Universal Primary Education
This brief has been prepared by the Educational Management Information Systems (EMIS) unit. It’s a first in a number of documents that will highlight some key issues with a view of informing debate about the state of education in the country. The brief will be termed, “the Dashboard”. The first brief will be presenting key indicators associated with the achievement of universal primary education, which is both an MDG and EFA goal i.e. “all children everywhere, boys and girls alike, complete a full course of primary schooling”, which was a resolution of the UN General Assembly in 2000 of which Swaziland is signatory of.
The presentation will be based on data collected from schools between 2009 and 2010. This is opportune because it will present the scenario, a year before and after the implementation of the Free Primary Education programme. The unit collects data from schools twice a year, in February (16th Day Survey) and at last day of school in March (Annual Education Census). The first data set is immediately after registration and the latter when enrolment has stabilized.
The two goals and targets for Education are:
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Target 2A: ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.
Indicators
o Net enrolment ratio in primary education
o Proportion of pupils starting grade 1 who reach the last grade of primary education
o Literacy rate of 15-24 year-olds, women and men
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Target 3A: eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferable by 2005, and all levels of education not later than 2015.
Indicators
o Ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education.
1.0 Prelude
When the leaders in Education met in Jomtien, Thailand in 1990, their main thrust was ‘meeting the Basic Learning Needs for All”. They defined basic learning needs as being able to:
· survive;
· develop to ones full capacity;
· participate fully in development;
· improve the quality of ones lives;
· make informed decisions and
· continue learning.
Swaziland defined its basic education as comprising of the first ten years of education – up to Junior Certificate. By definition it meant that after these ten years of education a child should be able to exhibit all the above listed criteria. To complete these ten years, it is expected that all children should complete primary education, thus achievement of Universal Primary Education (UPE) a must. Thus, it was imperative that the Government of Swaziland to declare the achievement of UPE a priority. This did not only conform to the Education for All (EFA) goals but also the Conventions on the Rights of the Child, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the aspirations of the people of Swaziland as outlined in the national constitution.
Article 29 (6) of the constitution states, “[1]Every Swazi child within three years of the commencement of this constitution will have a right to free education in public schools at least up to the end of primary school, beginning with first grade”.
This in principle was saying that Government will ensure that all primary aged children access and complete primary education. As a vehicle to achieve the UPE the Government of Swaziland declared and is implementing the Free Primary Education (FPE) Programme. This programme was set to relieve parents of the cost of education thus encouraging more children to enrol.
The Government in its Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) also endorsed the achievement of universal basic education, i.e. from Grade 1 to Form 3. Achievement of UPE is a vehicle for the achievement of Universal Basic Education (UBE) which is one of the four pillars of the PRSP. In principle the Government committed itself to ensuring that children stay in school for at least ten years, from Grade 1 to Form 3. By declaring free and compulsory primary education and expansion of secondary level is an indication of commitment by the Government of Swaziland.
Registration for Free Primary Education
In [2]2009 and 2010 the (EMIS) Ministry collected data immediately after registration (16th Day Survey). Data for grades 1 and 2 is presented below.
Table 1 : Registration in Grade 1 and Grade 2 (2009 and 2010)
2009 / 2010Grade 1 / Grade 2 / TOTAL / Grade 1 / Grade 2 / TOTAL
Region
Hhohho / 7,703 / 7,912 / 15,615 / 10,686 / 9,846 / 20,532
Lubombo / 8,703 / 9,375 / 18,078 / 9,800 / 8,244 / 18,044
Manzini / 6,444 / 7,293 / 13,737 / 11,520 / 10,285 / 21,805
Shiselweni / 8,395 / 10,175 / 18,570 / 9,372 / 8,170 / 17,542
66,000 / 77,923
The data indicated that there was overall increase of 11 923 pupils in the grades 1 and 2 from 2009 to 2010. This represented about 18 percentage increase in enrolment after registration in the two grades in which the FPE programme was implemented in 2010. It will be noticed that increases were only observed in the Hhohho and Manzini regions, whilst the other two registered fewer than in 2009.
The EMIS unit also collected data on the last day of March in both years under question; the following tables and charts will present the findings, and will also provide a basis for the country in reporting on performance on the key indicators associated with the two goals under the MDGs and Education for All (EFA) agenda in education. The two key indicators are:
Intake Rates: Grade 1
Intake rates provide a measure of the capacity of the system in terms of access to primary education. It measures the number of new entrants in grade 1 as a percentage of the official entry age. In Swaziland the entry age is six years.
Enrolment Rates: Primary
Gross Enrolment Rates indicate participation in any given level of education. In primary it indicates the number enrolled as a percentage of the official primary age population, which in Swaziland 6-12 years old.
Table 2: Intake and Enrolment Rates 2009: Primary
Total / Female / MaleApparent intake rate (AIR) / 110.3 / 108.1 / 114.1
Net intake rate (NIR) / 36.3 / 37.8 / 34.8
Gross enrolment ratio (GER) / 125.6 / 118.1 / 133.3
Net enrolment ratio (NER) / 85.9 / 84.5 / 87.3
Unenrolled school-age pop. / 26,014 / 14,441 / 11,573
The results indicated that there is capacity in terms of space to absorb all 6 year olds into the system – apparent Intake rates exceeded 100 percent. However, the reality is that only 34.8 percent of six year olds were admitted into Grade 1 in 2009.
Chart 1: Apparent and Net Intake Rates 2009: Primary
On enrolment rates, the results indicated that the system had capacity for participation of all children within official school age. A national [3]GER of 125.6 percent implied that one in five of enrolled pupils were outside the official age limit – most probably over-aged. It also indicated that the school system could easily absorb all correctly aged children. This presented a scenario that about one in four of pupils enrolled in public primary schools are ‘out of age’.
Chart 2: Gross and Net Enrolment Rates 2009: Primary
The [4]Net Enrolment ratios implied that 86 percent of primary school pupils in 2009 were of official age. The 14 percent were out of age. This also meant that 14 percent of the (6-12) year olds who ought to be in school were ‘out of school’, their space had been taken over by ‘other ages’, (over and under aged). The following chart presents the same scenario. From population projections, this indicated that of the 26 014 un-enrolled children the majority (56%) were girls.
Chart 3: Proportion “Out of School”.
The results also indicated that some girls (1.2%) were under-aged. The Gender Parity (NER) was 0.93 implying that there were fewer girls enrolled than boys. This suggested that out of nine eligible girls there were ten eligible boys were enrolled. The EFA and MDG also specify that access is but one part of the target, the other is that all primary pupils should complete primary education. An FPE programme will only be successful if primary school pupils go through the system and complete the cycle.
In 2010 the first beneficiaries of the FPE entered the system in grades 1 and 2. The intake and enrolment rates are presented in table 3.
Table 3: Intake and Enrolment Intake Rates 2010: Primary
Total / Female / MaleApparent intake rate (AIR) / 131.8 / 126.9 / 136.6
Net intake rate (NIR) / 42.6 / 44.3 / 41.0
Gross enrolment ratio (GER) / 130.9 / 123.6 / 138.3
Net enrolment ratio (NER) / 92.0 / 90.7 / 93.4
Unenrolled school-age pop. / 14,687 / 8,640 / 6,047
There was an increased intake, more than 18 percent from 110.3 to 131.8 for Total Apparent Intake rate. This was to be expected because it is in 2010 that Government implemented the FPE programme. However, there was little improvement in the proportion of pupils of official age – aged six, as the net intake rate increased from 36.3 percent to 42.6 percent an increase of only 13.7 percent. This suggested that a reasonable number of the 11 923 were aged above six years. In fact educational statistics indicated that the most common ages were 7 and 8.
Chart 4: Apparent and Net Intake Rates 2010: Primary
The Net intake rates were slightly higher for girls suggesting that more ‘in-age’ girls were enrolled than boys. However, the rates are still low implying that even in 2010 there were children aged six who did not register and enrol for free primary education.
From the ages of all new entrants in Grade 1, in 2010 it could be concluded that schools might have given priority to children who were older but could not afford to enrol, thus enrolled more children aged seven and above. The increase in intake and enrolment (impact of FPE) also had positive results in the enrolment figures.
The relatively high Intake Rates for two consecutive years indicated that more and more children are benefiting from the FPE programme (access). More previously out of school children were coming into the system. However, it should be noted that until all the over-aged children enter the system the Net Intake rate will always be low, implying some children will still enter Grade 1 above six years old, as teachers facilitate the entrance of those who are older to benefit first.
Chart 5: Gross and Net Enrolment Rates 2010: Primary
Gross Enrolment Rates that are above 100 percent indicate that there is capacity for children of official age and above to partake in the education process. There is enough capacity. The increase in GER from 126 to 134 suggested that a lot more over aged (under-aged) children entered the system in 2010.
Both Gross and Net enrolment increased remarkably. The Gross enrolment ratios increased from 125.6 to 134 percent, which was marked by increases for both girls and boys. The Net enrolment rates (total) also increased from 85.9 percent to 92 percent which was a great improvement. This indicated that only 8 percent of the population who ought to be in primary schools were not enrolled. These are children who are still probably enrolled in preschool and other ECCD institutions such as kagogo centres and Neighbourhood Care Points (NCP); however, the results indicated that great strides had been achieved in year of first year of FPE implementation.
Net Enrolment rates for girls and boys stood at 91 percent and 93 percent respectively. This suggests that only 9 percent of girls and 7 percent of boys of official primary age are not in the system. Swaziland is on track to meet the MDG and EFA target of universal access to primary education. The country has to work on reducing repetition and dropout and ensuring that all the children complete the cycle. These current figures suggest that in 2015 when FPE reaches Grade 7 provided we do not loose some along the way the country stands a better chance to achieve UPE.
The results also showed that the number of children who were out of school decreased from 26 014 to 14 687. These figures seemed to confirm the fact that some (11 923) of those who were not previously enrolled (2009) were enrolled when the FPE was implemented. However as shown in chart to follow, the system still has a bias against girls.
Chart 6: Proportion “Out of School”.
Of those who were still not in school, 59 percent were girls. In fact more girls were left out as compared to 2009. This issue raises other interesting phenomena. The population of girls between ages 6 and 12 is more than that of boys, so even if the Gender parity in school is close Parity was to be 100 percent, girls would still not benefiting equitable from the education system by approximately 2 percent. This suggested that for gender parity to represent the population it should be about 102 percent. (favour of gilrs).
Gender Parity is calculated using enrolled pupils. In 2010, the NERs for boys and girls were 93 percent and 91 percent respectively. This implied a Gender Parity Index of 97.8 percent. There are fewer girls of official age benefiting than boys of the same age. This scenario is also a bit of concern considering that there are slightly more girls (2%), in the population.
The challenge for Government in 2012 and beyond is to enrol the remainder of the children in 2011 and then to ensure that all children stay on (retention) and complete the cycle. Only when all children complete the primary cycle can the country claim to have achieved UPE. This raises pertinent questions which are also issues under the PRSP; these are the amount of repetition and dropout at primary levels. Repetition is still high in Swaziland, studies such as [5]SACMEQ II and SACMEQ III, indicated that 59.3 and 56.4 percent of all Grade 6 pupils claimed to have repeated at least one grade in their lifetime. Results of the 2010 Annual Census survey indicated an average of about 15 percent repetition at primary level; this might erode the gains made in 2010.