FACTS AND FIGURES
Asia Facts and Figures
One fifth of the population in South Asia is between the ages of 15 and 24. India alone has some 200 million young people. This is the largest number of young people ever to transition into adulthood, both in South Asia and in the world as a whole.
Education
"Literacy provides adults with the knowledge and tools to improve their lives".
The right to literacy is implicit in the right to education recognized by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But the Global 2006 Monitoring Report estimates that 771 million people aged 15 and above still live without basic literacy skills that would enable them to live a better life. Of the 771 million, 130 million live in East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands, and 381 million live in South and West Asia. This brings to 511 million the total number of adults without basic literacy skills in Asia and the Pacific. Three-quarters of the world's illiterates live in just 12 countries, including 87 million in China, and 18 million in Indonesia.
Based on projections, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Viet Nam, Cambodia, India, Lao PDR, Nepal and Pakistan are at "serious risk" of not achieving the 2015 goal, due to slow increase and high literacy rates (80%). However, countries such as Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, China and Singapore have showed significant improvements in their literacy rates and have a high chance of reducing illiteracy rates by 50% in the next 10 years.
Women are less literate than men: worldwide, only 88 adult women are considered literate for every 100 adult men, with much lower numbers in low-income countries such as Bangladesh (62 per 100 men) and Pakistan (57 per 100 men). In East Asia (including Southeast Asia) and the Pacific, 92 adult women are considered literate for every 100 adult men.
Despite tremendous strides towards achieving the Education For All (EFA) goals by 2015, millions of children remain excluded from classrooms for different reasons, such as: AIDS, poverty, conflict, natural disaster and abuse. About 100 million children are still not enrolled in primary education. Of them, over 45.5 million are in Asia and the Pacific, 25.1 million or 55% of whom are girls.
23 countries in Asia are at risk of not achieving universal primary enrolment by 2015, as their net enrolment ratios are declining. In East Asia and the Pacific, total primary -school enrolment rates fell 3.7% between 1998 and 2002, a drop of over 10 million students. Rates have however increased sharply in South and West Asia, with nearly 20 million new students in each region.
In East, Southeast and South Asian countries, only the Republic of Korea and China are seen as having achieved or being close to achieving the EFA goals. Indonesia, Mongolia, Viet Nam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Myanmar are among the countries that face remaining challenges, including quality, that have to be addressed to meet the EFA goals. Cambodia, Lao PDR, India, Bangladesh and Nepal require dramatic interventions. EFA goals will not be achieved unless:
A. Primary Education Becomes Free of Charge
The greatest concentration of educational deprivation (and poverty in general) is found in Africa and South Asia.School fees still remain a barrier towards primary and secondary enrolment rates. Countries such as Thailand, Lao PDR, Philippines, Timor-Leste, Viet Nam, China and Indonesia are still collecting primary-school fees, both legally and illegal.
B. Attain Gender Parity in Primary and Secondary Education
In both India and Nepal, nearly as many girls as boys enroll in the first year. Girls' primary enrolments have risen rapidly, especially in some of the lowest-income countries of South and West Asia. Countries such as China, Indonesia, Japan and the Republic of Korea, have achieved gender parity as of 2002. Boys are unrepresented in Brunei Darussalam, China, Malaysia and the Philippines, thus hindering the achievement of gender parity for secondary education. Both Cambodia and Lao PDR are at risk of not achieving the gender parity goal for primary and secondary levels by 2015.
C. Improving Quality in Basic Education
Low learning quality is common. Less than two-thirds of primary school pupils reach the last grade in many countries, including Cambodia and Lao PDR. In addition, many primary-school teachers are not well qualified, with insufficient training and teaching material that affects negatively the student's quality.
South and West Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa have the lowest proportion of women teachers, where men outnumber women teachers at both primary and secondary levels.
D. Enhance Youth and Adult Literacy
Joint efforts between Governments, Local Communities, NGOs and the Private Sector are needed to improve Youth and adult literacy. More investments are needed to overcome existing challenges. Identification of necessary learning means to educate both children and illiterate adults (including youth above the age of 15 years) is vital in creating safe and user friendly education environments throughout local communities. This will help speed up the process, and reach the unreached communities before 2015.
For more information,please visit the following web-sites: www.uis.unesco.org/wei2005, http://gmr.uis.unesco.org, www.unescobk.org/efa, www.efareport.unesco.org.
Children are Asia's future - ROTA is working hard to make their future a brighter one.
