CIES

2016 Group Panel

Learning for All: Addressing exclusion in participation and learning in schools in South Asia
7 March 2016, 8-9:30 a.m.
http://cies2016.org/program/

Panel Chair: Mark Waltham, Senior Adviser-Education, Education Section, UNICEF NYHQ
(mwaltham@unicef.org)
Objectives: This panel aims to share various interventions in South Asia aimed at addressing issues
on exclusion from education in the region. In particular, interventions are aimed at promoting school
readiness, on-time enrolment, reduction of repetition and dropout, ensuring that children are
learning (focusing not only on cognitive skills) and providing alternative pathways to education for
out-of-school children (OOSC).
Structure of session: The panel includes four presentations that focuses on various interventions
aimed at ending exclusion in education. Panelists include programme staff UNICEF as well as
country-level partners. The first presentation provides an overview of the situation on exclusion in
education as well as discuss interventions that are proven to work from a regional perspective. The
subsequent presentations are all country-focused. The second presentation looks at the use of
activity-based learning approach in India to address low levels of learning, high absenteeism and
multi-grade classrooms. The third presentation looks at how a community-based programme on
early childhood care and development (ECCD) has promoted school readiness and other positive
results in a remote indigenous community in Bhutan.
Contribution to the field of comparative and international education: Since 2000, South Asia have
seen substantial progress in getting more children to school. However, the gains have slowed down
since 2006/07. Latest data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (as of 2012) indicate that South
Asia has the highest number of primary and lower secondary age out-of-school children globally with
36 million. Moreover, South Asia has the highest dropout rates in the world. An estimated 14.5
million children dropped out before completing primary education in 2012. Only about half of the
regions children have access to pre-primary education, which also explains the high repetition and
dropout rates in the early years of primary education. These trends highlight the need to strengthen
efforts to address the barriers to expanding access to early childhood education, on time enrolment,
school attendance, learning and completing basic education. There are an estimated 269 million
children of school-age (ages 4 to 14) in South Asia. By 2020, this is expected to rise to 280 million.
Can the region meet the challenge of getting all of them to go to school? This panel discusses the
interventions that have been proven to work and hopefully can inform policy and programming to
address the challenge of quality education for all in line with the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) in particular SDG 4 on quality learning for all.
Keywords: out-of-school children, equity and access, learning, non-formal education, early
childhood development, early childhood education, quality education for all
Regional focus: South Asia

Description of individual presentations

Presentation 1
Title: What works? Effective interventions aimed at reaching out-of-school children and reducing
dropout in South Asia
Presenters: Ashim Shanker, UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia Consultant
(ashimshanker@gmail.com)
Abstract: This paper aggregates the academic literature reviewing and reporting interventions for
out-of-school children (OOSC). The interventions reviewed cover those targeted for children who
have never enrolled and those who may have enrolled in the past but have dropped out. It offers
strategies and best practices for Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs with attention to
cognitive and social-emotional development, and methods for expanding pre-primary access and
improving school readiness with special attention to on-time enrollment, all known deterrents
keeping children from dropping out of school. It also echoes assessments and reports describing a
geographically wide array of non-formal education (NFE) interventions and an overview of the
potential of private school outreach and vocational non-formal education.
Based on findings from impact evaluations and quasi-experiments, this paper explores the
effectiveness of pro-poor economic incentives, including voucher and cash transfer programs that
have shown promising results in mitigating the opportunity cost of children relinquishing wages to
attend school. It also analyzes the decentralization of education systems and inclusive education
through the lens of governance. The paper then discusses sector plans in education and the Global
Partnership for Education (GPE) and key literature while offering country examples. Additionally, it
reviews Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) and related systems around the world
and highlight the opportunity for NFE and OOSC data incorporation into larger data systems as a
means for providing paths to schooling for OOSC. Recommendations for possible way forward for
South Asia, including further areas for research will be presented.

Presentation 2
Title: Activity-based learning as a means of child-friendly education in India
Presenters: Vishnu Agnihotri, Educational Initiatives vishnu@ei-india.com (tbc) and Manuel Cardoso,
Education Specialist- Learning, UNICEF NYHQ, mcardoso@unicef.org
Abstract: The pedagogy of Activity Based Learning (ABL) has been widely implemented in public
primary schools in several states in India since 2008/09. An evaluation of the ABL commissioned by
UNICEF covering seven states of India showed that when comparisons are made between
classrooms that adhere more closely to the ABL model and those that do not, there are significant
differences in the way teaching-learning process is organized and in learning outcomes of students in
the former. The ABL pedagogy as developed by Rishi Valley Institute for Educational Resources
(RIVER) involves mixing students of different ages or grade levels in a single classroom, with students
seated in small groups where they carry out independent learning with the support of teacher and

peers. The evaluation showed that in schools where ABL principles and RIVER models were strictly
adhered to, the results are encouraging: practices in 75% of classrooms are largely fear-free; high
child engagement is seen in 27% of classrooms. The evaluation has recommendations to strengthen
the impact of ABL on both cognitive and non-cognitive learning outcomes thus also reducing high
absenteeism and dropout. These results provide insight into how and under what conditions can
effective child-centered pedagogy be scaled up to reduce learning gaps, social barriers and
discrimination in a country with the largest numbers of OOSC and school drop-out. This can inform
the shift in global discourse on the SDGs by moving from the right of access to education to the right
to learn and quality education with equity.
Presentation 3
Title: Community-Based ECCD and school readiness: Positive Influences of a multi-sectoral approach
in a closed and remote indigenous community in Bhutan
Presenters: Sangay Jamtso, Education Officer, UNICEF Bhutan, sjamtsho@unicef.org and Karma
Gayleg, Programme Officer, ECCD and Special Education Needs Division, Ministry of Education
karmicgel@gmail.com
Abstract: This study aims to contribute to better understanding of practices to effectively provide
Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) in hard to reach resource-constrained communities.
It looks at the positive outcomes of a multi-sectoral approach to ECCD in a closed and remote
indigenous community (Jigme and Singye villages) in Lhotokuchu, Samtse District in south-western
Bhutan. These villages with a combined population of 501 is composed of Lhops, an indigenous
group considered one of the oldest in Bhutan. Only a few Lhops have successfully completed
schooling. Both villages have an ECCD centre as part of a multi-sectoral approach. Other
programmes include livelihood and income generation activities (e.g. promoting indigenous crafts),
building roads and bringing electricity, healthcare and education facilities. The ECCD programme
was initiated by Tarayana Foundation, a local CSO. ECD facilitators from the community were trained
on holistic child development and parents were actively engaged. The Ministry of Education in
collaboration with UNICEF provides support in training facilitators and providing teaching-learning
materials. Parents who were interviewed all acknowledged the learning and development benefits
of the ECCD centres on children, particularly in terms of how ready they were for school. Positive
changes in child rearing practices have been observed as well as improved health and hygiene, and
changes in parental awareness and attitude toward the ECCD centre and learning. It is hoped that
this study will contribute to improved policies and programmes on ECCD in Bhutan and other
countries, focusing on reaching indigenous groups and promoting community engagement to ensure
sustainability.