Education forAll? The MONEE Project CEE/CIS/Baltics REGIONAL MONITORING REPORT – No. 5 – 1998 Education forAll? The MONEE Project United Nations Children's Fund CEE/CIS/Baltics International Child Development Centre REGIONAL MONITORING REPORT – No. 5 – 1998 Florence - Italy The UNICEF International Child Development Centre (ICDC), often referred to as the Innocenti Centre, was established in 1988 with core fund- ing from the Italian government to serve as a specialized research and training facility. The Centre undertakes and promotes policy analysis and applied research relating to the rights and welfare of children. It also provides training and capacity-building opportunities for UNICEF staff and for professionals in other institutions with which UNICEF cooperates. The Centre is housed within the Spedale degli Innocenti, a foundling hospital designed by Filippo Brunelleschi that has been serving abandoned and needy children since 1445. This Regional Monitoring Report is the fifth in a series produced by the MONEE project, which has formed part of the activities of UNICEF ICDC since 1992. The project analyses social conditions and public policy affecting children and their families in Central and Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Baltic republics. Earlier Regional Monitoring Reports are as follows: 1. Public Policy and Social Conditions, 1993. 2. Crisis in Mortality, Health and Nutrition, 1994. 3. Poverty, Children and Policy: Responses for a Brighter Future, 1995. 4. Children at Risk in Central and Eastern Europe: Perils and Promises, 1997. Russian as well as English versions of the Reports are available. A summary of the fourth Report has been published in English, Russian, French, and Italian. Besides benefiting from the core funding to UNICEF ICDC from the Italian government, the MONEE project receives financial contribu- tions from the UNICEF Regional Office for CEE/CIS/Baltics and from the World Bank. Readers wishing to cite this Report are asked to use the following reference: UNICEF (1998), Education For All?. The MONEE project Regional Monitoring Report, No. 5. Florence: UNICEF International Child Development Centre. Design Bernard Chazine Printed by Arti Grafiche Ticci - Siena, Italy © UNICEF 1998 ISBN: 88-85401-38-4 ISSN: 1020-6728 The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or views of UNICEF. The designations employed in this publication and the presentation of the material do not imply on the part of UNICEF the expression of any opinion whatsoever concerning the legal status of any country or territory, or of its authorities, or the delimitations of its frontiers. All correspondence should be addressed to: UNICEF International Child Development Centre Piazza Santissima Annunziata, 12 50122 Florence, Italy Tel. (+39) 055.20.330 Fax. (+39) 055.20.33.220 E-mail: (for information) [email protected] (orders) [email protected] Foreword 3 Children’s right to learn and to develop their full potential is fundamental to their lives and to the well- being of society. Helping to realize this right is an important aim of UNICEF’s work. The obstacles to be overcome include poverty, civil conflict, preventable disability, child labour and discrimination. These obstacles exist in many parts of the world. As the global advocate for children, UNICEF speaks out on these issues in rich and poor countries alike. This report on education in Central and Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the Baltic republics contributes to the work of UNICEF in pro- moting education as a fundamental right for children. Educational policy has been the subject of intense debate in recent years throughout the world. In the case of the 27 countries covered by this report, educational policy faces twin challenges. First, is the chal- lenge to protect the positive educational achievements of past decades and second, is the need to adopt new approaches during the transformation of the economies and societies in the region in education and other areas of public policy. This report from UNICEF International Child Development Centre aims to promote action through analysis and discussion of critical issues on educational policy that are of concern to governments and other partners in the region. As in all other parts of the world, there is much that can be done to improve edu- cation for children. Educational reform is a central part of the transition process needed to improve the lives of children living in the region. Carol Bellamy Executive Director, UNICEF iv Acknowledgments This Report has been prepared by a team at UNICEF ICDC with contributions and assistance from a large number of other persons. The Florence team was composed of Aline Coudouel, Alessandra Cusan, Gáspár Fajth, Cinzia Iusco Bruschi, Jeni Klugman, John Micklewright, Albert Motivans, and Olga Remenets. John Micklewright edited the Report; responsibility for the views expressed rests with him. Important contributions were made by Johanna Crighton (Box 2.7 and accompanying discussion), Judith Harwin (Box 1.4), Jim Himes (Box 3.2), Eddie McLoughney (Box 4.3 and accompanying discussion), Diana Saltarelli (parts of Section 3.4), Simon Strachan (part of Section 4.2), Roberto Laurenti (who provided the information for Box 4.10), and Arlinda Ymeraj (Box 1.1). The first part of Section 2.4 is based on a background paper written by Andy Newell and Barry Reilly. The first half of Section 3.3 summarizes a draft paper written by Mel Ainscow and Memmenasha Haile-Giorgis. The text of Section 4.3 is based on background papers written by Mike Barrow, Jeni Klugman and Kitty Stewart. Kitty Stewart also provided assistance with data for Chapter 1. Ana Lasaosa provided Figures 3.10 and 3.14. Jane Falkingham, Péter Galasi and Gyula Nagy supplied information for various parts of the Report. Dorotha Holzer-Zelazewska, Timothy Heleniak and Dena Ringold worked with the Florence team for several weeks in assembling the data and provided a vital input to the project’s work. Papers summarizing the situation regarding particular aspects of the educational system in their countries were written by the following (some- times in conjunction with other persons): Libor Svoboda, Jana Hendrichová, Jessie Kaˇstánková, Radim Ryˇska, C˘at˘alin Zamfir, Vladimir Grachev, Alexander Savelyev, Vahid Ahundov, Birut˙e Mockien˙e, Helena Woleková, Vladimer Papava, Elena Chikorani, Judit Lannert, László Limbacher, Snezana Adamcheska, Theodora Noncheva, Olga Gomeleva, Stanislawa Golinowska, Bo˙zena Kolaczek, and Ella Libanova. Drafts of the chapters were commented on by Mike Barrow, Nigel Cantwell, Fay Chung, Johanna Crighton, John Donohue, Rob Fuderich, Stephen Heyneman, Jim Himes, Michael Mertaugh, Andy Newell, Yuri Oksamitniy, Barry Reilly, and Simon Strachan. Douglas Windham and John Bennet contributed to a meeting to discuss the Report’s material, as did others already named above. Johanna Crighton, Jeni Klugman and Jim Himes made very helpful and prompt additional comments in the final stages of editing. Robert Zimmermann copyedited the text with his customary enthu- siasm and “pignoleria”. Bernard Chazine and his staff are thanked for their work on the design and layout of the Report. Work on the Report benefited from the encouragement and help of many UNICEF colleagues in other offices: Rudolf Hoffmann, Robert Fuderich, Yuri Oksamitniy, Abdelmajid Tibouti, Maggie Murray-Lee, Alexandre Zouev, Gareth Jones, Ekrem Birerdinc, Michael Alexanian, Maie Ayoub von Kohl, Elena Bogdanska, Stanislaw Czaplicki, Ute Deseniss-Gros, Bertrand Desmoulins, Johan Fagerskiold, Pierre Ferry, Hanno Gaertner, JoAnna van Gerpen, Gary Gleason, Stephen Johnson, Elmina Kazimzadeh, Roberto Laurenti, Serap Maktav, Nada Marasovi´c, Svetlana Marojevi´c, Tom McDermott, Gianni Murzi, Irena Nikolova, Jacqueline Peters, Gianfranco Rotigliano, Rudy Rodrigues, Alla Soloviova, Simon Strachan, Raissa Sulamaa, Boris Tolstopiatov, Stefan Toma, and Zaza Varsimashvili. Particular thanks go to John Donohue, Director of the CEE/CIS and Baltics Regional Office, in Geneva, for his support. Finally, thanks go to Paolo Basurto, Director of ICDC, Bernadette Abegglen-Verazzi, Andrea Brilli, Nigel Cantwell, Patrizia Faustini, Patricia Light, Jason Pearce, and other colleagues at ICDC. Persons in several other institutions must also be thanked for their assistance: Ralph Harbison, Timothy Heleniak, Stephen Heyneman, Dorotha Holzer-Zelazewska, Alexandre Marc, Michael Mertaugh, Pip O’Keefe, and Dena Ringold from the World Bank (Dena Ringold is thanked especially for support in her liaison role); Francesca Pissarides, Martin Raiser and Nick Stern from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; Ian Whitman, Scott Edwards and Stojan Zaviˇsi´c from OECD; Paul Rayment of the UN Economic Commission for Europe; Yuri Misnikov from UNDP, Minsk; and Erio Ziglio from the WHO Regional Office for Europe. The Report could not have been produced without the participation of the central statistical offices in the countries of the region. (They bear no responsibility for the way data are used or presented in the Report.) Thanks are due for their many contributions (including written papers) to the following persons and to others working with them: Albania Milva Ekonomi Armenia Juliette Magloutchiants Azerbaijan Arif Velief, Yashar Pashayev, Meri Gardashjhanova Belarus Galina Gasyuk Bosnia-Herzegovina Hasan Zoli´c, Kreˇsimir Krmpoti´c Bulgaria Kiril Gatev,