be done both by way of being vigilant in maintaining gains and in increasing and improving quality inputs with an aim at higher levels of output. ISSUES Some issues necessarily arise. Some of these are: Methodological Countries were committed to the Education For All assessment and therefore devoted much of their resources to it. As a result a data set on education in the Caribbean now exists for any later analysis. Furthermore the ground work has been laid for conducting such assessments on a systematic basis.

However, the challenges in data acquisition and collation were many and critical, signaling an urgent need in Caribbean countries for greatly improved Data Management systems. Some of the related issues are: Unavailability of reliable and comparable quantitative and qualitative data both within countries and across the Caribbean: In some countries, there was either no or questionable data available. This was especially the case for data related to: early childhood repetition and promotion dropouts excluded children disabled/disadvantaged children. urban/ rural distribution literacy private primary schooling relevant population age groups disaggregation. Pre-Collation of raw data was also a problem. Data existed but country writers could not obtain these in the form required to respond to the questions dictated by the indicators. For example, some country reports could contribute only already analysed data. Original data needed for indicator formulae computations were by then no longer in existence Inconsistencies in data received:- Data quoted from the same source on exactly the same indicator in the same country report were in some cases different. The most frequent cases were differences between text and indicator tables data. Coordination of data and Access to data: Problems clearly exist within countries with respect to coordination across government departments. What emerged is the need for a system of co-ordination, to facilitate sharing data, to reduce respondent burden and to ensure that the data needs are taken into account. There may be need for an education statistics co-ordination body. The work of this body would include education concerns regarding population data needs between census years. With respect to the indicators, there is need for: Regional participation in international education indicator development to ensure relevance. There is also need to take a second look at: The pattern of assessing enrolment in age related cohorts puts less focus on individual differences and student learning than age-related grades. This pattern operates with an assumption of an average child. These cohorts therefore lock schools and students into paradigms of non-mastery as efficiency is targeted. Over aged and under aged cannot be the most important problem. If this is, then the more important readiness of the child for learning at a particular class level is missed. Data ought to be disaggregated so that attention can be given to equity concerns both for specific locations e.g. education districts and schools, also for individuals or groups within a population. viz. the poor, children with special needs. The definition of repetition in the Technical Guidelines (UNESCO, 1998 :17) needs to be revisited since it implies repetition in the year before it occurs. The following is suggested: Proportion of pupils enrolled in a given grade in a given school-year who studied in the same grade the preceding year. Within the indicator on expenditure, it would also be useful to add the percentage of the national budget allocated to education. A suggestion is being made to include the number and percentages of male teachers to females in the present look at the teacher variable in the system, especially with local research (Jules & Kutnick, 1998) indicating that 8 year old males ask for teachers to be more sensitive to their

needs and males 14 years and over indicating a preference for more male teachers. One aspect of the goals and targets was the provisions of interventions to ensure inclusion of the poor, disadvantaged and disabled. In order to measure system inclusiveness future methods of data gathering will need to program these into the indicators to discern achievement levels. Who, for instance are the students who reach the minimum attainment levels? Who are the ones who do not? Anguilla s Country Report indicates that those who do not are the children with special needs. The issue being raised is: Are our education systems developmental for all children or is a large percentage, possibly 20%+ of those who manage to be among the enrolled, being excluded through no fault of their own? Box 4 Pupil Performance: Anguilla Tests of standards were introduced in 1992 for classes 3, 5 and 6 in Language and Mathernatics, as a diagnosing tool, the outcomes of which, teachers will use to help pupils to enhance their performance. However a perusal of pupils' achievement suggests that at the national level pupils' performance has been consistently weak for the years under review. On the whole the impression given is that either minimal attention was given to the corrective aspect of the use of tests, or that the validity of the tests is questionable, in that pupils were tested in topics; which were not taught, or teachers do not know how to teach. On the whole the impression given is that either minimal attention was given to the corrective aspect of the use of tests, or that the validity of the tests is questionable, in that pupils were tested in topics; which were not taught, or teachers do not know how to teach. Should this process continue Anguilla will miss those opportunities offered by scientific and technical revolution for accelerating its progress toward cultural social and economic development. A report giving a detailed analysis of pupil performance is normally sent to schools. There is minimum follow, up/through activities for remedial action. Systems are now put in place for more guided supervision in schools, and greater collaboration officers. The major problems which the children face in Language Arts are with composition and creative writing. One explanation which was given for this is the transition from the use of dialect to the use of standard English which is proving to be far from automatic. We have mentioned earlier our Reading Recovery Programme which is aimed at helping our pupils. We are also considering the mounting of a research project in collaboration with other colleagues in the region to determine the key causes of the reading problem in the primary schools and the school-based factors which may be manipulated by the policy-makers with a view to improving performance in Reading. Consideration would be given to having the membership of any such research team include persons from the Department of Education teachers in primary schools, and experts from the three campuses of the University of the West Indies. Funding for this project could perhaps be linked to the Education Project which the British Development Division in the Caribbean is to fund for the OECS. Source: Anguilla s Country Report, 1999

PROPOSED GOALS Contextual Background: Most countries represented in the group have specialized statistical units within their Ministries of education (MOE) but for the most part (Jamaica notable exception) these units are under-manned, under financed and have limited access to the level of technology needed for a good, reliable and timely system. There also seems to be some dissonance between Central Statistical units and education statistical units. An example is the difficulty in getting population estimates disaggregated by region/ district/ parish etc. An inter-sectoral group to assist in clearing up discrepancies and which will devise and implement positive strategies to build partnership is recommended. Suggestions are that: Education statistics should be embedded in Education Management Information Systems (E.M.I.S). Wherever possible, UN (and other international) classifications should be used so that national, regional and international comparability would be possible Consideration be given to a regional approach to improving our systems viz. Develop a regional project for improving institutional capacity in the various territories There is need to incorporate components for improving the EMIS into any major education project. However, to be able to sustain these effects, a strong recommendation must be made to governments that adequate resources must be put into the effort to monitor the achievement of agreed upon objectives. With respect to data collection and analysis, initiate the development of databases in schools, ministries; countries, region; develop protocols and standards for confidentiality, security and intellectual property rights (as part of the school curriculum) across the region. UNESCO and other international agencies should communicate directly with those involved in the technical aspects of data collection, especially with respect to commitments (and their statistical impacts) made at the world conference. Training and continuous upgrading should be part of whatever is planned. Monitoring and evaluation should also be conducted on a regular basis. Proposed Target By 2002, to have Caribbean data management systems which meet the above criteria. Substantive Issues Early Childhood Care and Education Issues The authority and responsibility for the Day Care division of ECCE viz. the division that deals with the first three years of a child s life, the years during which the quality of stimulation provided accounts for so much of later human development, is outside the purview of Caribbean Ministries of Education. The approach to this area is therefore not necessarily an educational / developmental one. A switch of authority and responsibility, not necessarily to education only (e. g. Barbados) or a mutual sharing of this area with the current providers under a common board will go a long way towards achieving the set goals and targets for child development at this level. Given the importance of ECCE to individual development, especially the first three years, expenditure on education is not balanced. The lowest per capita expenditure within education is on ECCE, which according to all the new related research findings is the foundation on which all later learning is built. Yet that foundation is barely provided for. Lack of financial resources: For many of the reporting countries in the region, enrolment rates increased with no parallel increase in budget allocation. Where there was an increase in allocation, in some

instances, this too remained small and the lack of resources, either to teachers by way of improved salaries, or to curriculum implementation, by way of classroom materials, caused other problems. Low Early Childhood Care and Development enrolment. Only two reporting countries seem to have met their enrolment targets. All others are some distance away and a few have still to approach 50%, and this, in spite of much center building and refurbishing activities. The period birth to eight years has been accepted by Caribbean Governments as central to the current CARICOM Human Resource Development Strategy. The Caribbean Plan of Action 1997 2002 sets out the framework for development of early childhood care, education and development provisions. It is being proposed that that plan be revisited for activation. Emphasis would need to be focused on those government policies and provisions for the entire group but especially for the birth to three age group. Proposed Targets for Early Childhood Care and Development By 2002, all governments would have ADOPTED a policy for early childhood, deriving from the Caribbean Plan of Action for Early Childhood Education, Care and Development (1997 2002), and IMPLEMENTED a regulatory framework for provisions for children from birth to eight years with monitoring indicators to measure progress at 2 to 3 year intervals to 2015. All governments reallocate a greater proportion of their budget to support early childhood provisions to improve quality and access*: - - by 2002, to a minimum 5% of the Education budget. - by 2015, to a minimum 10% of the Education budget and make a complementary increase to the early childhood sector from all relevant ministries including health, housing, labour, social service and community development. *Quality and Access include: training, accreditation and certification of teachers and care-givers monitoring of standards for and evaluation of provisions development of curriculum programmes for children provision of conditions and incentives commensurate with those of other workers (e.g. primary teachers, social workers etc.) a pupil/teacher ratio in line with the needs of the age group data management system in use in planning and monitoring implementation of a programme to expand access to children at risk, including children with special needs. multimedia public education of pre-parents, parents and care-givers in-school programmes (HFLE) for pre-parents. co-ordination of unused funds from other programmes to meet needs of children in difficult circumstances. BASIC EDUCATION Definition: Basic Education is education from birth to secondary which provides the basic knowledge, skills, attitudes and values which are needed to be a productive, fully contributing citizen of the national community. Primary Education. Issues: Access/ Participation Access is generally not an issue in primary education except in some of the larger countries. The more urgent problem is use of the access provided. Dissonance between apparent and net intake rates. There is an increasing body of over-aged

pupils (especially males) registering for entry into the first grade at the primary level. All things being equal, minimally this is indicative of a second issue a problem of a lack of or poor preparation and readiness for schooling on the part of these pupils. This underscores the stated need for universalisation of appropriate ECCE programmes. Table 4S Approx. In school and out-of-school population in selected Caribbean countries (5/6 11/12 year olds). Countries Off. Age Group 5/6-12 Year Age Group S chool Population Out of School Pop. Bahamas 34,277 33,999 278 Dominica 11,970 11,614 356 Jamaica * 470,107 415,069 55,038 St. Kitts/Nevis 6,545 6,388 157 Suriname 73,034 72,050 984 Trinidad & Tobago 204,034 162,406 41,628 * 1996 Data (Last year for which data is available)! Private schools (with an enrolment of approx.7000) not included. Source: Country Reports. Another area of concern is the possibly large and in some countries, increasing numbers of outof-school children aged 5 to 11/12 years. See Table 4 S above. If the data given are incorrect, then the urgent need for functioning, relevant and up-to-date data management systems throughout the Caribbean is reinforced. However, if half of this number of young children are indeed out of school, then other issues are: How can they be included and brought back into the mainstream? To what extent are other social factors impacting on enrolment? What are the hidden costs of schooling and how can those at risk be cushioned? How can universal primary level enrolment be made sustainable? In the larger Caribbean countries such as Guyana and Suriname, access of rural children to primary education is affected by both geographic and social factors distance from school, lack of an adequate communication network, economic constraints linked to poverty and lack of parental motivation. More alarming in the short term though, is the possible alternatives these youth are pursuing. There is also a need to ensure participation of special children with special needs in primary education: especially the disabled, the gifted. Quality Teacher Qualifications and Training: The teacher input is critical to the successful implementation of any education plan. Therefore both their academic qualifications and their vocation for teaching should be criteria for recruitment. Poorly qualified teachers with total commitment cannot give students what they do not themselves have academically or what they do not know how to impart. A similarly vacuous state will exist with high levels of academic qualifications and no commitment. Present world circumstances indicate a need to increase qualifications for trained teachers beyond a diploma to a professional degree. Any programme of training should include content of subject areas as part of core, training in technology, pedagogy, human relations, social and intellectual skills such as: to know, to develop, to communicate, to live together.

Institutions should be structured and resourced to manage and make available this training. Ongoing professional development Use of Distance education for Pre and ongoing professional development. The example of Belize is instructive. Entry requirements into the teaching profession therefore need to be revisited to improve teacher quality, especially in terms of both academic preparation and vocational orientation. Trained teachers need greater motivation so that they would make higher levels of input into the teaching/ learning process. Working Conditions Separate classrooms Adequate resources, teaching tools to allow for active learning among students. Compulsory non-contact period Teacher rooms Compulsory sabbatical Support Mechanisms Instruments of teacher appraisal Ongoing in-school support mechanisms for continuous up-to-date professional development Compensation Commensurate with qualifications Need to have established career paths. Minimum entry requirements for any teacher whether ECCE or primary should be a first degree The employer should seek to develop medical plans, the cost of which is shared with the employee. Internal Efficiency/ Student Mastery According to the data, some 15% to 20% of students annually do not attain minimum competencies in Reading/ Writing and Mathematics. Two country reports indicate the system-wide tendency to blame children and their families rather than their school experiences for poor performance. The challenge seems to be for school personnel to identify weaknesses in students before these escalate. With respect to male/ female performance in these competency areas, two countries report Gender Parity Indices. In one case, the index varies between 1.1 and 1.2. A higher percentage of females therefore reach the competency levels than males. Many other countries indicate similarly in the text of their reports. In the second case, the index is a constant 1.0. Both sexes perform equally well. In the first system, promotion is automatic. In the second, promotion is by achievement only. In spite of the fact that these are only two cases, is it possible that promotion by achievement may be the key practice. Continuous assessment of students in key areas to determine each individual s level of mastery throughout the cycle at both national and regional levels is seen as vital to upgrading students competencies, reducing repetition, increasing survival rates. This practice is already an aim written into many of the region s education plans. The problem is therefore one of implementation. Finance A significant proportion of recurrent expenditure is spent on salaries. There is need to increase levels of financing and/or reallocate financial resources investing more in materials and teaching supplies non-salary allocations. Gender Significantly more female teachers than males now exist in schools. Primary education may be made more attractive for males in order to provide mentorship for male students. Relatively lower performance accounts for higher repetition rates among boys than girls. Girls continue to perform persistently better than boys.

Education is not perceived as the means to upward social and economic mobility, especially for boys. Dropouts engage primarily in economic activity paid labour. Programmes The need is to diversify school programmes so that more students will find them relevant and within their interests and capabilities (multiple intelligences?). Violence Promote schools as non-violent environments. Goal: Universal sustained quality primary education Proposed Targets: By 2005, all children of primary school age (boys as well as girls) will be enrolled in primary school or its equivalent. A cadre of trained field officers, as is used now in Jamaica, may be necessary to identify and include all children. By 2005, have curriculum that is relevant and coheres from level to level. By 2005, nationwide, by district and gender, reduce repetition rate by 5%. By 2005, increase the percentage of students, males and females who achieve some pre-set norms. By 2 005, develop in each school information resource centres so that information is readily available to all children. By 2005, modify/ re-orient teacher training programmes to reflect current emerging issues in information, knowledge creation and technology in education. By 2005, at least 80% primary teachers will be professionally trained. By 2005, the compensation provided teachers is on par with their professional responsibilities. By 2005, adequate support mechanisms/services would be available to facilitate their teaching and student learning. By 2005, the school environment would be student and teacher friendly. By 2005, school management, through curriculum interventions would deliberately target nonviolence or the promotion of social skills, chief amon g which is conflict resolution. Secondary Education Issues Access/ Participation Major concern is accelerating access and participation to reach universal or near universal proportions. For Haiti, there is need to significantly increase access to secondary education. The issue is a combination of both lack of physical capacity and the increased demand for secondary education. Programme Quality of output: the high failure rate and low levels of pupil achievement seem not to reflect the investment in education Teaching strategies should include an emphasis/ extension of TV/ E.T. provisions in school. There seems also a need for a broad based curriculum with a focus on character building, life skills, survival skills (HFLE) Information Technology must be an area of key focus. Both teachers and students would need training in technology to meet the demands of the rapidly changing world environment. Enrolment/ Participation Ratios These have to be accurately determined especially in the context of low levels of access in hinterlands and rural communities.

Internal Efficiency Automatic promotion as a policy needs to be revisited. Emphasis should be placed on the attainment of minimum standards by all learners at all grade levels. Focus should be on intervention, differential instruction, alternative assessment and remediation. Reading levels, entry level preparedness should also be an area of concern and focus. Proposed Goals with a target date of 2005: Primary and Secondary: Establish national and regional minimum competency standards for primary education. Assess at national and regional levels, the competency levels of students to determine the extent of coverage i.e. mastery of curriculum goals and the level of achievement within the cycles of education. Based on literacy and occupation imperatives, improve performance levels of students at secondary level within pre-determined subject variety clusters. Establish monitoring mechanisms to ensure participation of children viz. continuously evaluate school data against demographic data. By 2001, Health and Family Life Education programmes, agreed to at the level of CARICOM will be implemented for this level. Literacy CARICOM is in the process of developing instruments to measure achievement norms at the primary level in Language Arts (including reading) and Mathematics. This project would need to take on board the identified Caribbean-specific needs for the development of both a set of common regional definitions and instruments for reliable measurement of literacy/ literacies. Issues Definition of Literacy Need for common reliable measurement instruments A need to ensure in-school basic literacy especially among males The demands of the era reveal a need for individuals to have various literacies, technological literacy being one such area. Seeming lack of Governments recognition of the severity of the problem of illiteracy in countries in the region and its impact on national and regional development. Proposed Goals and Targets: The need in all literacy goals is immediate. It is therefore recommended that by the year 2001: a) across the region, there will be a common definition of literacy and associated terms e.g. functional literacy, semi-literate, absolute illiteracy, peripherally literate b) These definitions will: respect the first language of the individuals be sensitive to the modes of communication of the language c) a common regional instrument for measuring literacy at points within and without the system will be identified / produced. d) a programme aimed at enabling individuals to acquire the language of technology in order to become efficient users of technology in the home, workplaces, school and the wider community should be established. e) through research, the Governments of the region would be sensitized to the extent of the problem of illiteracy in the region and its impact on the education system and the society at large.

Cross Cutting Issues Related to Basic Education Information Technology Proposed Goals and Targets By 2015: a. Regional Connectivity: By the year 2015: All students must have access to a current, appropriate or emerging I.C.T. systems. All children must have equitable access to computers and other technologies. b. Online Classroom: Teachers must have access to the tools that will allow them to use I.C.T. as an integral part of the planning, teaching and learning processes. All teachers and teacher trainers should be trained to integrate the use of I.C.T. within the learning process. The education system of each country must facilitate collaboration among teachers training institutions of the region to harmonize the capacities and integrate the use of I.C.T. within the learning process. Development of protocols and standards for the production and delivery of I.C.T. in ensuring quality control and cultural relevance c. Global sharing Develop collaborative opportunities (example: UNESCO A.S.P. International Globe project) for teachers and students. Example: lesson sharing, research, communication. Facilitate local, regional and international projects. d. Administration and Management: Classroom management/ School management/ ministerial management systems and communication desk practices of educators. e. Software culturally relevant software. Locally develop and use culturally relevant software that students and teachers see as functional and sustainable. f. EFA Developing the potential of the individual. Technological freedom-of-use by students through the availability of instant access to ready data/ information, both in texts and on line.. g. Promote equitable access to I.C.T. h. Increase earning potential and opportunities through the acquisition of information skills Financing Education Issues: Given that governments have been the major partners in financing education and have commitments to other sectors, the following are recommended: Identification of indicators of quality education at each level. Costing of the efforts required to meet these indicators. The cost should be established for producing the minimum level of achievement at each level for each child.

Priorities should be established within levels and across levels which priorities should inform the percentage of the education budget allocated to each level. A critical issue to be addressed is equality of access. The education policy should require the determination of the amount of resources needed in each district to enable each school to offer the same quality of education in terms of quality of teachers, number of teachers and teaching materials, classroom facilities and other factors that would impact on quality education. Budgets should be prepared based on programme budgeting. i.e. Budgets determined by plans and not plans determined by budgets. These plans should be long-term, medium-term and short-term. The plans should also set out a long term partnership contract in the provision of education involving governments, NGOs, private sector and parents. Special attention should be paid to increasing funding to early childhood education through government subsidies. These subsidies should be made available to parents and children with special needs and who are disadvantaged. Funding to early childhood education should include a regulatory frame work of setting and monitoring of standards and determination of curriculum. Having established total budget, the amount to be provided by government should be determined. Governments contribution to basic education should be no less than 6% of GDP. The short fall in financing should be made up as follows: Reduction of expenditure through improved efficiency. Provisions by partners, e.g. NGO, Private sector and parents. Special provisions should be able to ensure that the poor and disadvantaged are not excluded. The partnership should include monitoring to ensure greater accountability for funds. Proposed Goal: Adequate resourcing to provide sustained, quality universal basic education by 2015. Training in Essential Skills for Adults and out-of-school youth Issue Government, community groups and NGO s designed numerous courses aimed at developing essential skills and better living for people of all ages. However, aside from the occasional qualitative individual statement there is need for sustained and/or systematic evaluation of these programs to assess their effectiveness. Proposed Goal and Target It is recommended that by 2002, clear criteria and instruments be produced and used for assessing programme impacts, whether these programmes be in school or out-of-school. Education for Adults and out-of-school Youth. Adult education denotes the entire body of ongoing learning processes, formal or otherwise, whereby people regarded as adults by the society to which they belong develop their abilities, enrich their knowledge, and improve their technical or professional qualifications, or turn them in a new direction to meet their own needs and those of their society. Adult learning encompasses both formal and continuing education, non-formal learning and the spectrum of informal and incidental learning available in a multicultural learning society, where theory- and practice-based approaches are recognized (p.1). CONFINTEA V Declaration (1997). 1. It is recommended therefore that the term used should be adult learning which is consistent with the concept of putting the learner as: the centre of the learning process taking responsibility for his/her own learning.

2. The outcomes of adult learning contain elements of the CARICOM Heads of Governments Ideal Caribbean Person but with the inclusion of all Caribbean persons having a Caribbean commitment. There is also the need to move to a concept of lifelong learning especially with regards to the out-of-school youth. 3. With an understanding of the scope and concept of adult learning and its linkages to personal, national and regional development, policies and strategic action plans have a logical coherence from Early Childhood to Adulthood. 4. The Ministry of Education co-ordinate activities in Adult learning. 5. Health and Family life Education programmes be approved and implemented as soon as possible across the wider population involving all institutions e.g. media, church, service groups etc. 6. Learners should be educated to understand the importance of making a contribution to their own learning, but where not financially possible, private sector contributions should be sought. Through advocacy, these individuals should be thoroughly sensitized to the benefits of an educated workforce. CHALLENGES TO EDUCATION IN THE NEW DECADE The challenges facing education via schooling in the Caribbean in the new decade are many. Some of those identified from the findings of the Caribbean sub-regional study assessing education during the decade of the 90 s are: 1. The need to plan and implement with sustainability as a vital part of the process. The Caribbean made gains in enrolment and child participation in school early in the 90 s. These gains were not sustained because of probable assumptions about people s expectations about schooling. The result was as expected. There were losses/decreases in universalization gains made. The lessons emerging from this is the need for vigilance; the need to ensure sustainability when gains are achieved so that movement can be made to the next rung. 2. The need for increased and maintained quality inputs and through-puts. Similarly too for children who achieved some pre-set norms. The proportions of these so doing were in most cases always 15% to 20% lower than the proportion of children completing school. This is indicative of inefficiencies in the system and in a way, a waste of the people resource in terms of teachers time and students maximization of their potential. The correlation found between (1) children having some ECCE experience and hopefully, the preparation for later learning this fosters, (2) the higher percentage of the education budget spent on ECCE, (3) the lower primary level teacher-pupil ratios, (4) the higher proportions of academically and professionally qualified teachers and (5) the higher percentages of children achieving some preset norms, speak volumes for the need for more quality inputs in all these forms. While universalization must remain a target, all these efforts will be less meaningful unless the quality aspects of the schooling experience are addressed. 3. In order for the Caribbean to keep up with current globalisation needs, we need to develop people who are self-learners, who take responsibility for their learning and who themselves know how to create knowledge. To bring the child into the 21 st century, in a period of knowledge creation, demands that one learns to take responsibility for one s learning, knowing how and where to acquire information and most important of all having that information readily available, either in libraries or the school s resource centres, on-line or otherwise. Schools must therefore be centres where these are possible. As they exist now, the teacher, frequently with little academic qualifications, has to meet the child s information needs, and this is frequently impossible. 4. A literate people and a literate society must be an imperative in an information age. Illiteracy remains a shadowy, almost unknown factor on the Caribbean education landscape in the information age. Where it exists, it has been found to be an outcome of early school curriculum incoherence and automatic promotion patterns. No society can progress if its people are illiterate, whether it be a minority group or otherwise. Literacy is therefore an imperative both for the people and the society as a whole.

5. Training in Essential Skills Learning through and beyond the academics both for personal development and sustainability is yet another challenge in Caribbean education. In a world where lifestyle trends are the major causes of morbidity and death, the need for continuing education in this area is no longer disputed. 6. Universalization of basic education, however it may be defined, has to be the most important challenge. According to the data and according to those in the field, those thousands out of school are more a reality than it is comfortable to believe. The reasons for their non-participation are many and varied, but the chief among them is that schooling costs. The poor, disadvantaged, disabled, all those at risk of choosing school refusal, whether parent or child, have to be helped not to make that choice. 7. Data Management systems need to be upgraded and made relevant. Many of the set backs revealed in the results may have been avoided or re-managed if timely data were available to policy makers, planners and implementers. Education systems implementing the universalisation of primary level and mass secondary education are involved in end of the 20th and beginning of 21 st century activities. These were only imaginable because the technology to make all aspects of their functioning possible was also imaginable. Today both are realities; but for education and the achievement of its related goals, only a symbiotic possibility. 8. A Human Development Focus to Schooling Traditionally in education systems, there has been a direct relationship between the age group of the student and the level of funding provided to the group. This relationship can be taken as an indication of the importance given to the particular group. For the very young, (Day Care and Pre Primary) therefore, the funding per child is generally less than half that provided for the child at the primary level. Similarly those at the secondary level, receive more than twice as much as that of the child at the primary level. This focus and this perception of the age group has had as long a history as-row-by-row classroom seating. However, in the last 2 decades there has been a literal explosion of knowledge on human development especially within brain research and intellectual functioning. This research has shown that the foundation for brain potential in an individual is cast during the years 0 3. Education systems therefore need to review the age related perspectives they now hold and fortify learning systems for the young so that each individual could really maximize potential. Without such a shift in focus, improvements in learning achievements will be long in coming.

References Andrew, M.D., Jones, V., and Lockhart, A. (1999). Commonwealth of Dominica Country Report. Roseau: Education Planning Unit Ministry of Education, Sports & Youth Affairs. Unpublished. Beckles, R. (1999). Education For All in The Caribbean Assessment 2000 of the Cayman Islands for UNESCO. George Town: Education Department. Unpublished. Charles, L. (1999). Subregional Report for the Caribbean Region on the Early Childhood Education Care and Development Component. UNICEF Unpublished. Christopher, J.T. (1999). Bermuda Education For All 2000. Hamilton: Ministry of Education. Unpublished. CONFINTEA V. (1997) Fifth International Conference on Adult Education. Department of Education, Division of Consultancy, Research and Planning. (1999). Country Report Netherlands Antilles, Education For All 2000. Willemstad: Unpublished. Ministry of Education. (1999). Education For All in the Caribbean: Assessment 2000, Country Report Anguilla. Charlestown: Unpublished. Ministry of Education. (1999). Education For All in the Caribbean: Assessment 2000, Country Report Antigua and Barbuda. St. John s: Unpublished. Ministry of Health, Education, Youth, Sports & Women s Affairs. (1999). Education For All Country Paper Turks And Caicos Islands. Grand Turk: Unpublished. Government of the British Virgin Islands Department of Education & Culture. (1999). UNESCO Education For All (EFA) in the Caribbean: Assessment 2000, The British Virgin Islands EFA Assessment Report. Unpublished. Jennings, Z. (1999). For The Phoenix To Rise. EFA In The Caribbean: Assessment 2000, Monograph Series, UNESCO. Unpublished. Jules, V., Pargass, G. & Sharpe, J. (1998). A Situation Analysis of Children and Their Families in Trinidad and Tobago. UNICEF Unpublished. Jules, V., (1992), Cooperative Learning: Student Perceptions of the Changing Structure of Learning, Contemporary Education, LXIII, No. 3, Spring, 191 194. Jules, V and Kutnick, P. (1998). Students Perceptions of a Good Teacher: a Gender Perspective. British Journal of Educational Psycology. 67 (479 511). Educational Planning Division Ministry of Education (1999). Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Education For All 2000 National Report St. Clair: Unpublished. Matthew, J. R. (1999). Education For All; in the Caribbean: Assesment 2000 St. Kitts and Nevis. Bassetere: Unpublished. Miller, E. (1997). Education for All in the Caribbean: A Mid-Decade Review. Caribbean Journal of Education, 19 (1), 1 35. Miller, E. (1999). Education for All in the Caribbean: An End of Decade Review. Kingston: Unpublished. Ministry of Education. (1999). Bahamas EFA Country Report. Nassau: Unpublished. Ministry of Education. (1999). Education For All in the Caribbean: Assessment 2000 Country Report: Belize. Belmopan: Unpublished.

Ministry of Education. (1999). Suriname EFA Country Report. Paramaribo: Unpublished. Ministry of Education & Culture (1999). Education For All Assessment 2000 Jamaica Country Report. Kingston: Unpublished. Ministry of Education, Health & Community Services. (1999). Education for All Assessment Country Report for Montserrat. Plymouth: Unpublished. Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports (MENJS). (1999). Education For All 2000 Assessment (EFA 2000) Haiti Country Report. Port Au Prince: Unpublished. St. Bernard, G. and Salim, C. (1995), Adult Literacy in Trinidad and Tobago. St. Augustine: I.S.E.R., U.W.I. Shorey, L.L. (1999). Education For All, The Year 2000 Assessment, Barbados Report. Bridgetown: Unpublished. Stuart, T. (1999). Final Report EFA 2000 Assessment Guyana. Georgetown: Unpublished. The Corporate Planning Unit Ministry of Education Human Resource Development, Youth and Sports. (1999). Education For All (EFA) Assessment, Saint Lucia Report. Castries: Unpublished.

ANNEX A RATIONALE If you want one year of prosperity, plant a crop! If you want ten years of prosperity, plant trees! If you want one hundred years of prosperity, plant people! Old Chinese Proverb Education is empowerment. It is the key to establishing and reinforcing democracy, to development which is both sustainable and humane and to peace founded upon mutual respect and social justice. Indeed, in a world in which creativity and knowledge play an ever greater role, the right education is nothing less than the right to participate in the life of the modern world. UNESCO (1996:8). With a similar, perhaps older, shared belief in the promise of education, and with a will to make that promise real both to the individual and the nation, Caribbean countries have invested and continue to invest heavily in education. Such investments have of necessity been accompanied from time to time by assessments of the measure to which the goals and targets that have been set, have been met and/or, in an environment of continuous change, remain relevant. The belief in the promise of education is so widely shared by peoples worldwide that representatives from some 155 countries gathered at Jomtien, Thailand at the World Conference on Education For All in 1990, all seeking answers to their own and to worldwide problems on education. This conference was the world s response to a growing widespread concern over the inadequacy and deterioration of education systems during the 1980s, and over the millions of children and adults who remain illiterate and poorly prepared for life (UNESCO, 1996). At the end of the world conference, all countries present pledged to work towards achievement of set, agreed-upon goals and targets by the year 2000. Since then (1990), efforts have been made to monitor the progress made in countries worldwide and in 1995, a mid-decade review of achievements was done. The Caribbean subregion was a participant as part of the larger Latin American region. Engagement in the 1990 and 1995 exercises therefore sets clear precedent for Caribbean participation in the next step - EFA Assessment 2000. So too does its pledge among the 155 nations in 1990 to enhance education conditions for its people. As part of as large a body as the world group however, one s specific contextual challenges and concerns could become lost. The Caribbean, as one unit, therefore needs to refocus on its own journey to its present position as it seeks to assess its achievement of a set of goals and targets, common not only to itself but also to all countries of the world. The Caribbean region, considered by most outside the region to be third world or developing country, benefits from a generous supply of international lending and sponsoring agencies, all of whom set conditions on whatever they are about to lend or contribute and especially on education policies and practices. As well, there is the regional body CARICOM, which brings relevant top officials of each country together, attempting thereby to set guidelines for a common enhanced vision for dealing with a world in which small is not a benefit. Additionally, each country knows its own concerns and challenges and has its own vision for its people and therefore for its education system. A main challenge in the Caribbean region over the last two decades has therefore been threading all these interests and directives into a common seam. The challenge has not been beyond the region s capacity. Miller s mid-decade review gives much of a background to the process that is evidence of the region s capability. The countries of the Caribbean region, in spite of individual country differences, recognizing their many commonalities and the value of advocacy strength in presenting a single voice in a world forum on education set for 1990, met in Kingston in November, 1989. Miller (1997) indicates that a 20 point submission (summarized) of Caribbean concerns was one outcome of this Caribbean Consultation. At the world conference in Jomtien, the Caribbean delegation as a unit argued the need for the inclusion of its concerns in the final declaration and framework for action. (Miller, 1997: 1). These were the concerns: 1. The Caribbean welcomes and endorses the initiative taken by the Inter-Agency Commission to promote EFA. 2. The Declaration and Framework should acknowledge past efforts and achievements. While

Caribbean states are small, allegedly developing, and still have a lot to learn, their peoples are nevertheless proud of their accomplishments and feel that in the area of basic education they have experiences and expertise to share as well as to receive. 3. Recognition must be given to the link between human resource development generally, and education in particular, and the adverse effects of structural adjustment polices of international agencies and donor institutions, debt and debt servicing obligations, and adverse trade relations. 4. The absence of the International Monetary Fund as a partner and participant in EFA is regrettable in the light of their pivotal role in the formulation of fiscal policy in Third World countries. 5. The key role of parents, teachers and the children themselves must be explicitly expressed and highlighted, since they are the target group of EFA. 6. The relationship between health and nutrition and their relation to education, especially to that of young children, must be explicitly addressed as preconditions for effective education. 7. The learning needs of special children, including the gifted, need to be specifically recognized as an important element of EFA. 8. While recognizing that in many parts of the world it is girls and women that are denied access to basic education, in the Caribbean it is men and boys that have fallen behind. This issue is therefore more appropriately approached as gender equity, for it to be applicable in the Caribbean. 9. Bearing in mind the special importance of teachers in providing basic education, more attention should be paid to their education and training, recognition, remuneration, motivation, and retention. 10. The significance and potential of modern information and communication technology in education of children, youths, and adults should be recognized and emphasized, especially since their application would increase the scope, outreach, and effectiveness of basic education. 11. The scope of basic education in the draft documents appears narrow and needs to be broadened to include science, computer literacy, knowledge of self and others, moral and ethical evaluation, and recreational skills. 12. The draft documents give the impression that basic education is viewed largely as a terminal process and is restricted largely to primary education. Basic education needs to be redefined to include secondary education. 13. The concept of education expressed in the draft is somewhat static because of its lack of both a dynamic and developmental perspective. EFA must contribute to coping with the dynamic processes of rapid technological advancement, staggering political changes, exponential growth in knowledge, and the increasing obsolescence of some skills. 14. The new vision proclaimed by the documents is not readily discernible. To make this vision clear, some discussion of the role of education in the future of human society is essential. 15. While the agencies sponsoring the World Conference have urged governments and NGOs to develop policies, plans, and programmes, they have avoided committing themselves to any policy, even a draft. This gives the impression that these agencies are seeking to stimulate countries and organizations to undertake a task to which they themselves are unwilling to make outright commitments. 16. Three UN Development Decades have passed while disparity between the developed and the developing countries has been increasing. To assert that the Fourth Development Decade (1990-1999) provides a meaningful time to make a commitment to provide EFA is inadequate. What is needed is a commitment in the Fourth Development Decade to address the increasing disparities in the world. EFA could be one such mechanism. 17. The scope and targets of the documents will generate higher expectations among the peoples of the signatory countries. Caribbean countries have reached the limit of their capacity to provide resources for education, hence generating new resources from within the countries is a tall order. External assistance through redistribution from the rich countries will be critical to implementation. 18. The timetable proposed in the Framework for Action appears unrealistic. The long-term commitment to EFA of the Declaration appears out of sync with the time lines of the Framework for Action. 19. In monitoring the global arrangements for EFA, a new layer of international bureaucracy should be avoided. 20. The legal technicalities of the agencies sponsoring the World Conference excluded from the consultative process Caribbean countries like Montserrat, which are normally part of education forums in the region. EFA is no less important to dependencies than to sovereign countries (Miller, 1997: 2-4). Miller (1997) further reported that When the final documents emerging for the World conference were analysed, the Caribbean concerns that were not addressed in some form were:

The inclusion of the International Monetary Fund as a participant in EFA. The representation of gender disparity as equity as opposed to greater access to women and girls to basic education. A more realistic time for implementation in the Framework for Action. The legal technicalities that prevented the participation of some Caribbean countries in the EFA process. (Miller, 1997:4). He summarized the Caribbean contribution to the World Conference and its documents, which he characterised as support salted with scepticism on some issues as: Full support and acceptance of the spirit and goals of EFA. Pride in what the region has achieved in EFA in its immediate past. Discomfort with some of the formulations that appeared in the draft document coming from the agencies. Reservations about the depth of the commitment of the agencies sponsoring the process. Concern that many structural issues related to debt and debt servicing, imbalances in international trade, increasing disparity between rich and poor countries, monetary policies and their adverse effects on education, and the ineffectiveness of the so-called Development Decades were not being factored into the equations for EFA. Disagreement with the timetable set for implementation and the technicalities that excluded some Caribbean countries from participating in the EFA process.(miller, 1997:4). In the end, the countries of the Caribbean sub-region, like all other countries at the World Conference on education at Jomtien, Thailand in 1990 agreed to work within the framework of the following six targets and goals. - Expansion of early childhood care and developmental activities, including family and community interventions, especially for the poor, disadvantaged and disabled children; - Universal access to and completion of primary education by the year 2000; - Improvements in learning achievement based on agreed-upon percentages of an age group; - Reduction of the adult illiteracy rate to half its 1990 level by the year 2000, with special emphasis on female literacy; - Expansion of the basic education and training for youths and adults; - Improvement in dissemination of knowledge, skills and values required for better living and sustainable development. Miller (1997:13), in the mid-decade review, indicated that reform in the various Caribbean countries shared many similarities and themes. These were: 1. Improving the quality of primary education. 2. Modernizing schools and classrooms through wider use of technology. 3. Rationalizing secondary education through curriculum reform of the early grades, restructuring admission and promotion procedures, and providing greater career guidance. 4. Expanding tertiary education, including the use of the distance education modality, and linking this level of education more closely to labour force demands, especially in the priority economic sectors, namely, tourism and hospitality services, financial services, light manufacturing, and agroindustry. 5. Increasing and improving foreign language teaching at the secondary and tertiary levels and linking these to the global market-place and tourism. 6. Improving the status, salary, and training of teachers. 7. Restructuring the financing of education to increase cost effectiveness and include cost recovery, cost sharing, and special taxes to meet educational expenditure. 8. Introducing various value-oriented projects and materials to influence character formation, promote conflict resolution, and influence the development of wholesome and positive attitudes. 9. Improving the management of schools by greater involvement of communities and parents and more accountability measures for schools and teachers. 10. Promoting greater partnership with the state in the delivery of education. 11. Strengthening and expanding non-formal education programmes for youths and adults, including literacy programmes. And from his assessment the goals and targets that almost all Caribbean countries have set themselves for the year 2000 can be identified as follows:

1. Improving and upgrading the physical plants of existing primary schools and building new schools based on modern specifications in new areas of population concentration. 2. Expanding access to children with special needs. 3. Improving learning efficiency through provision of textbooks, curriculum reforms, monitoring of achievement through supply of teaching and learning materials. 4. Expanding early childhood education to cover almost the entire pre-school population over age 3 to 4 years or 5 years. 5. Expanding opportunities for youth and adults to advance their education through programmes offering literacy training, skills training, and continuing education leading to formal educational qualifications. 6. Modernizing instruction and administration in schools, through the use of modern information technology and telecommunications. 7. Upgrading and retaining teachers through expanded opportunities for teacher education through initial and continuing education programmes, better remuneration, and a more satisfying career path in the profession. The final two address the more specific concerns of the Caribbean. Another major concern was the conditionalities set by lending and sponsoring agencies such as the IMF and the World Bank. The hope was that these conditionalities would also speak to the goals and targets set both by the world body and the regional group. The 1995 review indicated that since Jomtien, much effort and resources have been put into education by Caribbean countries and there have been many achievements. This decade review, in hand, also seeks to identify the achievements and projections. Additionally, based on the individual country reports and the recommendations coming out of these, common issues would be raised all in the light of how countries of the Caribbean see themselves in a world in which creativity and knowledge creation are the currencies in which education and schooling have to constantly refocus in order to remain relevant and the delivery efficient.

ANNEX B STATISTICAL ANNEX Table 1A Population numbers in Caribbean Countries C ountries Total Population Anguilla 11,510 Antigua & Barbuda 62,246 Aruba 68,675 Bahamas 283,705 Barbados 259,191 Belize 235,789 Bermuda 62,472 British Virgin Islands 19,156 Cayman Islands 39,335 Dominica 64,881 Grenada 97,008 Guyana 705,156 Haiti 6,884,264 Jamaica 2,652,443 Montserrat 12,853 Netherland Antilles 207,827 St. Kitts & Nevis 42,838 St. Lucia 154,020 St. Vincent & The Grenadines 120,519 Suriname 431,156 Trinidad & Tobago 1,102,096 Turks & Caicos Islands 16,863 Caribbean Region 13,534,003

1990/91 Countries Total New Entrants New Entrants of Ent. Age School Ent. Age Off. Pop AIR NIR Bahamas 5,225 5,225 5,225 5,225 100 Barbados 4,428 4,428 4,428 4,428 97. 9 Bermuda 896 896 896 896 100 D ominica 1,699 1,191 1,712 99.2 69.6 G renada 2,931 2,048 2,771 105.8 73.9 Haiti 214,052 33,745 177,470 120. 6 19. 0 Jamaica 55,516 41,082 54,500 135. 1 75. 4 St. Kitts & Nevis 1,122 961 949 118. 2 101. 3 Netherland Antilles 2,744 1,853 2,900 94. 6 63. 9 Suriname 9,140 9,140 13,904 65. 7 65. 7 T rinidad & Tobago 25,919 20,322 30,053 86. 2 67. 6 Totals/Average 323,672 120,891 294.904 109. 8 40. 9 1999 Estimate Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, International Data Base. 1998 Data Pre-Primary and Basic Education Population for 1996 1997 Data µ Basic Education Population for 1998 Table 2A Trends in Gross and Net Intake Rate in Caribbean Countries

1995 Countries Total New Entrants New Entrants of Ent. Age School Ent. Age Off. Pop AIR NIR Bahamas 5,728 5,728 5,728 100 100 Barbados 4,285 4,285 4,285 111. 9 111. 9 Bermuda 889 889 889 100 100 Dominica 1,789 1,561 1,676 106. 7 93. 1 Grenada 2,502 1,615 2,345 106. 7 68. 9 Haiti 327,493 55,497 195,078 167. 9 28. 4 Jamaica 52,438 39,153 52,191 100. 5 75. 0 St. Kitts & Nevis - - - - - Netherland Antilles 326 222 318 102. 5 69. 8 Suriname 14,328 13,175 * 15,797 * 90. 7 83. 4 Trinidad & Tobago 22,702 16,718 30,452 74. 6 54. 9 Totals/Average 432,480 138,843 308,303 140. 3 45. 0 1997/98 Countries Total New Entrants New Entrants of Ent. Age School Ent. Age Off. Pop AIR NIR Bahamas 5,667 5,667 5,667 100 100 Barbados 4,174 4,174 3,944 104. 5 104. 5 Bermuda 946 946 946 100 100 Dominica 1,924 1,718 1,782 108. 0 96. 4 Grenada 2,635 1,643 2,336 112. 8 70. 3 Haiti 382,746 67,552 207,532 184. 4 32. 6 J amaica 52,052 38,784 51,766 134.2 79.9 St. Kitts & Nevis 905 880 976 92. 7 90. 2 Netherland Antilles 420 330 303 138. 6 108. 9 Suriname 13,488 11,869 14,671 91. 9 80. 9 Trinidad & Tobago 20,648 15,091 30,606 67. 5 49. 3 Totals/Average 485,605 148,664 320,579 151. 5 46. 4 Source: Country Reports

Table 3A Apparent and Net Intake Rates in Haiti Totals/Average ( without Haiti) Total New Ents. New Ents. of Ents. Age School Ent. Age Off. Pop AIR NIR Total New Ents. New Ents. of Ents. Age School Ent. Age Off. Pop AIR NIR Total New Ents. New Ents. of Ents. Age School Ent. Age Off. Pop 109,62 87,146 117,434 93. 3 74. 2 104,987 83,346 113,225 92. 7 73. 6 102,859 81,112 113,047 91.98 71. 8 AIR NIR

1997 Countries Total Pop. School Pop GER Bahamas 34,277 33,999 99. 2 Barbados 27,565 27,910 101. 3 Belize 52,450 53,118 101. 3 Bermuda 6,125 6,125 100. 0 Cayman Islands 3,077 3,415 111. 0 Dominica 11,970 11,614 97. 0 Grenada 17,857 22,286 124. 8 Haiti * 1,178,990 1,485,722 126. 0 S t. Kitts & Nevis 6,545 6,388 97. 6 Netherland Antilles 21,162 23,584 111. 4 Suriname * 73,034 72,050 98. 7 T rinidad & Tobago 204,034 º 162,406 º 79. 6 Totals/Average 1,637,086 1,908,617 116. 6

Table 4 A Caribbean Countries : Gross Enrolment Ratios Primary Sector 1997 Countries Total Pop. School Pop GER Bahamas 34,277 33,999 99. 2 Barbados 27,565 27,910 101. 3 Belize 52,450 53,118 101. 3 Bermuda 6,125 6,125 100. 0 Cayman Islands 3,077 3,415 111. 0 Dominica 11,970 11,614 97. 0 Grenada 17,857 22,286 124. 8 Haiti * 1,178,990 1,485,722 126. 0 S t. Kitts & Nevis 6,545 6,388 97. 6 Netherland Antilles 21,162 23,584 111. 4 Suriname * 73,034 72,050 98. 7 T rinidad & Tobago 204,034 º 162,406 º 79. 6 Totals/Average 1,637,086 1,908,617 116. 6 * Age-group : 6 12 1991 Data 1998Data Estimate Source: Country Reports!