Enhanced competencies in ‘information politics’ with the completion of Education Watch in 10 countries in the Asia Pacific
The external evaluation by the Commonwealth Education Fund of its support to ASPBAE’s Education Watch initiative in South Asia revealed that the strongest impact of the programme was in the area of ‘information politics’ or the “ability to quickly and credibly generate politically usable information and move it to where it will have the most impact”.
In 2008, the Education Watch process, completed in five (5) countries in South Asia, three (3) in South East Asia and two (2) in the South Pacific enhanced capacities in information politics of coalitions. This was well articulated during the Regional Education Watch Assessment Workshop organized on 17-20 September, 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Key partners in the ASPBAE-RWS EdWatch research initiative gathered together to evaluate the pains and gains of the EdWatch experience. At the level of the national coalitions, the Edwatch initiative has enabled increased policy knowledge and skills as they
1) gained better understanding of how government works, including its funding and budgeting mechanisms;
2) generated alternative data about disadvantaged groups and communities thus enabling coalitions to challenge spurious or unreliable data used by government or other policy-making agencies;
3) generated a core of skilled researchers within the ranks of the coalitions.
The objectives of the assessment were to: review the Education Watch design, methods, tools and processes; draw lessons from the experience; and identify areas for improvement; improve capacity for undertaking research, specifically in the areas of survey methods, data analysis and tools development; design and plan the development of the education watch toolkit; acquire basic knowledge and skills in using ASPBAE’s EFA Info system; share and plan on follow through research initiatives.
Valuable inputs were presented by researchers and representatives from 10 national coalitions (Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Cambodia) engaged in the project highlighting crucial experiences in data collection and analysis, production, coalition work, as well as networking with other groups also engaged in education advocacy.
Partners from UNESCO Bangkok represented by John Kapp, Susan Durston and Ventkatraman shared some useful insights on the conceptual framework and technical aspect of studies generated by UNESCO.
The workshop was co-organised by ASPBAE and GCE with E-Net Philippines acting as the host of the event.
Education Watch results deployed for policy advocacy and campaigns
ASPBAE and the coalitions knew that the challenge to fulfilling the purpose of EdWatch was in the collective ability to harness these competencies towards policy change and positive policy impact for EFA.
At the country level, the coalitions set about using the data generated in Edwatch for their policy advocacy efforts. PCE Pakistan and CED Sri Lanka used their Edwatch results in catalyzing debates around the National Education Policy of their respective countries. ENet for Justice and NEP Cambodia subsequently mounted campaigns against privatization and a complete ban against school fees in their countries. ENet Philippines used the outcomes of their study to inform various official government reports and technical committees where they participate. The Adult Literacy Mapping exercise in PNG attracted financial and political support enabling the expansion of the initiative to three of the four provinces in 2008, and the deployment in the Edwatch team of a member of the PNG National Statistics office to facilitate mainstreaming of the Edwatch results in literacy policy.
Several sub-regional policy events convened in 2008 provided important opportunities to use the data generated by the Education Watch processes to engage with governments and other EFA stakeholders to influence the direction of EFA planning in the coming period.
Representatives from South-East Asian countries, UN agencies and partners involved in education met in Jomtien, Thailand on 18-21 February 2008 for the South East Asia EFA Mid-Term Policy Review Conference to prepare policy recommendations aimed at ensuring the achievement of the Education for All goals by 2015.
The conference aimed to translate findings of the EFA Mid-Decade Assessment into concrete actions, identify policy gaps, and propose policies and strategies towards reaching the un-reached groups in education. Key recommendations from the conference were presented at the Southeast Asian Ministers Organization (SEAMEO) Education Ministers Council Meeting in Kuala Lumpur in March 2008.
The conference organized by the AIMS-UIS Unit, UNESCO Bangkok on behalf of the Regional Thematic Working Group on EFA and supported by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, UNICEF and other EFA partners was an opportunity for South-East Asian countries and EFA partners to verify and validate the Insular South-East Asia and Mekong EFA MDA sub-regional synthesis reports.
Similarly representatives from South Asian countries, UN agencies and partners involved in education met in Kathmandu, Nepal from 16-19 June, 2008 during the South Asia EFA Mid-Term Policy Review Conference. The conference was organized by the Assessment, Information Systems, Monitoring and Statistics (AIMS) Unit, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) Regional Office, on behalf of the UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education in close collaboration with the UNESCO Kathmandu Office.
The conference was an opportunity for South Asian countries and EFA partners to verify and validate the South Asia EFA MDA sub-regional synthesis report. Using results of the national and sub-regional EFA Mid-Decade Assessment (MDA) reports and the 2008 EFA Global Monitoring Report, the delegates tried to translate the findings of the MDA into concrete actions, identify policy gaps, and propose policies and strategies towards reaching the un-reached groups in education.
RWS Asia Coordinator, Raquel Castillo who represented ASPBAE in the conference made a presentation on “Issues in Financing EFA, Governance, Decentralization and Accountability” which was well received by participants.
The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and UNESCO came together for the first time to organize and host a meeting on education. “Reaching the Unreached: Meeting of South-East Asian Countries to Achieve the EFA Goals Together by 2015" was held on 2 - 4 September 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Seventy high-level education officials from South-East Asia and EFA partners came up with concrete proposals for joint collaborative targeted activities in education. The EFA partners represented at the meeting were ActionAid, ASPBAE, ATD Fourth World, Disability Action Council Cambodia, E-Net Philippines, ILO, Save the Children, SIL International.
ASPBAE and other Education Coalitions from Philippines and Cambodia were present in the meeting.
In the larger contexts of global advocacy for financing development, coalitions and advocates for education gathered in Manila, Philippines, on November 10-12, 2008 for the Regional Policy Workshop on ODA for Education for All (EFA) in the Asia Pacific / Asia Pacific Conference on Overseas Development Assistance for Education: “Banking on the Class of 2015,”. They debated issues related to Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) and education financing at a research conference and a public forum attended by 10 national education coalitions in Asia-Pacific and 105 representatives of various civil society organizations and social movements.
The objectives of the conference were as follows: Initiate discourse on ODA in education and surface related issues, align advocacies of national coalitions towards defining a regional perspective, linked to broader campaigns around financing for development,
inform the regional attempt at intervening with ODA processes through country case studies, understand what is happening in Asia-Pacific around ODA --- geopolitical trends; effect of bilateral donors within the region (e.g. China and India) and interregional cooperation.
The research findings on aid to education in Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Cambodia, Philippines done by civil society organisations and by ASPBAE Australia on Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands were shared during the conference.
Participants in the conference developed six key advocacy messages for donors and government leaders. This 6-point advocacy agenda will be pursued by education advocates at country level and also at upcoming regional and international events involving the ASEAN, SAARC, Pacific Forum, World Social Forum, World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development, Global Action Week for EFA, CONFINTEA VI, Financing Adult Education for Development Conference, World Poverty Day.
In South Asia Policy Workshop on RWS Asia-Pacific Campaign Planning and Planning Group Meeting for Education ODA organized by ASPBAE on 28-29 May, 2008 in Negombo, Sri Lanka, the South Asia coalitions met to strategise on how to effectively engage with UNESCO, government EFA units and education ministries in the ongoing EFA mid decade assessment. The coalitions jointly drew from their Education Watch data and analysis to critique the draft South Asia EFA assessment reports and prepared shared policy/lobbying positions which were presented and advocated for during the EFA Policy Workshop which all the South Asia coalitions attended.
ASPBAE was represented by its RWS Policy team i.e. Ms. Raquel Castillo, ASPBAE’s Asia Policy Advocacy and Campaigns Coordinator, Mr. Rene Raya, ASPBAE’s Lead Policy Analyst, Mr. Mohamed Muntasim Tanvir, ASPBAE South Asia Policy Advocacy and Campaigns Coordinator and Ms. Darmiyanti Muchtar, ASPBAE Policy Analyst.
The main outcome of the meeting were: critiques on the official EFA MDA sub regional report for South Asia; articulation on policy positions for themes such as gender equality, quality of education, education financing, governance & decentralization, inclusive education and mother tongue, adult literacy and role of youth in EFA; and status and process check on EdWatch initiative.
During the South East Asia RWS Meeting, August 7-9, 2008, in Yogjakarta, Indonesia, ASPBAE and the coalitions carefully strategised and planned their lobbying approaches. They actively participated in the thematic and country workshops that produced policy recommendations and concrete EFA targets. The coalitions lobbied strongly in the areas of education financing and governance, addressing education disparities and exclusion, and education quality.
Presentations were made by ASPBAE representatives on issues on financing and they also served as facilitators of workshops on inclusive education, quality education, financing and governance, and literacy.
Patrick Watkins of the GCE was invited to this meeting to give a briefing on the CSOs & National Education Plans campaign initiative.
A working group meeting on Alternative Budget Pilots was held in Khandala, Mumbai on July 19 to devise methodology for alternative budgeting. Participants from Sri Lanka and Pakistan were present in the meeting along with ASPBAE staff. The experience of alternative budgeting from Philippines was shared to help shape and define the methodology to be used in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Sri Lanka and Pakistan also discussed their draft design and questionnaire for this initiative and important decision points were reached to take this initiative further. The Sri Lanka piloting exercise was targeted to begin in 2008; the Pakistan exercise in 2009.
Re-energized campaigning on adult education and adult literacy with the spaces opened by CONFINTEA VI processes
ASPBAE attended the Confintea VI Global Consultative Group Meeting, June 18-20, 2008, Hamburg, Germany wherein it was formally identified as a partner in organising the Regional PrepCom for Asia Pacific.
ASPBAE thus launched a series of activities in 2008 to secure a strong CSO presence nationally, regionally and globally in the CONFINTEA VI processes.
Several virtual and face to face consultations and workshops were organized by ASPBAE to prepare a strong CSO response for CONFINTEA VI including national consultations on June 25-27, 2008 in Lahore, Pakistan and 17-18 July, 2008 in Khandala, India.
These consultations were organized to: articulate the myriad voices of CSOs in the region and develop their contribution to the National Report for CONFINTEA, targeting discussion on the following areas: Adult Literacy, Quality of Adult Learning and Education Provision: Participation and Achievement, Legislative and policy frameworks of ALE, Financing of ALE, showcase innovative projects /best practices that can be adopted for policy, agree on possible CSO contributions to the CONFINTEA VI process and other advocacy initiatives on adult education and learning.
The consultations were highly interactive and successful in discussing and articulating CSO positions on important issues such as Adult Illiteracy and Financing of Adult education while agreeing on a common framework to actively contribute in education policy review and development in the region.
Based on these in-country consultations the ASPBAE CSO Strategizing Workshop for Adult Education Advocacy & Adult Literacy Working Group Meeting was held on July 15-17, 2008, in Khandala to plan the Asia Pacific civil society advocacy strategy advancing adult literacy and adult education within CONFNTEA VI and other policy and campaign opportunities; and to outline the main policy demands for CONFINTEA VI.
ASPBAE’s main arena for planning the CONFINTEA VI response was “Charting the Civil Society Road Map to CONFINTEA VI”. 35 adult education advocates and practitioners from over 10 countries in the Asia Pacific region attended the workshop. The workshop focused on developing consensus on and commitment to an advocacy action plan for 2008-2009 with clearly articulated positions and change objectives on agreed priority policy issues especially along the areas of quality adult literacy and adult education, life skills responsive to learning needs of marginalized groups, adult education legislation, governance and financing.
A substantial set of policy recommendations were identified along the abovementioned areas. These formed part of an Outcomes Document which was later crafted by ASPBAE and disseminated as a guide to members and partners in their advocacy planning, lobbying and policy positioning for CONFINTEA VI and other policy spaces addressing adult and basic education. The participants also resolved to engage more actively with each other and ASPBAE to develop campaign activities and action plans for their own countries based on the key demands and the next steps as outlined in the workshop. ASPBAE, affirmed priority to sustaining an adult education campaign for CONFINTEA VI and beyond.
The outcomes of the above mentioned consultations and workshops prepared ASPBAE for its participation in the UNESCO Asia Pacific Regional Preparatory Conference for CONFINTEA VI held on 6-8 October, 2008 in Seoul, Korea. The theme of the Conference was “Building Equitable and Sustainable Societies in Asia and the Pacific”. It was organized by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong learning (UIL) in cooperation with the Korean National Institute for Lifelong Education (NILE) on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Korea, the UNESCO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok, the UNESCO Office in Beijing and the Korea National Commission for UNESCO.
Civil society representation was strengthened by the 19 member combined delegation from ASPBAE, the International Council for Adult Education (ICAE) and DVV International, coming from 12 countries in the region. The CSO representatives in Korea were well-organised and coordinated, aided further by the preparations made during a CSO Strategizing Meeting convened by ASPBAE on 5 October, a day prior to the formal start of the Conference. CSOs in the Conference participated actively in all the sessions and in the Drafting Committee where ASPBAE was formally represented as an Advisor. ASPBAE and its partners were able to lobby strongly, enabling positive results in the Asia Pacific Outcomes document.
To sustain its engagement in all the CONFINTEA 6 processes, ASPBAE sought to influence the Global Report of Adult Education (GRALE) with evidence on the affordability of meeting the Goal 4 targets of EFA on adult literacy. The ASPBAE Policy team led by Senior Policy Analyst, Rene Raya led a study, ‘Pursuing Adult Literacy: The Cost of Achieving EFA Goal 4’ based on the GCE Action-Aid Benchmarks on quality adult literacy and the work of Jan van Ravens and Carlos Aggio. The result of this study is featured in the (draft) GRALE Report’s chapter on adult education financing.
ASPBAE is poised to further advance this analysis in 2009 with country level assessments of the social costs of illiteracy and the benefits of adult literacy. This has begun in the Philippines in 2008 and is expected to expand to Bangladesh and PNG in 2009.
Enhanced analytical capacities in education ODA
Coordinated campaigning around aid for education in the framework of education financing for neglected goals and neglected groups in EFA was initiated with the formation of the Asia Pacific Working Group on ODA for Education. The Working Group met on 26-27 May, 2008 in Sri Lanka to prepare for the ASPBAE Asia-Pacific Conference on Financing for Education and Development: Banking on the Class of 2015 which was organised on 10-12 November, 2008 in Manila, Philippines. The Conference was organized at the heels of the Doha Financing for Development Review Conference (26-27 November) where fears were rife that the short-sightedness of governments in richer countries in the wake of the financial meltdown would result in reduced allocations to aid in general and aid to basic education, in particular.
Sustained regional and global campaigning and lobbying on EFA
ASPBAE’s advocacy thrusts on EFA in the period continued to be focused on the “3 R’s of EFA”: Rights, Responsibilities and Resources:
ASPBAE and coalitions in the Asia Pacific participated in GCE’s Global Action Week in April, 2008 with the theme ‘Education to End Exclusion’. The South Asia Education Watch findings were shared in a Launch event on April 21, 2008 during the GCE Global Action Week activities, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was considered very apt to organize the launch in Dhaka as it was the CAMPE experience which was the inspiration to replicate Edwatch across other countries. The event attracted no less than 350 participants, including CSOs, donors, government and UNESCO, teachers, school administrators, students and media. Ms. Rasheda Choudhury, then Honorable Adviser in the Ministry of Primary Education, Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs, and Ministry of Cultural Affairs, also participated in the launch.
To coincide with the EdWatch Launch event, a Working Group Meeting was organized to evaluate the Edwatch findings and toolkit development on April 22, 2008 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The Working Group developed the objectives and draft programme design for the Education Watch Assessment Workshop to be held in September 16-19, 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand. During the Working Group meeting, participants also identified areas for capacity-building and key issues that could provide a common advocacy agenda for all coalitions. All Edwatch participating coalitions sent two representatives each to the Workshop. This event was also envisaged to provide feedback and input to inform the CEF Evaluation.
The coalition representatives from other countries in Asia also participated in CAMPE’s Biggest Lesson on April 23.
ASPBAE also participated in campaigning around the G8 Summit in Japan in July and Doha Financing for Development on ‘Genuine aid for quality education’. Takafumi Miyake, EC member for East Asia and Secretary General of the Japan NGO Network for Education (JNNE) spoke on Japanese Aid to Education at a workshop during the Civil Society Forum organized parallel to the G8 Summit in Japan last July 2008. Coalitions were also mobilised to participate in the online campaign called ‘Tanabata’, sending in messages and ‘wishes’ to the Governments of the G8, particularly Japan. The Manila Statement on ODA for Education was crafted during the Financing for Education and Development Conference in Manila in November.
Raquel Castillo, Asia Advocacy & Campaigns Coordinator, represented ASPBAE and presented on MDG2 (Education Goal) at the GCAP Poverty Hearings during the UN High Level Event on MDGs in New York on 23 September, 2008. This was facilitated by ICAE and the Feminist Task Force of the Global Call Against Poverty (GCAP). Raquel also attended the launching of the ‘Class of 2015’ campaign of the GCE, which mobilized world leaders, faith-based organizations, leaders from the private sector to draw greater attention to EFA and commit resources to meet the financing gap.
ASPBAE through its Secretary General, President and other EC members continued its representational work in global policy processes specifically to education and EFA: in the Editorial Board of the Global Monitoring Report (GMR), the Global Consultative Group for CONFINTEA 6 and the Experts Working Group on the UN Literacy Decade (UNLD) and the EFA Working Group.
ASPBAE also helped organise and participated in the UN Girls Education Initiative (UNGEI) Regional Global Advisory Committee Meeting held in Kathmandu, Nepal from 6-13 June, 2008. Representatives from Camfed, UNICEF, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), Nepal's Ministry of Education and the children of Nepal gave opening remarks. ASPBAE as a member of the UNGEI Global Advisory Committee was represented by Ms. Nitya Rao in this meeting. Yanti Muchtar also attended this meeting as ASPBAE representative.
Participants discussed the findings of the draft background paper, entitled "Towards Gender Equality in Education: Progress and Challenges in Asia-Pacific Region" and highlighted that the key issues to focus on are: the need to move beyond parity to equality, secondary education, the need for education to be transformative and teacher training, especially of female ones.
ASPBAE continues to be represented in the Global Advisory Committee (GAC) by Nitya Rao who attended the GAC meeting on 11-12 November, 2008 in Paris, coinciding with the EFA Working Group Meeting. The UNGEI GAC meeting focused its discussions on appraising the Global Monitoring Report 2009 on “Overcoming inequality: why governance matters”, in its attention to gender and the gender goals of EFA in its analysis.
The UNGEI submission to the EFA Working Group emphasized that effective governance must be driven by a gender perspective. It also called for governments to be supportive in adopting a gendered approach to the teaching profession through increasing the number of trained women teachers and emphasizing the nurturing and caring components of teaching to retain both boys and girls in school; more gendered approaches to budgeting to assist the development of the teaching force including the targeting of female recruitment, training, deployment and retention; and more coherent national and regional visions and policies essential to ensure greater equality in the teaching force and to support institutions responsible for quality assurance, teacher education and professional development .
Kazi Rafiqul Alam EC member for South Asia represented ASPBAE in the CCNGO/EFA Working Group Meeting on 12-14 November, 2008 in Paris. The Meeting was attended by all the Regional CCNGO Focal Points except from Europe & North America. The meeting dealt with the issue of cooperation between UNESCO Regional Bureaus and CC NGO/EFA focal points. Discussions were also held about the process of institutionalization of relationship between UNESCO Regional Bureaus and CCNGO focal points. The meeting proposed the implementation of a Memorandum of Understanding with UNESCO Regional Bureaus for education with the Focal Points.
Policy Advocacy