An expanded vision of access is needed, which goes beyond the narrow indicators of participation given by school enrolment rates (Lewin, 2011b). This has to include judgements of both educational quality and process (the resources to which children have access) and educational outcomes (what competencies and capabilities are acquired and how they are valued). An expanded vision must be interpreted in relation to national and sub-national contexts. These contexts determine the starting points for programmes to improve access, identify the nature of excluded groups, mobilize the resources available, and shape the policy environment and possibilities for action. How this is best done depends on the specific system and the barriers to participation and learning it faces. However the vision varies from country to country, it needs to be made explicit in order to generate consensus around its goals and objectives.
Box 1.2 The expanded vision of access Children:
• enrol in the year in which they become 6 years old;
• progress over the next six years with no more than one repetition and remain within one year of the nominal age for the grade; • attend for at least 90 per cent of the teaching days available; • move into lower secondary school and complete nine years of
schooling;
• learn in classes of no more than 40 pupils, in schools with clean water, sanitation, basic services, light, heat and ventilation, and adequate learning materials;
• are taught by trained teachers who are present in class at least 95 per cent of the teaching days available with pupil/teacher ratios of 40:1 or less;
• achieve at levels within two years of the norm for their grade;
• have equitable access to affordable schools located within
30 minutes travel of households at primary level and 60 minutes at secondary level.
Conceptualizing access and zones of educational exclusion
An expanded vision of access requires an understanding of different zones of exclusion, as well as the characteristics of the children within each zone. It must also be sensitive to the importance of entry into school at 6 years (or the national norm, if it differs), and of age-appropriate progression, including from primary school at about 12 years old and lower secondary school at around 15. National curricula are usually planned on the assumption that every child and every teacher is present on every school day. The reality can be very different, with consequences for learning and for its perceived relevance. Children who do not attend school regularly miss out on a great deal, particularly in subjects such as mathematics in which learning is cumulative. This can make it difficult to keep pace with the demands of the curriculum.
The expanded vision of access includes universal access up to the end of lower secondary school. In many countries this coincides with the minimum age of work below which formal employment would be regarded as child labour. The International Labour Organization has adopted 15 years as the lower limit for full-time work. Most countries already include lower secondary school in their commitments to basic education. Almost all will by 2020. This is essential if we are to achieve universal completion of primary schooling and maintain the motivation and commitment of children in the upper-primary grades. At both primary and secondary levels the conditions under which children learn must be part of any worthwhile definition of access. Learning spaces have to be fit for purpose, with adequate facilities, appropriate to the climate and location. But it is not only about the facilities. Access also depends on being taught by trained, motivated, and committed teachers in reasonable class sizes, with appropriate learning materials.
Access to education has little meaning unless it results in pupils gaining the knowledge and skills national curricula stipulate. Since children vary in capability and disposition, their levels of achievement will vary too. National norms for the minimum level of achievement expected at different levels exist in many countries. If they do not, they should be developed. They can then be used to identify whether patterns of achievement are adequate. Children more than two years away from the norm for their grade are likely to lose meaningful
Educational access, equity, and development: Planning to make rights realities
access to the curriculum. Where the quality of learning and teaching varies widely, and where it is rationed by price or by other factors that constrain access, it is important to ensure that improvements in access to education are equitable and do not increase learning opportunity for some at the expense of others. Enhanced equity is an essential condition of an expanded vision of access.
Planners often overlook the significance of age in relation to enrolment, progression, and levels of achievement, and neglect the curricular and pedagogical problems that arise when teaching groups include children with a wide range of ages. This may be because the literature on planning has developed in high-enrolment countries where age-in-grade slippage is no longer an issue. Curricula in these countries are frequently designed for a single-grade learning environment where all children in the same grade are of the same age.
In sub-Saharan Africa and parts of South and South-East Asia many children are over-age for the grades they attend. In some poor areas more than half of children are at least two years over-age. In rural parts of some African countries, where the birthdates of many children are unknown, it is common to assess school readiness by the height of a child, without reference to their chronological age. In some of these countries 30 per cent or more of children are clinically stunted, almost guaranteeing late enrolment. Repetition of grades is endemic in systems which have low completion rates, and this exacerbates the numbers of over-age children in the system. Girls are especially disadvantaged by being over-age. None of the systems which have universalized completion of basic education has a wide range of ages in each grade.
School participation by age can be illustrated with data from household surveys. Figure 1.3 shows how participation can change with age. This can be linked to the zones of exclusion discussed above. Figure 1.3 indicates that in the system described, which is based on data from Ghana, about 40 per cent of 6-year-olds are not in school, falling to about 10 per cent by the age of 10 years. Above this age, those who have not enrolled are unlikely ever to enrol (Zone 1). From the age of 7, some children who have entered drop out, and the number of drop-outs gradually increases with age. These drop-outs
Conceptualizing access and zones of educational exclusion
form the largest number of out-of-school children over 11 years old and fall into Zone 2 of the model. Children who enrol but are at risk of drop-out, because of low attendance, or because they are over-age, repeating years, or achieving poorly, fall into Zone 3. They gradually become a larger proportion of those still enrolled in primary grades who are above the age of 11 years. Many make the transition into secondary school from the age of 12 years and above. However, if they fail to do enter secondary school by the age of 15 years it becomes increasingly unlikely that they will make the transition to lower secondary school successfully.
Figure 1.3 Age and zones of exclusion
Par ticipation (%) Age 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Securely attending primary school Attending primary school but at risk of leaving Attended primary and left before completion Completed primary and left school Never attended primary Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 4 Zone 3 In secondary school Source: Author.