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	Table of Contents
p. 1 of 22 BACK | NEXT Preface Executive Summary I. Introduction II. Development of the Policy Paper III. Education and Poverty Reduction IV. The Changing Context V. Experience of the Asian Development Bank VI. Assistance Policies and Support for Education VII. Role of the Asian Development Bank VIII. Dimensions of the Education Policy IX. Education Policy Principles X. After the Policy Paper XI. Recommendation Appendixes

Policy on Education

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Preface

Asia is the world’s most populous region where

• 900 million people live on less than $1 a day, comprising 75% of the global total
• nearly 40% of the population is under the age of 18
• three fourths of the world’s illiterates live; two thirds are poor women
• millions of children who complete primary school can barely read and write
• one of every four South Asian children is not enrolled in primary school
• millions of children drop out of primary school each year because of poverty
• 50% of all children are not enrolled in secondary school, most of these are poor
• almost 40% of children under the age of 5 are malnourished, and thus unlikely to achieve their full intellectual potential
• some governments spend more on their soldiers than on their children
• 6% of Asian Development Bank (ADB) lending has been for education

ADB, as a member of the global community, is dedicated to supporting the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (identified in agreements and resolutions of United Nations conferences during the 1990s) within the Asia and Pacific region by 2015. These goals include enrolling all children in primary school, promoting gender equality, and empowering women.

Poverty reduction is ADB’s overarching development objective. Since investment in education is an essential element of any poverty reduction strategy, ADB has undertaken to prepare a new education policy to focus its efforts to support educational development, and to link this support more closely to poverty reduction.

This paper aims to (i) examine the role of education in development and, in particular, in poverty reduction; (ii) briefly assess the status of educational development in the region, focusing on outstanding issues; (iii) review the past experience and future role of ADB; (iv) identify the essential principles upon which ADB support for the sector should be based; and (v) propose follow-up actions to guide and monitor implementation of the education policy.

The fundamental purpose of the policy is to facilitate achievement of ADB’s vision for education in the region.

All children and adults in the Asia and Pacific region will have equitable access to and complete education of sufficient quality to empower them to break out of the poverty cycle, to improve their quality of life, and to participate effectively in national development.

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