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	Table of Contents
p. 19 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 A. General Priorities B. Subsector Priorities X. After the Policy Paper XI. Recommendation Appendixes

Policy on Education : IX. Education Policy Principles

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B. Subsector Priorities

52. The principle of flexibility is strongly supported in this paper as a fundamental element of any policy framework. Given the region’s diversity, a prescriptive and preemptive policy is both undesirable and untenable. The paper identifies basic and corollary principles on which ADB’s education sector policy is based. While the policy principles may be relatively immutable —that is, poverty should always be the focus, and improvements in equity, quality, and efficiency should always be aimed for—priorities for subsectoral allocation of resources will vary from country to country depending on economic and social circumstances. The following discussion identifies priorities within each of the major education subsectors, but the proportion of resources allocated to any particular subsector must always be determined in the context of a particular country’s needs and development goals, both of which will change over time. ADB’s investment in the education sector of each country must be based on a process of sector analysis and policy dialogue with the government, and an overall sector policy framework, recognizing that each country is unique and that ADB support must be flexibly provided.

1. Literacy and Nonformal Education

53. An enormous body of experience and literature exists on issues, methodologies, and good practices for providing literacy. Yet illiteracy persists for many reasons: lack of adequate funds, lack of political will (especially since illiterates are predominantly poor women who often lack political visibility), inadequate management of existing programs, insufficient public awareness to generate greater demand for literacy, inadequate understanding by governments of the enormous social and economic cost of illiteracy, to name only a few. This lack of attention needs to be redressed in the context of ADB’s increased attention to poverty reduction by including adult literacy activities in programs of other sectors, such as rural development, designed to benefit the poor.

54. Nonformal education brings education, especially basic education and literacy, to ethnic minorities and other marginalized groups that for whatever reason have not availed of formal schooling. ADB has tended in its education investment portfolio to concentrate on formal education, although it has supported nonformal education projects in Bangladesh and the Philippines, and projects are being planned by other countries. ADB will expand

54. Nonformal education brings education, especially basic education and literacy, to ethnic minorities and other marginalized groups that for whatever reason have not availed of formal schooling. ADB has tended in its education investment portfolio to concentrate on formal education, although it has supported nonformal education projects in Bangladesh and the Philippines, and projects are being planned by other countries. ADB will expand support for innovative, responsive, and flexible nonformal education, particularly in collaboration with NGOs, as part of an overall poverty reduction strategy. ICT applications will be especially considered. support for innovative, responsive, and flexible nonformal education, particularly in collaboration with NGOs, as part of an overall poverty reduction strategy. ICT applications will be especially considered.

2. Early Childhood Development

55. Investment in early childhood development, with its emphasis on the health, nutrition, and education of the young child, demonstrably leads to improved learning capacity and reduced dropout from school, and gives disadvantaged children a head start in their effort to break out of the poverty cycle. However, most countries in the region have low early childhood development participation rates; typically children who participate represent middle- and upper-income families, whose home environments tend to already provide adequate food and stimulation. The children of poor families, who are most in need of early childhood development, are usually those least likely to receive it because their families cannot afford the type of formal, institution-based early childhood development that is most commonly available. ADB will expand its support for early childhood development with special emphasis on low-cost, community-based provision of services, especially in the broader context of social protection and poverty reduction.

3. Basic Education

56. Given the fundamental importance of basic education as a human right, and as the basis for human and economic development, ADB will give priority to investment in basic education (i) in countries where universal access (especially for girls) has not been achieved, (ii) in situations where poverty and serious equity constraints combine to deny access to and completion of basic education by the poor, and (iii) in countries where the quality of basic education—especially the quality of the education provided to the poor—is inadequate (Box 6). ADB believes that basic education should be free of charge. It recognizes, however, that while tuition may be provided free, textbooks and school supplies are often not provided. In addition, the cost of uniforms, shoes, and transportation (not to mention opportunity cost) are borne by the family of the student. Poor children and girls are much more likely to drop out of school or not to enroll even when available. ADB will actively engage in policy dialogue with governments to identify strategies to assist poor children and girls, including targeted subsidies, scholarships, and special incentives.

57. In countries where access is high, but low retention rates are a continuing problem (especially among the poor and the disabled), ADB will support alternative approaches to conventional schooling to ensure that all children are able to at least complete primary school. ADB will also consider assistance for governments to upgrade and mainstream schools such as madrasahs and NGO-run schools. ADB will support the development of 9-year basic education in countries that are expanding their period of compulsory basic education as part of an overall effort to upgrade the quality of human resources. ADB will continue to support teacher training programs, both preservice and in-service, but give more attention to (i) developing effective teacher supervision programs; (ii) training principals in leadership, school management, and community relations; (iii) reforming teaching service conditions; and (iv) applying low-cost teacher training approaches. ADB will support curriculum development, especially if it (i) reflects local culture; (ii) develops local capacity; (iii) focuses on inculcation of specific learning skills (as opposed to content retention); and (iv) uses local languages, at least at the initial stages of formal education. Application of appropriate ICT strategies for basic education will be developed, taking into account local priorities, capacities, and constraints. ADB priorities for basic education include (i) ensuring equitable access and resource allocation, (ii) improving quality, and (iii) strengthening community involvement and local management.

4. Secondary Education

58. At the level of upper secondary education—the transition level between basic and higher (or postsecondary technical) education—difficult decisions must be made, including (i) clarifying the purpose of upper secondary education, (ii) determining the size of the subsector, and (iii) identifying who pays the cost of providing education. In many cases, upper secondary education is bifurcated into two parallel and separate streams: academic and vocational. Evidence from many countries suggests that such streaming is not cost-effective because the labor market often treats the graduates equally, even though the unit cost of a vocational graduate is usually several times that of an academic graduate. Since children of lower income groups tend not to enroll in upper secondary education, the case for free government provision is not strong. Moreover, government provision often competes directly with the private sector in situations where the private sector is more responsive to labor market demand, and can produce the skills required at a lower unit cost with no loss of quality. Programs of expansion of publicly financed upper secondary education should be rigorously scrutinized to ensure that these are the least-cost alternative, and that provision is made to enhance access to the poor and to girls through targeted scholarship assistance. In countries where investment in upper secondary education is appropriate, ADB will give particular attention to improving its quality, while ensuring that (i) cost-sharing is enhanced, since upper income groups tend to be disproportionately enrolled at this level; (ii) private sector provision is encouraged through an appropriate policy environment; and (iii) special programs are established to enhance participation by girls and the poor.

5. Higher Education

59. Countries at all stages of development require the knowledge and skills of persons with higher education. Higher education produces the analytical, research, and management skills essential for sound economic management, and for maintaining economic competitiveness. Higher education also plays a key role in achieving basic and secondary education, for example, by training teachers and professionals for curriculum design and educational research. The question is thus not whether investment in higher education is justified, but rather what is the government’s role in ensuring that a sufficient number of higher education graduates are available. A strong argument exists for governments to focus their role on creating a supportive policy environment for private sector provision, determining and assessing standards of performance, setting broad national policies, and developing an accreditation mechanism. Where demand for higher education can be met by the private sector, little justification exists for the government to compete with the private sector by providing subsidized higher education at unit costs often higher than those in private institutions.

60. Higher education tends to enroll persons from upper income groups, benefits the graduate by ensuring higher lifetime earnings, and often consumes a disproportionate share of the national budget, compared with basic education, which serves a much broader spectrum of society. This situation raises major questions of equity. A common argument is that government resources should be predominantly allocated for basic education, and that those who benefit from higher education should pay the cost themselves. However, in the interests of equity, governments should provide some form of targeted support to help ensure that the poor have access to higher education (but not necessarily government-provided education).

61. ADB’s priority in higher education will be capacity-building for the improvement and management of basic and secondary education, especially the training of teachers. In countries well ahead in attaining universal primary education and gender parity in basic education, ADB will support the development and expansion of higher education, focusing on (i) enhancing the role of the private sector, including direct lending to appropriate private institutions, and creation of a regulatory environment; (ii) developing government capacity for policy formulation, setting and monitoring standards, and accreditation; (iii) improving quality; (iv) helping programs to increase equity of access for girls and the poor; (v) improving cost-effectiveness, establishing financial sustainability, and improving institutional governance; (vi) catalyzing development of specialized highpriority research and development activities that cannot yet be funded by the private sector alone; and (vii) strengthening the application of ICT to higher education. In countries where investment is justified, but where provision is largely funded by government, ADB will support development of a long-term plan to encourage a greater role for the private sector.

6. Skills Development

62. To maintain productivity and competitiveness, countries must ensure that the current workforce is able to constantly acquire new skills and improve existing ones, and that new entrants to the workforce have an adequate skills base. This requires a country to develop policies and strategies to facilitate constant upgrading and adapting of worker skills, while ensuring that preemployment skills training is flexible and relevant to changing skill demand. Sometimes governments provide supply-driven technical and vocational or skills training programs at high unit cost, in direct competition with the private sector, and of such poor quality and relevance that graduates do not gain in employability or productivity. The region nevertheless contains good examples of clear and effective skills development policies, for example, Republic of Korea; Singapore; and Taipei,China have ensured availability of needed skills within the framework of an effective national skills development policy, linked to an economic development strategy. Attention will also be given to development of nonformal training programs in entrepreneurial and income-generating skills for the poor, as well as to ICT applications for skills training delivery.

63. ADB will support skills development, both preemployment and upgrading of workforce skills by (i) developing government capacity to coordinate (but generally not to provide) skills training, and to establish and monitor skills standards; (ii) encouraging private sector provision of training by helping governments to establish conducive policy environments and incentives; (iii) strengthening public-private partnerships for skills training; and (iv) helping to establish skills development funds that can be used by agencies such as NGOs and community groups to provide nonformal skills training for the poor, especially poor women. Support for government provision of skills can be justified in the absence of a private sector alternative, but even then the strategy should be to help create a facilitating climate and a concrete strategy for the devolution of skills training to private sector institutions over the long term.

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