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New Education Policy Aims for Universal Primary Education, Gender Equality

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (30 August 2002) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today approved a new Education Policy aimed at providing all children and adults in the Asia-Pacific region with equitable access to an education that will empower them to break out of the poverty cycle and participate effectively in national development.

The policy underpins ADB's support for the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, which include enrolling all children in primary school, promoting gender equality and empowering women by 2015.

Since investment in education is essential to ADB's overarching goal of poverty reduction, the policy focuses on efforts to promote educational development. The efforts aim to alleviate the drastic situation in the Asia-Pacific region, where:

• 75 percent of the world's illiterates live, two thirds of them women;
• Millions drop out of primary school because of poverty and half of all children never make it to secondary school;
• Nearly 40 percent of children under 5 are malnourished and unlikely ever to achieve their potential.

ADB's average annual investment in education has been nearly 6 percent of its total annual lending since 1991. Since 1970, it has invested US$5.3 billion in education sector development, two thirds of this since 1991. ADB plans to invest over US$1 billion in loans for education projects in the period 2002 to 2004.

The new priorities are to reduce poverty, enhance the status of women, and provide skills for pro-poor sustainable growth. To support this, the policy will give particular attention to increasing equity and access, improving quality, strengthening management, mobilizing resources, strengthening partnerships, and applying innovative technologies, especially ICT (information and communications technology).

These goals will be applied in each education sub sector.

• In literacy and nonformal education, there will be more support for innovative and responsive programs, particularly in collaboration with NGOs;
• Early childhood development programs will also be expanded, with an emphasis on low-cost, community-based provision;
• Basic education priorities include ensuring equitable access and resource allocation, improving quality, and strengthening community development;
• Secondary education investments will emphasize cost-sharing, private sector provision, and special programs to increase access by the poor and women;
• Higher education projects will enhance the role of the private sector and strengthening government capacity to monitor standards, and to support NGO-led provision of skills training in income-generating activities for poor women.

"ADB support for education at all levels will concentrate on policies and activities that directly contribute to overall programs of poverty reduction," says Akira Seki, Director-General of ADB's Regional and Sustainable Development Department. "However, the balance of investments across education sub sectors will be determined according to a particular country's situation."

The policy paper paves the way for the preparation of education sector strategies and road maps for each country, to translate policy principles into specific strategies and investment plans.

ADB's earlier education sector policy paper in 1988 emphasized the importance of investing in primary and secondary education in the context of broader human and social development.

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