Programme d’analyse des systems éducatifs de la CONFEMEN (Programme of Analysis of

of Analysis of Education Systems of CONFEMEN) (PASEC): The link between early school attendance and learning outcomes

Over the past few decades, the world has focused on universal access to primary education. During the period, governments and the international community have been investing in school infrastructure, training teachers and developing learning materials. Children’s attendance in school has increased, but many children are not learning (UIS, 2017g). In the new era of SDG 4, the focus is on learning quality and equity.

Many countries are promoting quality by improving the monitoring of learning by national, regional and international learning assessments, and by developing targeted programmes that improve teaching and learning. The first part of this section will introduce the work of CONFEMEN through its regional assessment,

20 Written by Hilaire Hounkpodoté, PASEC Coordinator, CONFEMEN.

PASEC, to monitor Indicator 4.1.1. The second part will look at the factors that improve learning outcomes, more specifically the link between early school attendance and learning outcomes. The data come from the PASEC 2014 assessment.

The CONFEMEN Analysis Programme of Education Systems

PASEC was created in 1991 to conduct assessments of education achievement at the primary school level with a focus on basic education.²¹ From 1991 to 2012, PASEC carried out national evaluations in nearly all the francophone countries of sub-Saharan Africa, in Lebanon and in three South Asian countries (Cambodia, PDR and Viet Nam).

Starting in 2012, CONFEMEN reformed PASEC to direct its methodology towards creating international assessments, grouping together several countries by means of standardised surveys, allowing for participating countries to make comparisons amongst each other. With these new standards, PASEC undertook its first international evaluation, called PASEC 2014. Ten countries participated in this evaluation: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, Senegal and Togo. An international report which analysed data from the countries and gave comparative results was developed and published. National reports were also published. These national reports presented the results of the assessments at the national level, on the one hand through the comparison of the country to the other education systems, and on the other hand through a comparative analysis of the various school regions of the education systems. In these national reports, results were analysed in each of these contexts.

According to PASEC 2014 results, more than 70%

of students at the beginning of primary education

21 The Conférence des ministres de l’éducation des états et gouvernements de la Francophonie (CONFEMEN), created in 1960 and including 44 countries and governments, supports, according to its mission, member countries in the improvement of the quality of their education systems through CONFEMEN’s PASEC.

Figure 1.1 Interim reporting of SDG 4 indicators

(Grade 2) have not attained the expected skill level in reading/writing, and more than 50% have not attained the expected skill level in mathematics. At the end of primary education (Grade 6), nearly 60% of students are below the expected skill levels in both subjects.

These results demonstrate that, despite progress in expanding access to schools, the quality of learning is an issue. Furthermore, the results also show that in many schools the availability of and access to educational resources are a challenge.

A good follow-up according to SDG 4 suggests that countries assemble and arrange data for targeted indicators. National, regional and international assessments are therefore essential. After the first evaluation in 2014, PASEC started to prepare for its second round of international assessments, PASEC 2019, which will include 15 countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. The testing of instruments and procedures for this second evaluation took place in April, May and June of 2018. The final data collection is planned for April and May of 2019.

PASEC assessments are based on the measurement of skills in reading and mathematics at the start and end of primary education (Grades 2 and 6) and the analysis of factors that contribute to academic success in order to propose ideas and actions for improvements. PASEC also reinforces the capacities of countries. Since its creation, PASEC has strengthened the capacities of national teams concerning several themes, including the creation of instruments, sampling, data processing and development of reports.

Academic achievement factors: The link between attending preschool and primary school learning results

Data from PASEC 2014 showed that household inequality, school pathways and school and class characteristics, particularly educational resources,

might lead to differences in success at the beginning and end of schooling. The summary of the data demonstrates that a number of factors favour school success. For instance, attending urban schools, the availability of educational resources, attending preschool, not repeating a grade, literacy of one parent and the availability of necessary educational resources in schools and classes are just some of the factors that are conducive to academic achievement.

Among the factors mentioned above, attending preschool is being discussed more and more within education systems. This topic of providing preschool education to children was at the heart of the dialogue during the 58^th CONFEMEN conference held in May 2018 in New Brunswick, Canada. Early childhood years, the period between birth and six years old, is understood today as a crucial period for the development of young children, both from the point of view of physical health and that of motor, socio-emotional, cognitive and language development. In this respect, preschool education prepares children to approach their first instances of learning in good condition. This preparation is even more important for children coming from underprivileged backgrounds.

As the PASEC 2014 international report highlights, the idea of preschool education is very different from one country to another. Teaching programmes, the type of teaching and even the language of instruction can vary. According to PASEC 2014 data for the 10 participating countries (see Figure 3.3), between 10% and 50% of enrolled students in Grade 2 attended preschool before starting primary school.

The percentage of students who attended preschool and who have attained the expected skill level in reading/writing is 41.8%, compared to 24.1% for those who did not attend preschool.

In Grade 6, between 12% and 46% of students attended preschool, with a relatively high percentage in Cameroon, Benin, Senegal and Congo.

The gross analysis of performance differences between students who did attend preschool and

14.4

6.6 21.8 29.9

33.2 28.3 12.5 11.6

20.3 21.5

Early attendance - YES

Early attendance - NO

Level 1 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4

Figure 3.3 Percentage of students attending or not attending preschool and their corresponding skills levels at the start of primary school for reading and writing

Source: PASEC.

Reading Mathematics Reading Mathematics Reading Mathematics Reading Mathematics Reading Mathematics Reading Mathematics Reading Mathematics Reading Mathematics Reading Mathematics Reading Mathematics

Benin Burkina

Faso Côte

d’Ivoire

Burundi Cameroon Congo Niger

  Senegal

Chad

Togo

Figure 3.4 Gross difference between students who attended preschool and those who did not

Performance of students in reading and mathematics at the start of school depending on their attendance in kindergarten or pre-school

Performance of students in reading and mathematics at the end of school depending on their attendance in kindergarten or pre-school

Source: PASEC, 2014.

Reading Mathematics Reading Mathematics Reading Mathematics Reading Mathematics Reading Mathematics Reading Mathematics Reading Mathematics Reading Mathematics Reading Mathematics Reading Mathematics

650 600 550 500 450 400 350

650 600 550 500 450 400 350

Benin Burkina

Faso Côte

d’Ivoire

Burundi Cameroon Congo Niger

Senegal  

Chad

Togo

Mean score for students attending Kindergarten or pre-school Mean score for students not attending Kindergarten or pre-school

Figure 3.5 Average socioeconomic level gap between students who attended preschool and those who did not

those who did not demonstrates that in most countries students who did attend preschool perform better than those who never went (see Figure 3.4).

A more elaborate analysis of the data shows that students who attended preschool have on average a higher socioeconomic status than students who did not attend preschool. In addition, students who attended preschool predominantly live in urban areas.

The difference between the socioeconomic level of students who attended preschool and those who did not is shown in Figure 3.5. As seen in the figure, the greatest difference in socioeconomic level between the two types of students is 11.3 in Niger. This difference is 8.9 in Congo and 8.6 in Chad. In other countries, the gap varies between 4.4 and 7.4.

The analysis of the link between preschool

attendance, controlling for socioeconomic levels of students’ families, schools in urban areas and student performance shows that in most countries the link

remains positive and significant between preschool attendance and student performance. While the gap between performances of the two types of students decreases when controlling for the variables mentioned above, the gap is still relatively significant (see Figure 3.4).

At the start of primary schooling, the gap remains significant for reading/writing in Cameroon (74.9), Senegal (47.3) and Togo (40.6). In Benin, the gap is 20 points, while in the Congo the gap is 37.4 points.

The exceptions are Burkina Faso and Burundi, where the link is not significant. In mathematics, the gap remains important in Cameroon and Niger but is not significant in the six other countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal).

At the end of primary schooling, the largest gaps in reading/writing are in Cameroon (39.9), Togo (33.0), Congo (25.3), Benin (24.6), Senegal (18.1) and Côte d’Ivoire (17.1). In mathematics, the gaps are only

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Burundi Côte d’Ivoire Benin Senegal Burkina Faso Cameroon Togo Chad Congo Niger

4.4 4.9

5.8 6.1

6.8 6.9

7.4

8.6 8.9

11.3

Figure 3.5 Average socioeconomic level gap between students who attended preschool and those who did not

Source: PASEC, 2014.

found in Cameroon (29.8), Togo (26.2), Benin (24.6), Congo (21.3) and Niger (22.7).

Analysing the link between attending preschool and students’ academic performance allows us to ask questions and examine different lines of thought.

These include:

m Integration of preschool in national curricula.

Should preschool education be included in the basic education cycle/primary education?

m Coordination between the preschool education programme and those of primary or basic education.

m Harmonisation of management approaches and learning content in a context of diverse preschool opportunities.

m Qualifications of preschool management staff.

The situation regarding the quality of education systems in sub-Saharan Africa concerns all actors in the field of education. The culture of learning assessments and the inclusion of the results in education politics and decisionmaking are integral for countries if they want to promote inclusive and quality education for all by 2030.

3.1.3 Southern and Eastern African