226757E_0

EducationPolicyResearchSeries

DiscussionDocumentNo.5

EducationSystemsinASEAN+6Countries:

AComparativeAnalysisofSelectedEducationalIssues

EducationPolicyResearchSeriesDiscussionDocumentNo.5

EducationSystemsinASEAN+6Countries:

AComparativeAnalysisofSelectedEducationalIssues

EducationPolicyandReformUnit

UNESCOBangkok

Publishedin2014bytheUnitedNationsEducational,ScientificandCulturalOrganization7,placedeFontenoy,75352Paris07SP,FranceandUNESCOBangkokOfficeUNESCO2014

ThispublicationisavailableinOpenAccessundertheAttributionShareAlike3.0IGO(CCBYSA 3.0 IGO) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bysa/3.0/igo/). By using thecontentofthispublication,theusersaccepttobeboundbythetermsofuseoftheUNESCOOpenAccessRepository(http://www.unesco.org/openaccess/termsuseccbysaen).ThedesignationsemployedandthepresentationofmaterialthroughoutthispublicationdonotimplytheexpressionofanyopinionwhatsoeveronthepartofUNESCOconcerningthelegal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning thedelimitationofitsfrontiersorboundaries.The ideasandopinionsexpressed inthispublicationarethoseoftheauthors; theyarenotnecessarilythoseofUNESCOanddonotcommittheOrganization.Design/Layout:JinAHwangTHA/DOC/14/004E

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PrefaceThis comparative report reviews and analyses a range of selected educational issues inAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)+6 countries, which include 10 ASEANmembercountriesplusAustralia,China,India,Japan,NewZealand,andtheRepublicofKorea.Inparticular,ithighlightsthekeyissues,challengesandopportunitiesforimprovingsystemperformanceandreducingeducationaldisparitiesacrossASEAN+6countries.Itthusprovidesuseful inputs for informing policy options for education development in these and othercountries. The issues reviewed are grouped into three policy areas: 1) sector policy andmanagementframeworks,2)secondaryeducation,and3)technicalandvocationaleducationandtraining(TVET),allofwhichareofcriticalimportanceinthecontextofformulatingandoperationalizingeducationreformagendasinthesecountries.AcomparativereviewofthecurrenteducationalcontextinASEAN+6countriesindicatesthat:

AllASEAN+6countrieshavealegalprovisionforfreeandcompulsoryeducationforatleastsomelevelsofbasiceducation.

Educationsystemstructuresvary,however6+3+3isthemostcommonintheregion,followedbya6+4+2system.

Most ASEAN+6 countries have decentralized some functions and responsibilities tolowerlevelsofadministrationbutremainrathercentralized,especiallywithregardtostandardsettingandteachermanagement.

Many ASEAN+6 countries have promoted alternative education and the use ofequivalency programmes, however the ways alternative learning programmes areorganized,deliveredandcertifieddiffer.

There is an increasing recognition of the association between quality of learningoutcomes and enabling factors for quality education such as curriculum andassessment, quality assurance, teaching and learning time, language in educationpoliciesandteacherquality.

TrendsinTVETenrolmentratesvaryacrosstheregion;inmostcountries,theshareofTVEThastendedtodecreaseoverthepastdecade.AllASEAN+6countriesrecognizethe importance of TVET and many include it in their national socioeconomicdevelopmentplans,howeverTVETcontinuestobeunpopularandthedemarcationbetweengeneralandvocationaleducationisincreasinglyblurred.

TherearewidevariancesinthewayscountriespreparetheirworkforceandperformeducationallyinTVETbutmosthaveattemptedtoputinplacesystemsforTVETqualityassuranceandqualificationsframeworks.

Reviewingtheseissuesandthediverseapproachesthatcountrieshavechosentorespondwithhas shed some lights on the possible policy choices for a country wishing to undertakeeducation reform in these areas.Evidence reveals thathighperformingeducation systemsappearto:

Commitstrongly,bothlegallyandfinancially,toeducation Spendmoreandspendwiselyoneducation Devolvemoremanagementresponsibilitiestosubnationallevels Produceandusemoredata Undertake frequent curriculum reforms to respond to changing needs and make

educationmorerelevant

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Trainandutilizebetterteachers Providealternativepathways toeducationonthebasisofgender,ethnicity,poverty

andgeographicallocation.Theanalysisofcountryexperiencesinimplementingeducationpolicyreformalsoprovidesvaluable lessons for any successful education policy development. Education policy, inparticularreformpolicy,ismostlikelytobesuccessfulifitisdevelopedwith:

Visionaryandconsistentpolicy Focusonequityandlearning Monitoringofprogressandoutcomes Partnershipsundergovernmentleadership

ThepaperisDiscussionDocumentNo.5intheEducationPolicyResearchSeries,publishedbyUNESCOBangkok.Thisseriesofdocumentsaimstocontributetothedebatearoundthemostpressingeducationpolicy issues in theAsiaPacificregion,with theobjectiveofsupportingeducationpolicyreforminMemberStates.ThedocumentsinthisseriesalsocontributetotheUNESCOBangkokknowledgebaseoneducationpolicyandreformissues.

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AcknowledgementsThisreportwasinitiallypreparedasabackgroundpaperprovidingcomparativeanalysisoneducationsectorpolicy,planningandmanagementacrosscountriesoftheAsiaPacific.Theideaofa comparative reportonASEAN+6educationsystemswas initially conceivedwhenUNESCOwas calleduponby theMalaysianMinistryofEducation to conduct anEducationPolicyReviewinNovember2011andlaterbyMyanmarMinistryofEducationinthecontextoftheComprehensiveEducationSectorReview(CESR)inMyanmarinJune2012.ThereportisbasedonfactfindingmissionsfromvariousUNESCOstaffaswellasanalyticalworkbyUNESCOBangkoksuchastheAsiaPacificEducationSystemReviewSeries,theonlineEducationSystemProfiles(ESPs),secondaryeducationcountryprofiles,andselectedcountrycasestudyreports.DifferentsourcesofinformationarenotalwayscitedexplicitlybuthavebeenverifiedtotheextentpossiblebyUNESCOBangkok.The report also builds on a brief literature review of academic articles, policy reports,government documents and international agency reports examining the various topicscovered in the report. As such, the report does not provide an exhaustive analysis of theeducation systemsbut focuseson thoseareas that are closer to themandate, comparativeadvantageandcountryexperienceofUNESCOintheregion.AteamfromUNESCOBangkoksEducationPolicyandReform(EPR)Unit,comprisingLeThuHuong, Satoko Yano, Ramya Vivekanandan, Margarete SachsIsrael, Mary Anne ThereseManuson, Stella Yu, Barbara Trzmiel,William Federer, Diana Kartika, Karlee Johnson andAkinaUeno.PeerreviewandcommentswereprovidedbyGwangCholChangandYoungSupChoi.ThereporthasbeenfurtherreviewedandeditedbyRachelMcCarthy,AyakaSuzukiandJinAHwang.Comments or questions on the report are most welcome and should be sent toepr.bgk@unesco.org

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ListofAcronyms

ADB AsianDevelopmentBankASEAN AssociationofSouthEastAsianNationsASEAN+6 AssociationofSouthEastAsianNations+sixcountriesASEM AsiaEuropeMeetingCBT CompetencybasedtrainingCESR ComprehensiveEducationSectorReview(Myanmar)CVET ContinuousVocationalEducationandTrainingEFA EducationforAllESPs EducationSystemProfilesGDP GrossDomesticProductGDVT GeneralDepartmentofVocationalTraining(VietNam)GNP GrossNationalProductHRD HumanResourceDevelopment(Singapore)HRDF HumanResourceDevelopmentFund(Malaysia)IBE UNESCOInternationalBureauof EducationILO InternationalLabourOrganizationISCED InternationalStandardClassificationofEducationIVET InitialVocationalEducationandTrainingLMI LabourMarketInformationMEST MinistryofEducation,ScienceandTechnology(RepublicofKorea)MOE MinistryofEducationMOEL MinistryofEmploymentandLabour(RepublicofKorea)MOET MinistryofEducationandTraining(VietNam)MOHR MinistryofHumanResources(Malaysia)MOLISA MinistryofLabour,InvalidsandSocialAffairs(VietNam)MOLSW MinistryofLabourandSocialWelfare(LaoPDR)MOLVT MinistryofLabourandVocationalTraining(Cambodia)MTEF MediumTermExpenditureFrameworkNQF NationalQualificationFrameworkOECD OrganisationforEconomicCooperationandDevelopmentOJT OntheJobTrainingPES ProvincialEducationService(LaoPDR)PISA ProgrammeforInternationalStudentAssessmentPPP PublicPrivatePartnershipsSDF SkillsDevelopmentFund(Singapore)SEAMEO SoutheastAsianMinistersofEducationOrganization

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TVED TechnicalandVocationalEducationDepartment(LaoPDR)TVET TechnicalandVocationalEducationandTrainingUIS UNESCOInstituteforStatisticsUN UnitedNationsUNESCAP UnitedNationsEconomicandSocialCommissionforAsiaandthePacificUNESCO UnitedNationsEducational,ScientificandCulturalOrganizationUNEVOC UNESCOInternationalCentreforTechnicalandVocationalEducationand

TrainingVCs VocationalCollegesVET VocationalEducationandTraining(Australia)

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ContentsPreface............................................................................................................................................................................iAcknowledgements................................................................................................................................................iiiListofAcronyms......................................................................................................................................................ivListofTablesandFigures...................................................................................................................................viiIntroduction.........................................................................................................................................11.ARegionalPerspectiveonEducation......................................................................................3

1.1 TheGreatDiversityoftheAsiaPacificRegion.............................................................................31.2 MacroTrendsShapingEducationDevelopmentintheRegion.............................................5

2.EducationSystemsinASEAN+6Countries.............................................................................72.1 EducationPolicyandManagementFrameworks........................................................................7

2.1.1 Introduction................................................................................................................................72.1.2 Legalandfinancialcommitmenttoeducation..................................................................72.1.3 Startingageanddurationofcompulsoryeducation.....................................................112.1.4 Sectormanagement.................................................................................................................132.1.5 Teachermanagementpolicy.................................................................................................182.1.6 Qualitydeterminants...............................................................................................................222.1.7 Conclusion...................................................................................................................................29

2.2 SecondaryEducation.............................................................................................................................302.2.1 Introduction...............................................................................................................................302.2.2 Formalpathwaystoeducation.............................................................................................312.2.3 Curriculumatthesecondarylevel.......................................................................................332.2.4 Secondaryteachers..................................................................................................................372.2.5 Studentassessmentatthesecondarylevel.......................................................................412.2.6 Conclusion...................................................................................................................................44

2.3 TechnicalandVocationalEducationandTraining(TVET)..................................................452.3.1 Introduction...............................................................................................................................452.3.2 Legislativeandinstitutionalpolicyframeworks.............................................................462.3.3 Financing....................................................................................................................................522.3.4 TVETdeliverysystem..............................................................................................................542.3.5 ContentofTVETatthesecondarylevel.............................................................................612.3.6 QualityandrelevanceofTVET.............................................................................................632.3.7 Conclusion...................................................................................................................................67

3.WhatLessonsCanBeLearnt?..................................................................................................69References................................................................................................................................................................71

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ListofTablesandFiguresTable1:CountriesthatRatified/AcceptedtheConventionagainstDiscriminationin

Education(CADE,1960).....................................................................................................................8Table2:DeterminationofCoreRecurrentSchoolFundingItemsfromtheLevelof

GovernmentwithPrimaryFundingResponsibility,SelectedCountries....................11Table3:EducationSectorStructureandYearsofPrimaryandSecondaryEducation.........12Table4:OverviewofMTEFImplementationinSelectedASEAN+6Countries.........................13Table5:DistributionofKeyResponsibilities..........................................................................................14Table6:KeyMilestonesofEducationDecentralizationReforminSelectedEducation

Systems...................................................................................................................................................15Table7:TheLocusofTeacherEmployment(Selection,Management,andPaymentof

Teachers)...............................................................................................................................................16Table8:ChallengesinDecentralizationofBasicEducationFinancingandDeliveryfrom

SelectedAsianCountries.................................................................................................................16Table9:PercentageofStudentsEnrolledinPrivatelyManagedSchools,SelectedASEAN+6

Countries................................................................................................................................................17Table10:TotalExpenditureonEducationasaPercentageofGDP,PrivateSources,All

Levels.......................................................................................................................................................17Table11:PrivateEducationExpenditureasaPercentageofTotalEducationExpenditurein

SelectedAsianCountries.................................................................................................................18Table12:OverviewofTeacherManagementPolicies...........................................................................21Table13:TeacherRewardsandIncentivesinSoutheastAsia...........................................................22Table14:FrequencyofCurriculumReform...............................................................................................23Table15:EducationCurriculumReformMilestones.............................................................................23Table16:OverviewofNationalAccreditingandQualityAssuranceBodyinASEAN+6

Countries................................................................................................................................................25Table17:StudentLearningTime*,SelectedEducationSystems......................................................26Table18:AverageTeachingTime(HoursperWeek)............................................................................27Table19:LanguagePolicies..............................................................................................................................28Table20:CountryRequirementsforEnteringaTechnicalorVocationalProgramme...........31Table21:AlternativePathwaystoEducation,SelectedCountries...................................................32Table22:KeyMilestonesinAlternativeSecondaryEducationinSelectedCountries............33Table23:MajorChallengestoAlternativeEducationinSelectedCountries...............................33Table24:ExamplesofCurricularAimsfromSelectedCountries.....................................................34Table25:ContentsofNationalCurriculumFramework.......................................................................35Table26:AvailabilityofOptiontoChooseSubjectsforStudyatLowerandSecondaryLevels

....................................................................................................................................................................36Table27:MappingofContentAreasTaughtatLowerSecondaryLevel.......................................36Table28:AdditionalAspectsofTeacherQualificationinSelectedCountries.............................37Table29:LevelofResponsibilityforRecruitmentofSecondaryTeachers..................................38

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Table30:SecondaryTeachersAverageAnnualSalariesinPublicInstitutionsinSelectAsiaPacificCountriesasaPercentageofGDPPerCapita..........................................................39

Table31:TheUseofExaminationsforthePurposesofSelectionandCertificationinASEAN+6Countries...........................................................................................................................41

Table32:DetailsofAssessmentsUsedforAccountability..................................................................42Table33:ExaminingBodiesofASEAN+6Countries...............................................................................42Table34:ParticipationinMajorInternationalAssessmentsbyASEAN+6Countries.............43Table35:AccreditationforCompletionofLowerandUpperSecondaryEducation................44Table36:LegislativeandPolicyFrameworksforTVET(SelectedCountries)............................46Table37:MinistriesResponsibleforTVETProvision(SelectedCountries)................................48Table38:SummaryofEmployerEngagementTypes,byCountry...................................................50Table39:PublicPrivatePartnershipsinSelectedASEAN+6Countries.........................................51Table40:DecentralizationinTVET...............................................................................................................51Table41:TVETDeliveryModes.......................................................................................................................55Table42:TVETServiceProviders,SelectedCountries..........................................................................55Table43:TVETEnrolmentsatSecondaryandTertiaryLevels.........................................................58Table44:ShareofTVETStudentsamongTotalStudents....................................................................58Table45:ExistingApprenticeship/DualSystemProgrammesinASEAN+6Countries..........63Table46:OverviewofStandards,QualityAssurance,QualificationsandRecognition...........64Table47:StatusofNationalQualificationFramework(NQF)inASEAN+6Countries............65Table48:SurveysofLabourMarketbyType............................................................................................67Figure1:YearsofFreeandCompulsoryEducation..................................................................................8Figure2:PublicExpenditureonEducationasaPercentageofTotalGovernment

Expenditure,SelectedYears(20072010).................................................................................9Figure3:PublicExpenditureonEducationasaPercentageofGDP,SelectedYears

(20072010)............................................................................................................................................9Figure4:ShareofEducationExpendituresbySubSector(%),SelectedYears

(20072010).........................................................................................................................................10Figure5:OfficialStartingAgeofFormalEducation(NumberofASEAN+6Countries).........12Figure6:TotalNumberofYearsofSchoolingRequiredforEntrytoTeacherTraining........19Figure7:LowerSecondaryTeachersAnnualSalariesinPublicInstitutionsas

aPercentageofGDPPerCapita...................................................................................................40Figure8:UpperSecondaryTeachersAnnualSalariesinPublicInstitutionsas

aPercentageofGDPPerCapita...................................................................................................40Figure9:InstitutionalStructureofTVET...................................................................................................54Figure10:PercentageofTertiary,NondegreeEnrolment(ISCED5B)in

TVETProgrammesinSelectedCountriesbyGDPPerCapita,2002............................57Figure11:DiagramofMalaysiasEducationSystem................................................................................60

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IntroductionCountries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)1 , despite differences inpolitical systems, ideologies, historical background, development priorities and educationstructures,shareacommonvisionforanASEANcommunity.ForASEANcountries,educationiscoretodevelopmentandcontributestotheenhancementofASEANcompetitiveness.Infact,theASEANCharter,launchedin2007,clearlyemphasizesthestrategicimportanceofclosercooperationineducationandhumanresourcedevelopmentamongASEANmembercountries.ThecriticalroleofeducationinpromotingASEANsocialandeconomicdevelopmentandthebuilding of a strong ASEAN community has also been widely recognized and repeatedlyconfirmedatvarioushighlevelpolicydialogues2andinpolicydocuments.3Inthisregard,onenotableregional initiative is themovetowardsasharedregionalqualifications framework,whichaimstopromotetherecognitionofqualificationsandqualityassuranceintheprovisionofeducation.ASEAN+6,whichincludestheadditionofAustralia,China,India,Japan,NewZealandandtheRepublicofKoreatotheASEANmix,isaregionalcooperationframeworkaimingtoaccelerateeconomic growth in EastAsia andpromote cooperation in areas vital to this growth. ThiscooperationisbeneficialnotonlytoitsmembersbutalsoothercountriesoftheAsiaPacificregion. Examination of education systems in ASEAN+6 countries reveals a combination ofgenerallyhighperformingsystems(e.g.Australia,Japan,theRepublicofKorea,Singapore)andsystemswheresubstantialimprovementmaybeneeded(e.g.Cambodia,LaoPDR,Myanmar).Bycomparison,analysisprovidesgreaterscopeforunderstandingwhyaneducationsystemperformsbetterinonecountrythaninanother.Atthesametime,comparisonalsoprovidessolidevidenceandthuspracticallessonstohelpimproveeducationsystemperformance.Tohelp inform this reflection, it is important to examine the policies in any given educationsystem, the ways in which they interact and impact upon system performance and otherunderlyingfactorsthatmayinhibitorstrengthenestablishedpolicies.Againstthisbackdrop,UNESCOBangkoksEducationPolicyandReformUnithasundertakenadeskstudyofeducationsystemsinASEAN+6countries.ThereportoutlinesthefeaturesofASEAN+6countryeducationsystemsinthecontextofongoingdiscussiononpolicyoptionsforeducationdevelopmentandreforminthesecountries.Inparticular,ithighlightsthekeyissues, challenges and opportunities for improving system performance and reducingdisparities across ASEAN+6 countries with a focus on sector planning and management,secondary education and technical and vocational education and training (TVET), areasofcriticalimportanceinformulatingandoperationalizingtheeducationreformagendainmostofthesecountries.Thisreportistheproductofthatstudy.Thereportprovidesasourceofcomparativedataforresearchers,policyanalysts,educationsystemmanagers and policymakers in areaswhereUNESCO believes policy dialogue andreformiscriticalforimprovingeducationsystemperformance.Datahasbeencollectedandcomparisons have been drawn wherever possible for all 16 countries under analysis.Implications drawn are designed to serve education policy dialogue and reform efforts in1ASEANcountriesincludeBrunei,Cambodia,Indonesia,LaoPDR,Malaysia,Myanmar,thePhilippines,Singapore,Thailand,andVietNam.2Forexample,theASEANEducationMinistersRetreatin2005,the11thASEANSummitin2005.3Forexample,ASEANVision2020andtheVientianeActionProgramme(VAP).

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ASEANcountriesbutarealsorelevanttomanycountriesintheregionwishingtoparticipatein,andfullybenefitfrom,theregionalcooperationand/orintegrationprocess.Thisreporthasbeencompiledforrapidassessmentandthushasemployedasimpleapproachtodatacollectionandanalysis.Eachpolicyareaisbrieflyintroduced,andadescriptionofthepolicydimensionsunderreviewispresented.Conclusionsarethendrawnprimarilybasedonthecomparativeanalysisoftheeducationalissues.Theyarealsoinformedbytheexperienceof UNESCO in the AsiaPacific region,working closelywith government counterparts, civilsocietyanddevelopmentpartnerstosupporttheeducationaldevelopmentneedsofmembercountriesandtheiraspirationsineducation.Constraintsencounteredinthecompilingofthiscomparativereportincludedalackofreliabledataaswellassomewhatinconsistentandincomparabledatafromacrossvarioussources.Whereverpossible,thereporthasreliedonexistingresearchorstudyreportsavailablefrominternational development organizations aswell as internationally comparable andofficialgovernmentdatasources.Insomecases,however,thedataavailable,particularlyfromonlinesources,isdifferentfromdataprovidedbygovernmentsourcesorcollectedbyUNESCOstaff.Insuchcases, internationallycomparabledatahasbeenused,complementedorverifiedbyfindingsfromfurtherresearchorUNESCOinhouseexpertknowledge.Developmentbanks,academic and UN data sources have also been used extensively in order to provide atriangulatedanalysisoftheissues.Inaddition,onlycountrieswithrelevantdatahavebeenincludedinthetablesandfiguresthroughoutthisreportandthus,notallASEAN+6countriesarealwaysincludedintheanalysis.The report is presented in three chapters. Chapter 1 provides a regional perspective oneducationdevelopmentintheAsiaPacific,including:thegreatdiversityoftheAsiaPacificandthemacrotrendsshapingeducationdevelopmentintheregion.ChapterTwocomprisesadetailedaccountofASEAN+6countriesstatusonselectededucationsystem issues from a comparative perspective. Section 2.1 presents analyses on thelegislation, planning andmanagement of the education system. Section 2.2 comprises theanalysis of secondary education focusing on issues of pathways, curriculum, teachers andassessment at the secondary level. Section 2.3 provides a brief overview of technical andvocationaleducationandtraining(TVET)withsubtopicsfocusingonlegal,institutionalandpolicyframeworks,financingTVETdeliverysystemsandtherelevanceandqualityofTVET.ChapterThreeidentifiessomemajorpointsforreflectionbasedontheanalysisoftrendsandkeyissuesintheASEAN+6educationsystems,pointsofrelevanceforASEAN+6countriesandothersoutsidethisgroupingintheirreviewofeducationpolicyandinthecraftingofeducationdevelopmentstrategies.

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1. ARegionalPerspectiveonEducationAt the outset, it is important to provide perspective on the broader development contextwithintheAsiaPacificregion,theregiontowhichASEAN+6countriesbelong.ThefollowingchapterthuspresentsaregionaloverviewoftheAsiaPacificincludingthegreatdiversityoftheregionandmacrotrendsshapingeducationdevelopment.

1.1 TheGreatDiversityoftheAsiaPacificRegion

TheAsiaPacificregion4spansa largegeographicalarea,stretchingnorthwardtoMongolia,southwardtoNewZealand,eastwardtotheislandstatesofOceania,andwestwardtoIran.Countriesrangeinareaandpopulationfromamongthebiggestandmostpopulouscountriesintheworld,includingChinaandIndia,tosmallislandcountriessuchasNauruandTuvaluinthePacificOcean.Theregion ishome tomore than4.2billionpeopleor61percentof theworldspopulation(UNESCAP,2011)andhence,developmentgainsintheAsiaPacificwillcontinuetohaveasignificantimpactontheglobaleducationoutlook.Inadditiontoitsimmensephysicalexpanse,theregionischaracterizedbydiversityintermsof landscape, societies, history, culture, religion, and ethnicity. Countries also demonstratevaryingdegreesofpolitical,socialandeconomicdevelopment.Broaddemographic,culturaland economic characteristics of the region can help provide context to the concomitantstrengths,issuesandchallengessurroundingeducationdevelopmentintheregion.DemographiccharacteristicsOver the last half century, theAsiaPacific regionhas experienced a significant populationboomwithmanycountriesdoublinginsizeinthistime.Becauseofthis,theAsiaPacificregionholdsalargeshareoftheworldsyouthpopulation,estimatedat60percent(UNYouth,2013,p.1).Oftheregionstotalpopulation,17.9percentareyouth.Thisisbothachallengeandanasset.Youngpeopleareoneofthemostvaluableresourcestoanygivencountryastheycancontributesignificantlytodevelopmentandgrowth.Atthesametime,youthoftheAsiaPacificareconfrontedwithahostofsignificantchallengesthatinmanycaseshindertheircapacitytocontribute to development. Some of these decapacitating challenges include insufficientand/orinadequateeducation,unemploymentandHIVandAIDs.Insufficientandinadequateeducation

Thereare69millionilliterateyouthintheAsiaPacificregionalone.(UNESCO,2012g)

Unemployment Therearemorethan700millionyoungpeopleinAsiaPacific,butonly20percentoftheregionsworkersareagedbetween15and24,theseyoungpeopleaccountforalmosthalftheAsiaPacific'sjobless.5

4TheAsiaPacificregionfollowsthespecificUNESCOdefinition.Thisdefinitiondoesnotforciblyreflectgeography,butrathertheexecutionofregionalactivitiesoftheOrganization.ForafulllistofUNESCOMemberStatesintheAsiaPacific,visit:http://www.unescobkk.org/asiapacific/inthisregion/memberstates/5http://www.ilo.org/asia/areas/WCMS_117542/langen/index.htm

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HIVandAIDs

Nearly5millionpeoplearelivingwithHIVintheAsiaPacificregion.(HIVandAidsDataHubforAsiaPacific,2013).Nearly351,000peoplebecamenewlyinfectedin2012,asignificantproportionofwhichareyoungpeople.

TheAsiaPacificregionisalsohighlymobileasmigrationtoandfromtheregionaswellaswithintheregionandwithincountriescontinuestoincrease.Theregionishometomorethan53 million immigrants (UNESCO, 2012f). Important intraregional migration reflects bothdemographictrendsandtheincreasingintegrationoftheeconomiesoftheAsiaPacificregion.The pattern of ruraltourban migration is also evident as countries move from largelyagricultural economies to manufacturing and servicebased economies in their path toindustrializationandpostindustrialisation.Because of this increase in migration, crossborder movement of labour has grownsignificantlyatarateovertwotimesfasterthanthegrowthofthelabourforceoftheorigincountries(Abella,2005).Over50percentofmigrants in theAsiaPacificregioncomefromSouthAsia(primarily fromIndia,Bangladesh,PakistanandSriLanka),andtherestmainlyoriginatefromSouthEastAsiaandthePacific(IndonesiaandthePhilippines)(ILO,2006).Thegrowingmobilityoflabouracrossbordershasbenefitedbothsendingandreceivingcountriesas well as the migrants themselves, although the extent of these benefits varies; indeed,migration alsobrings aboutnegative consequences such as braindrain, themigrationofhighly skilled workers, brain waste, or educated and skilled migrants from developingcountries being only able to find unskilled jobs in developed countries, and the risk ofdependencyonforeignlabour.Inaddition,protectingthebasicrightsofmigrantworkersandtheiraccompanyingchildreninreceivingcountrieshasbecomeamajorconcern.Theswellingnumbers of irregular migrants signal the immense problem of managing migration in apositive and protective way as the children of migrants in irregular and informal workarrangements often do not have adequate access to education services. Ultimately, thisincreaseinmigrationrequirescarefulplanningandpolicyactiontocaterforthesocialandeducationalneedsofmigrantsandtheirfamilies.CulturalcharacteristicsTheAsiaPacificregionishometoagreatdiversityofethnic,linguisticandreligiousgroups.Infact,thereareover3,500languagesspokenacrossregion.Atthesametime,manylanguagesshareacommonrootorfamily,forexampleinthelandsbetweenIndiaandtheislandofBali,Indonesia, the ancient Hindu epic "Ramayana" permeates the daily lives of the people.Languages spoken in Indonesia,Malaysia and thePhilippinesbelong to the same languagefamily.ThesearealllinkedwiththosespokeninthePacific,thusthetermMalayoPolynesianlanguage.IndigenouspeoplesofAustraliaandNewZealandalsohavedeeplinguistictieswiththislanguagefamily.Economiccharacteristics Overthepasttwodecades,theAsiaPacificregionhascontinuedtomaintainhigheconomicgrowth rates exceeding that of other regions, andhas consequentlybecomeknown as the"growth centre" of the global economy (UNESCO, 2012f). The AsiaPacifics combined

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economy accounted for 35.36 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) in 20096 ,making it one of the worlds largest aggregate economies. The regions middleincomeeconomiesregisteredthehighestgrowth,withsomegraduatingtohigherincomestatus.EastAsiaandthePacificledtheglobalrecoveryfromtheeconomiccrisisin2009/10withChinadrivingmost of the economic expansion. Over the coming years, the region is expected tocontinuetoenjoythehighestgrowthratesintheworldandtoserveastheengineoftheworldeconomy.CountriesoftheAsiaPacificregiondemonstratevaryinglevelsofeconomicdevelopmentandratesofgrowth.WhileAustralia,Japan,NewZealand,theRepublicofKorea,andSingaporearecategorized as highly industrialized countries, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, Papua NewGuineaarestillinthelowincomecategory.ChinaandIndia,meanwhile,representtheworldstwomostsignificantemergingeconomieswithanincreasingshareintheworldswealth.Othereconomies,suchasIndonesia,Malaysia,thePhilippines,ThailandandVietNambelongtothemiddleincomecategory.

1.2 MacroTrendsShapingEducationDevelopmentintheRegion

The21stcenturypresentssignificant,multifaceted,rapidandinterdependentchallengesandopportunities for all countries of the world, including the AsiaPacific. These range fromincreasing economic interdependency, technological development, growing pressure onnaturalresourcesandenvironmentaldegradation,rapidlychanginglabourmarkets,shiftinggeopolitics, older, highly mobile and more urbanized populations amid growingunemploymentandwideninginequalities.Theseemergingchallengesandopportunitieshaveimportantimplicationsforeducationpolicymakinganddelivery,andneedtobereflectedintheshapingofbothnationalandinternationaleffortineducationaldevelopment.ThecurrentthinkingonmacrotrendsshapingeducationdevelopmentintheregionwerewelldocumentedinTowardEFA2015andBeyondShapingaNewVisionforEducationconferencepapersandpresentationsaspartofaregionalhighlevelmeetingorganizedbyUNESCOBangkokonthefutureofeducation(911May2012).7Thesetrendsarehighlightedbelow:DemographicchangeandmigrationRapidlyageingpopulations,youthbulgesandlargemigrantpopulationsraisequestionsabouthoweducationpolicyshouldadaptforthefuture.Issuesofglobalizationversustheneedtomaintainregionalandlocalidentitiesarealsoimportantissuestoaddress.SocioeconomictrendsThe region continues to function as an engine of global growth, but performance acrosscountries remainsmixed; there are vast disparities between andwithin countries and thehighestprevalenceofextremepovertyintheworldisfoundinthisregion.Aselsewhereacrosstheglobe,theregionsdramaticeconomicdevelopmenthasoftenledtoawideningratherthannarrowingofdisparitiesinlivingstandardsandsocialandeconomicopportunities.

6BasedontheGDPshareofWorldTotal(PPP)DataforYear2009fortheAsiaPacificcountries,aspertheUNESCOdefinition.MoredetailsontheGDPshareofworldtotalforspecificcountriescanbefoundathttp://www.economywatch.com/economicstatistics/economicindicators/GDP_Share_of_World_Total_PPP/2009/7Seethefullpapersandreportsathttp://www.unescobkk.org/education/epr/erf/

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In addition, as countries move to knowledgebased, creative economies, innovation nowbecomescentraltonationalcompetitiveadvantagewithsignificantimplicationsforthekindsofworkandjobspeoplewilldo,andtheskillsthateducationshouldprovideforinthefuture.TechnologicaladvancementTheubiquitous spreadof informationandcommunication technologyhas raisedquestionsabouttheroletechnologyshouldplaywithineducationsystems.Inparticular,thereisagreatinterestinhoweducationcanbothbenefitfromandcontributetothedigital(andlearning)societyinwhichwelive.ClimatechangeandenvironmentaldegradationTheAsiaPacificregionhasbeensignificantlyaffectedbynaturaldisasters.Infact,between1974and2003,abouthalfofalldisastersworldwidetookplaceinAsiaandthePacific(EMDAT, 2009). In the decade 20002009, 85 percent of global fatalities related to naturaldisasters occurred in the AsiaPacific (ADB, 2011), making it one of the most vulnerableregions to natural disaster and other environmental changes. This has highlighted theimportance of education in supporting knowledgebased practices on prevention,preparedness andmitigation in response to thedeleterious impactsof climate changeandenvironmentaldegradation.EnhancedintegrationandinterconnectionBydefaultandbydesign,countriesaremoreconnectednowthaneverbeforetechnologically,environmentally,economicallyandsocially.Atthesametime,intensifyingglobalcompetitionhassparkednewconversationonhoweducationcannotonlyprovidetherequiredknowledgeand skills in amore interconnectedworld, but also reconcile and resolve conflicts. In thisregard,educationisincreasinglyseenashavingacriticalroleinstrengtheningdevelopmentandleadingsocialandeconomictransformation.

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2. EducationSystemsinASEAN+6CountriesThischapteranalyseseducationpolicyandmanagement frameworks, secondaryeducationandTVET, three educationpolicy areas that constitute important reformdomains inmosteducationsystemsoftheAsiaPacificregion.Totheextentpossible,eachofthesepolicyareasisanalysedfromacomparativeperspectiveandasetofconclusionsaredrawnasreflectionpointsforpolicymakersandpractitioners.Itishopedthatthesereflectionpointsmayguideeducationpolicymakers in theirdiscussiononpossibleareas forandapproachestopolicyreform.

2.1 EducationPolicyandManagementFrameworks

2.1.1 IntroductionEducation policies can play a critical role in transforming the education landscape andoutcomes of learning. A prominent featureof the successful educational transformation inmanycountries is thatpolicyreformeffortsandprogrammesareguidedbyacleargoalorvision,andimplementedthroughacoherentplanning,managementandmonitoringprocess.Policiesandprogrammesneedtoaddressallofthecomponentsofthesysteminacoordinatedand coherent way so that changes, in turn, become mutually reinforcing and promotecontinuousimprovement.8In this section, selected aspects of education policy and management frameworks arecomparedacrosstheeducationsystemsofASEAN+6countriesandsomeemergingtrendsareidentified.Theseaspectsinclude:levelofcommitmenttoeducationdevelopment,educationalstructure,sectormanagement,teacherpoliciesaswellassomeotherqualitydeterminants.

2.1.2 LegalandFinancialCommitmenttoEducation

LegalcommitmentAllASEAN+6countrieshaveratifiedtheConventionoftheRightsoftheChild,internationallycommittingthemselvestoprovidefreeprimaryeducationtoallchildren.Theserightshavebeen built into most national legislation, 9 which then serves as an important regulatoryinstrumentoutliningwhat,howandwhencitizensofacountryshouldexercisetheirrightstoeducation.Whilethiscommitmentissignificantachievement,fewerASEAN+6countrieshaveeither ratified or accepted the Convention against Discrimination in Education (Error!Referencesourcenotfound.).

8SeealsoCohen&Hill(2001);Elmore(1995);Vinovskis(1996).9Anestimated90percentofallcountriesintheworldhavelegallybindingregulationsrequiringchildrentoattendschool(UNESCOInstituteforStatistics,2010).

8

Table1:CountriesthatRatified/AcceptedtheConventionagainstDiscriminationinEducation(CADE,1960)

Ratified CountriesYes Australia,BruneiDarussalam,China,Indonesia,NewZealand,PhilippinesNo Cambodia, India, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Republic of Korea,

Singapore,Thailand,VietNamSource:UNESCO(2012a).AllASEAN+6countrieshavealegalprovisionforfreeandcompulsoryeducationforatleastsomelevelsofbasiceducation,mostlyforprimaryeducation(Figure1).Theaveragedurationof free and compulsory education for the ASEAN+6 countries is 7.7 years. Among thosecountrieshaving only free and compulsoryprimary education, it should be noted that thedurationforprimaryeducation inLaoPDR,MyanmarandVietNamis5yearswhile it is6yearsinthePhilippines,theRepublicofKorea10andSingapore.Itshouldalsobenotedthatinsomecountries,uppersecondaryeducationisprovidedfreeofcharge,eventhoughitisnotcompulsory(e.g.,Malaysia,Japan).Ontheotherhand,althoughlowersecondaryeducationiscompulsoryinVietNamandtheRepublicofKorea,onlyprimaryeducationisfree.Figure1:YearsofFreeandCompulsoryEducation

Source:CompiledbyUNESCOstaffbasedonIBEdata(2011).FinancialcommitmentFinancial allocation to the education sector provides a clear indicator of governmentcommitment to education. On average, ASEAN+6 countries allocate 14.7 percent of theirgovernment expenditure on education. The share of education in the total governmentexpenditure varies across the countries (from 8.54 percent in Brunei Darussalam to 22.3percent in Thailand in 2010), but on average (among 13 countries with data available),countriesspendaconsiderableamountoftheirpublicresourcesoneducation(Figure2).

10Secondaryeducationiscompulsoryandpartiallyfree.

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Figure2:PublicExpenditureonEducationasaPercentageofTotalGovernmentExpenditure,SelectedYears,20072010

Note:Themostrecentyearisselectedduringtheperiod20072010forwhichdataisavailable.DataforMyanmaristakenfromUNESCO(2011).

Source:UIS(2012).Relative government spending on education is clearer when the share of educationexpenditureasapercentageofGDPiscompared(Figure3).ASEAN+6countriesallocateanaverageof4percentoftheirGDPtoeducation.Figure3:PublicExpenditureonEducationasaPercentageofGDP,SelectedYears,

20072010

Note:Themostrecentyearisselectedduringtheperiod20072010forwhichdataisavailable.DataforMyanmaristakenfromUNESCO(2011).

Source:UIS(2012).Allocation of financial resources to education subsectors reflects the relative prioritiescountriesgivetocorrespondingeducationlevels(Figure4).Forinstance,Thailandspends6.8percentofitseducationbudgetonpreprimaryeducation(UIS,2009),whichismuchhigherthanothercountriesintheregion.Indeedinmanyothercountries,privateproviderslargelyfundpreprimary education.Highincome countries tend to spendmoreon secondaryand

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highereducation,whilealargeshareoftheeducationbudgetisallocatedtoprimaryeducationindevelopingcountries,possiblyduetolimitedresourcesavailableforeducation.Figure4:ShareofEducationExpendituresbySubSector(%),SelectedYears(2007

2010)

Note:Themostrecentyearisselectedduringtheperiod20072010forwhichdataisavailable.DataforMyanmaristakenfromUNESCO(2011)

Source:UIS(2012).Formulafundingisacommonfundingmechanismineducation.Whenusedappropriately,itcanbeaneffectivemeanstoensureequityandefficiencyofresourceallocation.ManyoftheASEAN+6countriesapplyformulafunding,atleastpartially,intheallocationoffundswhilefactors and weights used in the formulae vary considerably among countries (Error!Referencesourcenotfound.).CountriessuchasAustraliaandRepublicofKoreaintegratedifferent student and school characteristics and needs into the formulae. This enablesdisadvantaged schools to receivemore financial support in amore systematic way. Forinstance,unitcostforschoolsinruralareastendstobehigherthanforthoseinurbanareassinceitemssuchasbooksandstationaryareoftenmoreexpensiveinruralareas.Similarly,students with a disability or special learning needs often require additional learning andstaffingresources.

0%

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PrePrimary Primary Secondary PostSecondary Tertiary

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Table2:DeterminationofCoreRecurrentSchoolFundingItemsfromtheLevelofGovernmentwithPrimaryFundingResponsibility,SelectedCountries11

Country

Factorstaken intoaccountintheformulaSocioeconomicstatusofthestudent/school

Location

Size Levelofschooling(i.e.primary/secondary)

Subjects/curriculumoffered

Languagebackgroundofstudents

Additionalneedsofstudentswithspecialneeds

Otherstudentcharacteristics(i.e.ethnicity,culture)

Malaysia Australia*,# ^RepublicofKorea VietNam Notes:*thefundingformulaecandifferbetweenstatesandterritories(Australia)theseare

thereforesummaries;#theAustralianGovernmentiscurrentlyundertakingareviewofthefundingarrangementsforschooling,includingfundingformulae;^indigenous,refugeeandcertainmigrantstudentsattractadditionalfunding.

Sources:InformationcollectedbyUNESCOBangkokstaff.Withoutappropriateadjustment,standardizedformulaecanfailtocapturesuchdifferencesand result in unequal and ineffective distribution of funds. Most of the schools havesupplementary programmes to address specific issues (e.g., students from poor families,schoolslocatedinveryremoteareas),buttheytendtobeapplicationbasedandtheamountcanfluctuate.Thiscanmakemediumandlongtermplanningandmanagementattheschoolleveldifficultandmayresultinanegativeimpactonequityofaccesstoqualitylearning.

2.1.3 Startingageanddurationofcompulsoryeducation

Inthemajorityofcountrieswithdataavailable(12of16countries),formaleducationofficiallystartsattheageof6,whileintwocountries(MyanmarandNewZealand),childrenstartformaleducationattheageof5andinChinaandIndonesia,atage7(Figure5).ItshouldbenotedthatinNewZealand,5yearoldsareenrolledinYear0,focusingonreadinessforacademiccurriculum.

11OnlyASEAN+6countrieswithrelevantavailabledataareincludedinthistableandinallsubsequenttablesandfigures.

12

Figure5:OfficialStartingAgeofFormalEducation(NumberofASEAN+6Countries)

Source:IBE(2011),UNESCO(2007),andtheWorldBank(2012).ManyoftheASEAN+6countrieshave12yearsofformaleducationdividedintoprimary,lowersecondaryanduppersecondarylevelswhilesomehave11yearsofeducation(Table3).Table3:EducationSectorStructureandYearsofPrimaryandSecondaryEducation

Structure Totalyears Countries6+3+3 12 Cambodia, China*, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea,

Thailand6+4+2 12 Australia(or7+3+2)5+3+2+2 12 India5+4+3 12 LaoPDR,VietNam6+4+2 12 Philippines,Singapore**8+4 12 NewZealand6+3+2 11 Malaysia6+5 11 BruneiDarussalam5+4+2 11 Myanmar

Notes: * in China, some provinces apply a 5+4+3 structure; ** Singapores education structure iscommonlydescribedas6+4+2.Otherpathwaysconsistof6yearsofprimaryeducation,4or5yearsoflowersecondaryeducation,and1,2,or3yearsofuppersecondaryeducation.

Source:IBE(2011).Thedetailedstructureofeducationvariesamongcountriesbutmostcountrieshave5or6yearsofprimaryeducation,followedby3or4yearsoflowersecondary,and2or3yearsofupper secondary education. 6+3+3 is themost common education structure in the region,followed by 6+4+2 system. This represents 8 of 15 countries reviewed. More years ofsecondaryeducationmayalsomeanadditionalcosts,includingforsubjectteachers,labsandequipment although funding required depends on a number of factors including teachingcurriculumandteacherstudentratio.In recent years, several countries have introduced structural reform to their educationsystems, amove requiring significant investment andpreparation. LaoPDR is oneof suchexampleintheASEAN+6grouping.LaoPDRintroduced5+4+3schoolsystemin2009/2010byaddingoneyeartothelowersecondarylevel.Asaresult,thenumberofstudentsatlowersecondarylevelincreasedby38percentbetween2008/2009and2009/2010.Thenumberof

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teachingpostsandclassroomsrequiredforthe lowersecondarylevelalso increasedby36percentand18percentrespectivelybetweenthesetwoyears.Inaddition,additionalteachertraining,curriculumdevelopment,textbookrevision,schoolfacilitieswereneeded.Asaresult,theshareofgovernmentrecurrentexpenditureforlowersecondaryeducationjumpedfrom11.9percentin2008/2009to14.8percentin2009/2010,andisexpectedtosteadilyincreaseto19.9percentby2015/2016.12Countries that are considering structural reform to education systems therefore need toconsidercarefully thepotential implicationsofreformmeasures.Considerableconfusion ispossibleduringtheperiodofreformandmitigatingnegativeeffectonstudentlearningmustbeofcentralpriority.Carefullyplannedpreparation,whichmaytakeyears,isneededbeforeintroducingnewstructurestoexistingeducationalsystems.

2.1.4 Sectormanagement

Toensurethateducationsectorprioritiesandreformsareimplementedeffectively,countriesneedtoensurebothlongandmediumtermdevelopmentplansareunderpinnedbyrealisticandthoroughfinancialplanning.Tothisend,aligningnationaleducationplanswithamultiyearbudgetingandexpenditureplanningprocess is important.Inpractice,however,policymakersoftenfinditchallengingtolinkeducationplanswithpublicsectorfinancialplanningandbudgetingprocesses.Thisisduetothefactthateducationplanning,financialplanningandbudgetingprocessesareeachledbydifferententitieswithineducationministries.Oftencases,education plans are not prepared based on solid financial feasibility studies and fiscalframeworks.Consequently,attemptstoimplementandsustainreformsintheeducationsectoroften achieve only limited result as governments are unable to secure adequate publicresourcesfortheeducationsector.Amedium term expenditure framework (MTEF) in the education sector is one importantinstrument that may help address this challenge. MTEFs have been introduced in someASEAN+6countriesatvariedstagesofimplementation(Table4).Table4:OverviewofMTEFImplementationinSelectedASEAN+6Countries

Country RepublicofKorea SingaporeVietNam Thailand Indonesia Cambodia

YearMTEFintroduced 2005 2004 2005 2006 2004 2008

MTEFmandatedinStateBudgetLaw

Yes No No No Yes Yes

Ceilingallocationtosubsectorlevel

Yes No No No No No

12TheseprojectionsaremadepossibleusingasimulationmodelcustomizedforLaoPDR(LANPROmodel).During20092010,UNESCOBangkokprovidedtechnicalsupportforthepreparationofLaoPDRSecondaryEducationSubsectorActionPlan20102015.

14

Country RepublicofKorea SingaporeVietNam Thailand Indonesia Cambodia

YearMTEFintroduced 2005 2004 2005 2006 2004 2008

EffectivelinkageofMTEFtoAnnualBudget

Yes.MTFFandMTEFceilingssethardannualbudgetconstraint

Yes. MTFFandMTEFceilingssethardannualbudgetconstraint

No Notopdownsectorceilingsproducedoratleastreleased

No ceilingsnorguidingbudgetallocations

Notfullyintegratedbecausecapitalisoutsideceiling

Source:Clarke(2010).While it isnotpossibletodeterminewhichmodalityofMTEF ismostappropriate,countrycasestudiesconductedinninecountriesinAsia13indicatethattheeffectivenessofMTEFverymuchdependsonthefollowingkeyissues:

Capacityofpolicyandfinancialstaff; Strong coordination and leadership of Ministries of Education (MOE) when

educationserviceisalsoprovidedbyotherministriesand/orlocalgovernments; StrongcoordinationbetweenMOEandMinistriesofFinance(MOF);and EffectiveintegrationwiththeannualbudgetingprocessandrespectfortheMTEF

budgetceiling.MTEF,whendevelopedandimplementedeffectively,canimprovetherobustness,feasibility,efficiencyandeffectivenessofeducationplans.DecentralizationMostASEAN+6countrieshavedecentralizedsomekeyfunctionsandresponsibilitiestolowerlevelsofadministration.ManypatternsorarrangementsareobservedinASEAN+6countries.Schoolbased management, aimed at giving schools and communities more autonomy indecisionmaking,isoneexample.Anotheristhegrowthofeducationalmodelsemphasizingthevirtuesofchoiceandcompetition,eitherwithinthestatesectororthroughanexpandedrolefortheprivatesector.Inmanydevelopingcountries,lowfeeprivateschoolsareemergingasanothersourceofchoiceandcompetition,oftenoutsidegovernmentregulation.Table5:DistributionofKeyResponsibilities Standard

settingPrimaryfundingsource

Budgetallocation

Teacherrecruitment

Australia Central State State StateIndonesia Central Central Central CentralJapan Central Prefecture/

MunicipalityPrefecture/Municipality

Prefecture/Municipality

RepublicofKorea

Central Central Metropolitancity/Province

Metropolitancity/Province

Myanmar Central Central Central CentralVietnam Central Central Province/District Province/District13ThesecasestudieswerecommissionedbyUNESCOBangkokduring20082010undertheframeworkofaregionalprogrammeoneducationfinancialplanning.

15

Sources:IBE(2011)anddatacollectedbyUNESCOstaff.Althoughdecentralizationisnotapanaceaforbettereducationsectormanagement,countrieswithcentralizededucationsystemscouldpotentiallylearnfromtheexperiencesofcountriesthathavedecentralized.Hopingtolessenthefinancialburdenonthegovernmentandimproverelevance, efficiency and effectiveness of education,many governments in the regionhaveembarkedoneducationdecentralizationreform(Table6).Table6:KeyMilestonesofEducationDecentralizationReforminSelectedEducation

SystemsChina Majorfiscalreformin1994toshifttheintergovernmentalfiscalsystem

fromadhoc,negotiatedtransferstoarulebasedtaxassignment.India 73th constitutional amendment in 1992 to put in place a local

government systemcalledpanchayati as the countrys third level ofgovernanceafterthecentralandstategovernments.

Indonesia Twolawswereenactedin1999:law22/1999onregionalgovernanceandlaw25/1999onthefinancialbalancebetweencentralgovernmentandtheregions

Philippines Revisedlocalgovernmentcodewasenactedin1991toconsolidateallexisting legislation on local government affairs, providing the legalframeworkforthedecentralizationprogramme

Thailand The1997ConstitutionofthecountryembraceddecentralizationCambodia Firstintroducedschoolbasedmanagement(SBM)in1998HongKong,SAR FirstintroducedSBMin1991Source:InformationcollectedbyUNESCOstaff.Intheabsenceofadefinitemeasurethatpermitsonetoeasilyconcludewhetherornotthedeliveryofpubliceducationiscentralizedordecentralized,aproxymeasurecanbeusedbasedontherecruitment,employmentandpaymentofteachers.Researchonthedeterminantsofgoodqualitylearningconsistentlyshowsthatteachersarethemostimportantschoolinput(Hanushek&Rivkin,2012). Inaddition, teachersalariesareby far the largestexpenditurecategory in the basic education budget, often comprising 70 percent ormore of recurrenteducation spending. Thus, asking which level of government selects, manages and paysteachers is perhaps the best and simplest indicator of the extent to which education isdecentralized.Table7presentsanoverviewofthelevelandscopeofdecentralizationwithregardtoteachermanagementinselectedASEAN+6countries.

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Table7:TheLocusofTeacherEmployment(Selection,Management,andPaymentofTeachers)

Notes:*onlyaccreditedschools.Source:UNESCOBangkok(2012b).While decentralization seems to bring improved access and increased financial resourceallocatedtoeducation,insomecasestheimpactsaremixedandsomecountriesfacechallengesinimplementingdecentralization.(Table8)Withoutappropriategovernmentinterventions,decentralizationcancausemoreharmthangood.UNESCOBangkok(2012b)identifiesthreekey areas that are crucial for successful decentralization: (1) ensuringequity; (2) buildingaccountability;and(3)buildinglocalcapacity.Table8:ChallengesinDecentralizationofBasicEducationFinancingandDelivery

fromSelectedAsianCountriesCountry Underfunding

Limitedlocalfiscal

capacity

Regionaldisparityinfunding

Privatefinancialburden

Rolesandresponsibilities Accountability

Localcapacity

Cambodia China Indonesia LaoPDR Nepal Pakistan Vietnam Source:UNESCOBangkok(2012b).PublicandprivatesectorrolesinprovisionandfinancingofeducationHavinganappropriatemixofpublicandprivatesector14involvementineducationcanbekeytoequitable,efficientandeffectiveeducationsystemmanagement.Asfaraseducationsectormanagementisconcerned,mostcountrieshaveinvolvedtheprivatesectorinthefinancingandprovisionofeducation.Privatesectorinvolvementineducationcanbefoundinavarietyofformsincluding:fullfeeprivateschools,publiclysupportedandprivatelymanagedschools(e.g., voucher programmes), community schools, private funding (fees and donations) to14Theprivatesectorrefersinthiscontexttononstateornonpublicactorsineducationincludingcompanies,nongovernmentalorganizations(NGOs),faithbasedorganizations,andcommunityandphilanthropicassociations.Itisnotjustthecompaniesorfirms.

Country/Government

Centralgovernment

Regionalgovernment

Localgovernment

School

Cambodia China (County)India Indonesia (District) Japan LaoPDR Malaysia Philippines Singapore *Thailand

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publicschools,andprivatetutoring.InASEAN+6countries,mostbasiceducationispubliclyprovidedthroughgovernmentorpublicschools(Table9).However,thisdoesnotmeanthattheprivatesector(includingfamiliesandcommunities)hasnorole;infact,theprivatesectorplaysasignificantroleinmanycountries.Table9:PercentageofStudentsEnrolledinPrivatelyManagedSchools,Selected

ASEAN+6CountriesCountry Primary Lowersecondary Uppersecondary

Cambodia 1.2 2.8 4.9China 4.2 7.2 11.5Indonesia 16.1 37.2 51.4Japan 1.1 7.1 30.8RepublicofKorea 1.3 18.3 46.5LaoPDR 2.9 2.3 1.3Malaysia 1.2 4.1 3.9Philippines 8.2 19.3 25.4Thailand 18.0 12.4 24.3VietNam 1.2 29.7Source:UNESCOBangkok(2012b).Inmost countries, private (household) expenditureon education is substantial and stable.Privateexpenditureoneducationincludes:schooltuition,textbooks,uniform,schoolrunningfees,andprivate tutoring.Accuratedataonprivateexpenditureoneducation isdifficult tocollectandisnotreadilyavailable.However,existinginformationsuggeststhathouseholdsbearasignificantshareofeducationcosts(Table10).Households inmostof theASEAN+6countrieswhere comparable data is available spend as high as 3 percent of their GDP oneducation.Table10:TotalExpenditureonEducationasaPercentageofGDP,PrivateSources,All

LevelsCountry 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Australia 1.4 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.7 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 Japan 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.2 1.5 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7LaoPDR 1.1 1.2 NewZealand 1.1 1.3 1.4 1.3 1.1 1.1 1.3Philippines 2.5 2.1 2.0 1.9 RepublicofKorea

3.0 2.8 2.8 2.7 3.1 2.8 3.0 3.1 3.2Thailand 0.2 0.2 1.9 India 0.2 1.6 1.3 1.2 1.2 Source:UIS(2012).Whiletheshareofprivateexpendituretendstobeloweratthebasicandsecondaryeducationlevelcomparedtothetertiaryeducationlevel,thereisanupwardtrendinprivateexpenditureatthebasicandsecondaryeducationlevel.Ontheotherhand,privateexpenditureisthemajorsourceoffundingfortertiaryeducationinmanycountries(Table11),whichhascontributedtoconsiderableexpansionoftertiaryeducation.

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Table11:PrivateEducationExpenditureasaPercentageofTotalEducationExpenditureinSelectedAsianCountries

Country2000 2001 2002 2003

Prim&Sec Tertiary

Prim&Sec

Tertiary Prim&Sec

Tertiary Prim&Sec Tertiary

Australia 15.2 48.1 15.6 48.7 16.1 51.3 16.3 52.0India 6.4 6.3 29.3 22.2 Indonesia 23.5 56.2 23.7 56.2 23.8 56.2 Japan 8.3 55.1 8.5 56.9 8.3 58.5 8.7 60.3RepublicofKorea

18.3 75.6 22.8 84.1 85.1 76.8Philippines 32.1 65.6 33.2 66.9 Thailand 19.6 17.5 Source:TheWorldBank(2012).Private tutoring, while providing students with additional academic support, may also becostlytohouseholdsandmayalsowidenacademicandsocioeconomicdividebetweenfamiliesandcommunities.Privatetutoring,particularlyprevalentinEastAsiancountries,hasbecomeaglobalissue.BrayandLykins(2012)provideacomprehensiveliteraturereviewofwhatistermedshadoweducation(Bray,2009)inAsia,mappingthecurrentstatusoftheissueintheregion.Despite the differences in foci andmethodologies of the studies cited, the findingssuggestthatenrolmentinprivatetutoringisincreasingandsoisthefamiliesfinancialburden.ThistrendextendstomostofASEAN+6countries.Thereasonsforreceivingprivatetutoringvary,butthecompetitivenatureoftheeducationprocessanda lackof trust inqualityof formaleducationareundeniablyrootcauses.Bray(2009) recommends that an appropriate diagnosis (both quantitative and qualitative) iscrucial for developing effective policy responses to shadow education. Once evidence iscollected, the governments can focus their interventions on supply issues (e.g., teachersprovidingprivatetutoring),demandissues(e.g.,competitivenatureofexaminations,limitedtransitiontohigher levelsofeducation),aswellasharnessing theexistingprivatetutoringmarket(e.g.,professionalizationofprivatetutors).2.1.5 TeachermanagementpolicyTeacherqualificationsandlengthofpreservicetrainingAttheprimaryandsecondaryeducationlevels,entrancetoteachertrainingcollegesrequiresgraduation from the 12th grade inmost ASEAN+6 countries, except in Brunei Darussalam,India,LaoPDRandMyanmar,wherestudentsarequalifiedupongraduationfromthe10thor11thgrade(Figure6).

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Figure6:TotalNumberofYearsofSchoolingRequiredforEntrytoTeacherTraining

Source:DatacollectedbyUNESCOBangkokstaff.Thislowerlevelrequirementcoupledwiththeshorterdurationoftheteachertrainingcourse(twoyearsforprimaryschoolteachersandthreetofouryearsforsecondaryschoolteachers)inthesecountriescouldnegativelyimpactuponthequalityofteaching.In some countries, the duration of preservice training is four years and the entrancerequirement is completion of Grade 12,whichmeans that these teachers are likely betterqualifiedtoteachandtoachievebetterlearningoutcomesfortheirstudents.Thesecountriesinclude Singapore, Japan and the Republic of Korea, which consistently rank significantlyabovetheOECDaverageinPISArankings(OECD,2009).TeacherstandardsAtthepointofdatacollectionforthisreport,informationonteacherstandardswaslackinginCambodia,LaoPDR,Myanmar,VietNamandIndia.Amongtheremainingelevencountries,onlyfourcountries(China,Indonesia,JapanandtheRepublicofKorea)holdnationalentranceexaminationsforteachers,whilefivecountries(Australia,Indonesia,NewZealand,PhilippinesandThailand)makeitmandatoryforteacherlicensestoberenewed.Itisalsonotedthatmostcountries have a minimum teacher standard enforced either through teacher entranceexaminations or regular licensure renewal. In the majority of ASEAN+6 countries, aprobationaryperiodofonetothreeyearshasalsobeenimplemented.TeacherprofessionalsupportOngoingprofessionalsupportismostimportantfornewteachersintheirfirstfewyearsofserviceandisimportantforteacherretentionintheeducationsystem.Professionalsupportmay include studyopportunities for teachers, trainingworkshops, support from inserviceadvisors and inspectors, interschool visits, and peer consultation in teacher clusters. At arecentKEDIUNESCO regional policy seminar15, Cambodia, Lao PDR,Malaysia, Republic of15ThejointKEDIUNESCOBangkokregionalpolicyseminarTowardsQualityLearningforAllinAsiaandthePacific(Seoul,2830July2011)isviewablehere:http://www.unescobkk.org/education/epr/eprpartnerships/unescokediseminar2011/

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KoreaandVietNamreported implementingclassroomobservationaspartoftheir teacherdevelopment and management policies. According to practitioners, teacher training andsupportwithinthefirstfiveyearsofteachingintheteachersownclassroomenvironmentisoneofthemoreeffectivestrategiestofosterprofessionalgrowth.Moreover,intheirfirstfiveyearsofteaching,teachersbenefitfromeachyearofadditionalpracticeasthereseemstobeacorrelationbetweenyearsofexperienceandimprovedstudentlearningoutcomes.As indicated in Table 12, policies for inservice training and continuous professionaldevelopmentofteachersexist inmostASEAN+6countriesatall levels,except forLaoPDR,wheretrainingsessionsforsecondaryschoolteachersareorganizedonanadhocbasisinthecontext of donor projects. Inservice teacher upgrading centres are located in differentprovinces,butcurrentlyinstitutionalizedonlyforprimaryschoolteachers(IBE,2011).In Australia, since most teachers are college graduates, professional developmentopportunities occur through postgraduate courses, and are usually taken parttime. InSingapore, a Staff Training Branch was established specifically to facilitate teachers'professional development through the sharing of best practices, learning circles, actionresearchandpublications.Anetworkofteachershasalsobeensetuptoplanandorganizeteacherledworkshops,seminars,conferencesandlearningcirclesaswellasdevelopingandmanagingonlineprogrammes inaddition to teacherwelfareprogrammesandservices. InMalaysia, inservice programmes aremainly refresher courses. They range from two tothreedaycoursestosixweeks,tenweeksandfourteenweeks.While professional development opportunities have been institutionalized in the highperformingeducationsystems,andwhiletheyarecarriedoutinarelativelyconsistentfashion,otherstakeplaceunderlessformalarrangements.InCambodia,forexample,communityteachershaveinservicetrainingfor16daysprovidedbytheDepartmentofEarlyChildhoodEducationintheprovinces,andliteracyteachersforparentingprogrammesreceiveinservicetrainingforthreedaystwiceayear.InVietNam,inservicetrainingforsecondaryteachersfollowsthecascadetrainingmode.Here,teachersarerequired to participate in inservice training 30 days out of the year.Some countries have also established systems for the training of untrained teachers. InMalaysia,thethreeyearDiplomainteachinginservicecourseisconductedduringtheschoolholidays.Thiscourseisspeciallydesignedtocatertothemanyuntrainedteacherswhohavebeen teaching inMalaysian schools for several years and havemissed out onmainstreamteacher training. Based on a SEAMEOInnotech study (2010) on teacher rewards andincentives in Southeast Asia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore are the onlyremainingcountriesinSoutheastAsiathatdonotprovidescholarshipsasaformoftrainingdevelopmentforteachers(Table12below).

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Table12:OverviewofTeacherManagementPolicies

Country

Qualifications (Minimum years ofstudy)/Years in School + Years in TeacherTraining

TeacherStandards

Inservicetraining

TeacherSalaryandOtherBenefits

EntranceExamination/Test

ProbationaryPeriod

LicensureRenewal/Sustaining

Pay/SalaryIncrease

Evaluationand

Rewards(i)

Preschool

Primary Secondary Australia 12+4 No Yes Yes;5years Yes NoBruneiDarussalam 10+3 12+4 No No No Yes No Cambodia 12+1 LS:12+2US:12+4 Yes Yes China 12 12 LS:12+2US:12+4 Yes No No Yes No YesIndia 10+1 10+1or12+1(ii) 12+4 Yes Yes Indonesia 12+2 12+2 12+2 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes YesJapan 12+1 12+4 Yes Yes No Yes Yes YesRepublicofKorea 12+2 12+4 Yes No No Yes Yes

LaoPDR 5(+4);8(+3);11(+1)

LS:11(+3)US:11+4 Yes Yes

Malaysia 12+3or4 No Yes No Yes Yes Yes

Myanmar 11+2 11+3 Yes Yes NewZealand 13+3 13+4 No Yes Yes;2years Yes Yes YesPhilippines 12+4 No No Yes;1year Yes Yes Singapore 10+2 12+2 No Yes No Yes Yes Yes

Thailand 12+2 LS:12+2US:12+4 No Yes Yes;5years Yes Yes

VietNam 12 LS:12+3US:12+4 Yes Yes Notes:i:measuresforevaluationandrewardsinplace;ii:variesacrossstatesdependingonthedegreeofteachershortage.Source:InformationcollectedbyUNESCOBangkokstaff.

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Teachersalary,incentives,andbenefitsAlmostallcountrieshaveinplaceasystemforsalaryincreases.Forsomecountries,thesalaryincreaseisbasedontheevaluationofateachersperformance,whileinsomeothersitisbasedon a teachers qualifications. In Singapore, New Zealand and China, salary increments aredetermined,tovaryingextents,byperformanceandwhetherornotestablishedprofessionalstandardsaremet.InSingapore,formalandinformalevaluationisongoingatallschoollevelsandsalaryincreaseisrewardedthroughtheMinistryofEducationsEnhancedPerformanceManagementSystem(EPMS)(IBE2011)Table13:TeacherRewardsandIncentivesinSoutheastAsia

Source:AdaptedfromSEAMEOInnotech(2010).TheSEAMEOInnotechstudyrevealsthatallASEANcountriesaredoingwellinrecognizingthe efforts of teachers and rewarding highperforming teachers.However, fewer countriesimplement theuseof incentives such as scholarships and training for furtherprofessionaldevelopment.

2.1.6 Qualitydeterminants

FrequencyofcurriculumreformTable14presentsasummaryof thenumberofcurriculumreformscarriedout inselectedASEAN+6countriessince1950.ExceptfortheRepublicofKoreaandIndonesia,mostcountrieshaveonlycarriedoutcurriculumreformssincethe1980s.Ofthe13countriesforwhichdataisavailable,curriculumreformsmostlyoccurredinthetwoperiodsof199599and200509.Theaveragenumberofcurriculumreformsinthesecountriesis3.5forthesameperiod.

Rewards/Incentives SalaryIncrease

CertificateofRecognition

Scholarships/Training

Promotion

BruneiDarussalam Yes Yes Yes YesCambodia Yes Yes Yes YesIndonesia Yes Yes Yes YesLaoPDR Yes Yes No YesMalaysia Yes Yes No YesMyanmar Yes Yes No NoPhilippines Yes Yes Yes YesSingapore Yes Yes No YesThailand Yes Yes Yes YesVietNam Yes Yes Yes Yes

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Table14:FrequencyofCurriculumReform

TimePeriod

50'54

55'59

60'64

65'69

70'74

75'79

80'84

85'89

90'94

95'99

00'04

05'09

10cu

rrent

Numberofreforms

Australia 4BruneiDarussalam 1China 4India 3Indonesia 5Japan 5RepublicofKorea 8LaoPDR 1Malaysia 3Myanmar 1NewZealand 2Philippines 3Singapore 5Source:DatacollectedbyUNESCOBangkokstaff.ProblemsofeducationalqualityandrelevancemanifestthemselvesindifferentwaysintheASEAN+6countries.Ingeneral,educationsystemshavebeentryingtoaddresssuchproblemsby means of introducing changes in the curriculum and its delivery. This in part can beobservedwhenonelooksatthepurposeofcurriculumreforminselectedASEAN+6countries(Table15)which tendstoreflectchanges ineducationalviewsandorientations;curricularcontent, teaching approaches and pedagogies; as well as other necessary changes incurriculum planning and implementation processes and in educational management andadministration.Itisclearthatthetaskofpursuingmeaningfulcurriculumreformisacomplexundertakingmadeevenmoresobytodaysrapidlychangingenvironment,context,aspirationsandexpectations.Table15:EducationCurriculumReformMilestones

Country MilestonesChina 1993: syllabi and twentyfour curricula for nineyear compulsory

programme1998: adjustment of primary and secondary school curriculumcontents;reducingtheoverloadandsubjectdifficulty;enablinglocallyrelevantselectionofteachingmaterials2001: implementationof curriculumstandards forbasic education;emphasizinginnovationandcreativethinking

India 1988:NationalCurriculumFrameworkforElementaryandSecondaryEducation2000:NationalCurriculumFramework;emphasizingminimumlevelsof learning,values, ICT,managementandaccountability, continuouscomprehensiveevaluationincognitive,socialandvaluedimensions.

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Country Milestones2005: shift in examination system from contentbased testing toproblemsolving and competency based assessment; statesencouraged to renew their own curriculum in light of the nationalcurriculumframework

Indonesia Curriculumreform:1960s,1975,1984,1999,20061999: development of a national competency based curriculumallowing both unity and diversity; addressing overload and overlyrigidcurricula2006:applicationofschoolbasedcurriculum

LaoPDR 2007:inresponsetoexpandeddurationoflowersecondaryeducationbyoneyear

Malaysia 1983,1995,1999: content and outcome based curriculum; use ofactivitybasedandstudentcentredpedagogyapproaches;promotingcriticalandcreativethinkingskills2008:trialimplementationofnewmodularandthematiccurriculumandschoolbasedassessment2011:implementationofthestandardcurriculumforprimaryschool(SSR) in Stage/Phase I (grades 13) building on the IntegratedCurriculumforPrimarySchool(KBSR)introducedinthelate1990s.

NewZealand 1992:Outcomesfocusedcurriculum2007:NewZealandCurriculum(NZC)consistingofa frameworkofkey competencies integrating essential skills, knowledge, attitudes,andvalues.

RepublicofKorea Main curriculum revisions: 19541995, 1963, 19731974, 1981,19871988,19921995,and19971998Partial revisions:2006,2007and2009 (introduced fromOctober2003torespondtorapidsocialchanges).

Philippines 1982:ImplementationofNewElementarySchoolCurriculum1999: Decongesting the curriculum, leading to separate curriculumforelementaryandsecondarylevels2005/6: Implementation of Standard Curriculum for ElementaryPublicSchoolsandPrivateMadaris

Source:InformationcollectedbyUNESCOBangkokstaff.QualityassurancesystemThere are generally three primary modes of quality assurance: assessment, audit andaccreditation. Their distinctions are not always clear and when used concurrently, theirfunctionsmaysometimesoverlap.Further,withinthesemodes,additionalqualityassuranceactivitiesarepracticedsuchasranking,benchmarking,theuseofperformanceindicatorsandtesting/examinations.

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Assessment, audit and accreditation are all seen operating in theASEAN+6 countries. Thebodiesoverseeingthesetasksvarygreatly,however,dependingonthecountrycontext(Table16).Somecountries(forexampleAustralia,India,NewZealand)havedifferentagenciesfordifferentlevelsofeducationwhileothershaveacentralagencyoverseeingallofthesetasks(LaoPRD,Thailand,VietNam).Table16:OverviewofNationalAccreditingandQualityAssuranceBodyinASEAN+6

CountriesCountry NameofAccreditingBody bySector

Australia NationalQualityFrameworkforEarlyChildhoodEducationandCare ECCEAustralianCurriculum,AssessmentandReportingAuthorityK12AustralianUniversitiesQualityAgencyHETertiaryEducationQualityandStandardsAgencyHE

BruneiDarussalam

NationalAccreditationCouncil AllTechnicalandVocationalEducationCouncilTVET

Cambodia AccreditationCommitteeofCambodia HEChina CentralizedandDecentralizedQualityAssuranceBodiesHEIndia NationalCouncilofTeacherEducation ECCE

NationalBoardofAccreditationTVETNationalAccreditationAssessmentCouncilHE

Indonesia NationalBoardofSchoolAccreditation(BAN) Formal,nonformal,HENationalAccreditationBoardforHigherEducation(BANPT)HE

Japan EmploymentandHumanResourceDevelopment TVETNational Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation(Governmental)HEJapanUniversityAccreditationAssociation(Nongovernmental)HE

RepublicofKorea

Accreditation Board for Engineering Education of Republic of Korea(ABEEK)TVETTheRepublicofKoreanCouncilforUniversityEducationHE

LaoPDR EducationalStandardsandQualityAssuranceCenterAllMalaysia StandardforQualityEducationinMalaysia(SQEMS) All

NationalAccreditationBoard(LAN)AllMyanmar DepartmentofTechnicalandVocationalEducation(MOST)TVETNewZealand

Education(Playgroups)Regulations ECCENewZealandQualificationsAuthorityAllEducationReviewOfficeECCE,BE

Philippines NationalEducationalTestingandResearchCentre AllTechnicalEducationTVETFederationofAccreditingAgenciesofthePhilippinesHEAccreditingAgencyofCharteredCollegesandUniversitiesinthePhilippinesHEPhilippinesAccreditingAssociationofSchools,CollegesandUniversities HE

Singapore PreschoolAccreditationFramework(SPARK) ECCEInstituteofTechnicalEducationTVET

Thailand OfficefortheNationalStandardsandQualityAssessmentAllVietNam GeneralDepartment forEducationalTestingandAccreditation(GDETA)

AllSource:InformationcollectedbyUNESCOBangkokstaff.

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Learning/teachinghoursThestrongassociationbetweenlearningtimeandstudentacademicperformanceiswidelyacknowledged in academic literature (OECD, 2011a).While learningmay occur inmyriadways,theamountoftimestudentsspentonactivitiesspecificallygearedtowarddeliberativelearningisimportanttoexamine.Thisincludestheamountoftime,perweek,thatstudentsspendinregularschoolclasses,outofschooltimelessonsandindividualstudyorhomework.AstudybytheOECDontherelationshipbetweentimespentindeliberatelearningactivitiesandstudentperformanceinschool(OECD,2011)showsthatthenumberofhoursspentonlearningonlypartlyinfluencesstudentacademicperformancebutthequalityoflearningtimeisjustas,ifnotmore,importantthanthequantity.ThisisshowninTable17below.WhilethePISAscoresforJapan,theRepublicofKoreaandHongKongSARarenot,relativelyspeaking,toodissimilar,thetotallearningtimeofstudentsintheRepublicofKoreaandHongKongSAR is5hoursmore thanthatof Japanwhereastherelative learningtime inregularlessons in Japan ishighestamong those threecountriesat74.5percent.Thissuggests thatstudentsinJapanhavereceivedbetterqualityoflearninginregularschoollessonsandthus,have arguably learntmore efficiently and effectively. This also suggests that thequalityofregularschoollessonsplayamoresignificantrolethanoutofschoollearningtimeandevenindividualstudy.OftheASEAN+6countriesforwhichdataisavailable,relativelearningtimespentonregularschoollessonsappearstobehigherincountrieswithhigherstudentlearningachievementsuchasJapan,NewZealand,AustraliaandRepublicofKorea.Table17:StudentLearningTime*,SelectedEducationSystems

CountryRegularlessons

Outofschooltimelessons

Individualstudy

Totallearning

Relativelearningtimeinregularschoollessons

(hoursper week) Australia 11.40 1.76 4.67 17.83 66.5%HongKongSAR 13.57 3.08 5.33 21.98 64.1%Indonesia 10.98 3.66 5.58 20.22 56.0%Japan 10.75 1.40 3.11 15.25 74.5%NewZealand 12.84 1.74 4.42 19.00 69.7%RepublicofKorea

12.76 4.74 4.93 22.43 61.4%

Thailand 10.69 2.40 5.31 18.40 62.3%Notes:*Learningtimeiscalculatedastheaveragenumberofhoursastudentspentperweekinregular

lessonsofscience,mathematicsandlanguagesubjects.Source:OECD(2011a).

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The lengthof learning timespenton regular school lessonsalso reflects the time teachersspend on teaching in the classroom. Not surprisingly, themore effectively teachers spendteaching time, the greater the quality of teaching. Table 18 shows the average number ofteachinghoursperweekinselectedASEAN+6countries.InShanghai,teachersteachlarger,butfewerclassescomparedtomostothersystemsforwhichdataisavailable.16TeachersinShanghaispendasignificantamountofnonteachingtimeonotheractivitiesknowntohavealarge impact on student learning including preparing for lessons, teacher cooperation,classroom observation and providing feedback (Grattan Institute, 2012). By contrast,Australianteachershaveonlyhalfasmuchtimeforsuchactivities. Table18:AverageTeachingTime(HoursperWeek)

Country Average teachinghours(a) Classsize(b)Australia 20 23HongKong,SARChina 17 36RepublicofKorea 15 35Shanghai,China 1012* 40*Singapore 35OECDAverage 18 24Notes: (a)Publicschoolsonly. Teachinghoursarehoursthata teacher teachesagrouporclassof

students;(b)Publicschoolsonly,lowersecondaryeducation*Grattan Institute interviewwith ShanghaiMunicipal Education Commission, 2011; HongKongEducationBureau(secondary)

Source:OECD.(2011b)andGrattanInstitute(2012).LanguageineducationpoliciesTheroleofEnglishasaninternationallanguageandtheofficiallanguageofASEAN,influencessignificantlylanguagepolicyandlanguageeducationinASEAN+6countries.Thisincludesinthe relationship between English and the respective national languages of ASEAN and thechoiceof languagefor instruction.Table19providesanoverviewof language ineducationpoliciesinrelationtoofficial/nationallanguagesandstipulationoflanguagesineducationinlegaldocuments.Asshown,mostASEAN+6countriesstipulatelanguagesineducationintheirrespectiveeducationlawsandallowtheuseofnationaldominantlanguagesasthemediumofinstruction. While the colonial histories of Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Myanmar andSingaporehaveledtotheinheritedandinstitutionalroleofEnglishinschoolcurriculum,othercountries (such as Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam) also placeimportanceontheacquisitionofEnglishthroughthecurriculum.

16InShanghai,teachersteachclassesofupto40studentsfor1012hourseachweek.

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Table19:LanguagePolicies

CountryOfficial/National

language(s)(OL/NL)

OL/NLstipulatedinthe

Constitution(Yearofadoption)

UseofNDLsstipulatedintheConstitution

Language(s)ineducation UseofNDLsas

mediaofinstruction

allowed/legal?StipulatedintheConstitutionorLanguageAct

StipulatedinEducationLaws/Acts

Stipulatedinotherimportant

educationdocuments

Australia English No No English,Languages(OtherThan

English)Yes Yes

BruneiDarussalam

StandardMalay,English

Malay(1959C)English(1985EA)

No Malay,English(1984EP);Arabic(EP)

NoCambodia Khmer Yes(1983) No Khmer,LLs(2007EL) YesIndonesia Indonesian Yes(1945);

(amended1999,2000,2001,2002)

Yes,(LL,Article32)

Yes,LAinprogress

Indonesian,LLs,FLs(1954EL12;1989EL2;2003EL20)

Yes Yes

Japan Japanese No No No No Yes YesROK Korean No No No No Yes YesLaoPDR Lao Yes(1991) No No Lao(2000EL) YesMalaysia Malay Yes(1957,article

152)Yes, No Malay,Chinese,Tamil,ILs

(1996EA)No Yes

Myanmar Myanmar/Burmese

Yes(1974)Yes(2008,Ch.XV

2)Yes(1974)

Yes(LL,2008)Yes(1974)

Burmese,LLsNo(2008)

Yes

NewZealand English No Yes(Treaty) Yes(Maori,1987) Yes YesPhilippines Filipino,English Filipino(1987) Yes(LL) Yes(1987),

English,Filipino(OL)

English,Filipino(OL),Arabic(1987)

English,Filipino(OL),Arabic,otherLLs

Yes

Singapore Malay(NL)English,Chinese,

TamilYes(1965,PartXIII,Section

153A)Yes Yes(C,1965) N.A English(as

workinglanguage),other

OLs

Yes

Thailand Thai No(1997)No(2007)

No(1997)No(2007)

No No Yes YesVietNam Vietnamese No(1992)* Yes(1992) Yes,Vietnamese,

LLsVietnamese,LLs(2005,EL,

Article7)Vietnamese,LLs

(severaldocuments)

Yes

Notes:LL:Locallanguage;NDL:Nondominantlanguage;RL:Regionallanguage;FL:Foreignlanguage;IL:Indigenouslanguage;NL:nationallanguage;OL:Officiallanguage;LoI:LanguageofInstruction;Aux:Auxiliarylanguage;C:Constitution;EA:EducationAct;EL:EducationLaw;EP:EducationPolicy;LA:LanguageAct*:EarlierConstitution,however,stipulateVietnameseastheofficiallanguage

Source:SEAMEO(2009);additionaldataiscollectedbyUNESCOstafffromdifferentsources.

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2.1.7 Conclusion

Reflectingonthegreatdiversityof theAsiaPacificregionandthe legislations,policiesandeducationmanagementsystemsinplace,itisclearthatgreatvariationoccursacrossASEAN+6countries.Despitethis,somecommontrendscanalsobeidentified:(i) Expansionofcompulsoryeducationtoincludeatleastlowersecondaryeducation

Many of the ASEAN+6 countries have achieved or have almost achieved universalprimaryeducationwhilecompulsoryeducationnowalsocommonlycoverssecondaryeducation, at least at the lower secondary level. This is the case for all highincomecountriesandmostmiddleincomecountries.Andasaccesstoeducationcontinuestoimproveinlowerincomecountries,thistrendissettocontinue.Thisofcourserequirescarefulplanningofresourcessoastoensurecountriescanexpandaccesstoeducationwithoutcompromisingthequalityoftheeducationprovided.

(ii) ShifttomoredecentralizedmanagementMostcountriesreviewedaremovingtowardamoredecentralizedsystemofeducationmanagement.This includestransferenceofsomeofthekeyeducationresponsibilities(e.g., teachermanagement, curriculumdevelopment,and financing) to lower levelsofadministration.Responsibilityforstandardsettingiscentralizedinallcountries,whilehighperformingeducationsystemstendtogivemoremanagementresponsibilitiestothe subnational level. Teacher management also seems rather centralized in mostcountries, regardless of howadvanced the education systemmaybe. Some countriesapplyflexibilityat localorevenschool level,yetwithcentralgovernmentcontrolandregulations.Giventhevariedimpactsofdecentralization,carefulconsiderationofsystemcapacityisneededbeforeembarkingupondecentralizationreform.

(iii) Considerableprivateexpenditureoneducation,includingshadoweducationStrongcommitmenttoeducationiscommonacrossASEAN+6countries,includingfromfamilies willing their children succeed academically.While governments can rely onhouseholdstocontributefinanciallywheregovernmentfundingfallsshort,thismayalsohaveserious implicationsforequity.It is importantthatgovernmentsworktoensurethatstudentsfrompoorhouseholdscanalsoenjoythesamelearningopportunitiesastheirpeersfrommoreaffluentfamilies.Experiencesofbothsuccessfulandunsuccessfultargetedpropoorpoliciesprovideusefullessonsthatmayhelpinformpolicymakinginthefuture.

(iv) Financingisimportant,butnottheonlyfactorbehindeducationalperformanceGovernment expenditure on education varies significantly across countries underreview: 8.5 percent in Brunei Darussalam vs. 22.3 percent in Thailand (2010) as apercentageoftotalbudgetand2.7percentinCambodiavs.7.6percentinNewZealandasapercentageofGNP.HighperformingsystemsappeartospendmoreoneducationasapercentageofGNP(ratherthanasapercentageofgovernmenttotalexpenditure),butalso have sound policies in place concerning teacher quality and remuneration, thefrequency of curriculum updates/reform, quality assurance systems, quantity andqualityofteachingandlearningtimeandlanguageofinstruction.

30

(v) LargerclasssizewithteachersteachinglesshoursinhighperformingcountriesWhile large class sizes may have traditionally been an indicator of poor qualityeducation, largeclasssizes inAsiancountriesperformingwell inPISAmayleadustoquestionthisassumption.Instead,theirexamplesdemonstratethatitisperhapsmoreimportant that teachers spend sufficient time on preparation, collaboration, andreflection,areaswhichhaveaprovenimpactonlearning.Thesefindingsarerelativelynew and are not conclusive. Further research is needed to support countries todeterminethebestbalancebetweenclasssizeandteachingloads.

(vi) Curriculumreformspromotingnoncognitiveandhigherorderskills,asmuchasacademiccontentsOverloadedcurriculumandaheavyfocusonacademicknowledgehavebeenfeaturesofmany ASEAN+6 countries and various curriculum reforms have been carried out topromote the acquisition of noncognitive and higherorder skills or transversalcompetenciessuchasinnovation,creativityandcommunication.ThisisparticularlythecaseforhighincomeandhighperformingPISAcountriesbutisalsothecaseformiddleincome countries. While this trend is expected to continue, some countries facechallenges in integrating what may be termed transversal competencies or noncognitiveskillsincurriculumpedagogyandassessment.Tothisend,itwillbenecessarytocompilecountryexperiencesanddrawlessons.

(vii) ImprovingteacherperformancethroughresultbasedevaluationforteachersEffortstoimproveteacherperformancehavebeenmadeinsomeASEAN+6countries.One particular trend involves linking teacher salaries to performance visvis predeterminedstandards.Aspublicfundingcontinuestocomeunderpressureinatimeofeconomicdownturn,thistrendisexpectedtonotonlycontinuebutalsoexpandtoothercountriesintheregion.Furtherresearchontheimplementationofexistingpolicieswillbeusefulforthosecountriesplanningtointroducesimilarreforms.

(viii)ThecentralityofEnglishpresentsimportantimplicationsforlanguagepolicyGivenitsstatusastheofficiallanguageofASEAN,EnglishintheclassroomhasbeenontheincreaseinmanyASEANmembercountries.Thispresentsimportantimplicationsforlanguagepolicyandlanguageeducation,includingthechoiceofEnglishasaforeignorsecond language, the choice of language for instruction, teaching curriculum and thestipulationthroughpolicyoflanguagesineducation.NearlyallcountriesreviewedallowtheuseofNonDominantLanguages (NDL)asmediumsof instruction (exceptBruneiDarussalam),howevernotallcountriesexplicitlymentionNDLsintheirConstitution.

2.2 SecondaryEducation

2.2.1 Introduction

Asmanycountrieshaveachievedorareachievinguniversalizationofprimaryeducation,theexpansion of secondary education has naturally become a policy priority. Yet secondaryeducation across countries is both uniform and diverse, it is terminal and preparatory,compulsoryinsomecasesandpostcompulsory.Itisthusunderstandablyanareaofpolicyparadox (WB, 2005, p.14). Many countries are facing challenges in designing andimplementingneededpolicies forsecondaryeducation inanumberofkeyareas.Themostpertinentareasandthosewhichhavesparkedthegreatestfocusinclude:1)differentsystems

31

in terms of pathways to secondary education (including both formal and nonformal/alternativepathways),2)relevanceandcontentofcurriculaatbothloweranduppersecondary levels,3) teachers, including theirqualifications, recruitmentandremuneration,and4) issuessurrounding learningassessment.The followingsectionoffersacomparativeanalysisofthesecentralissues.2.2.2 Formalpathwaystoeducation

AcrossASEAN+6 countries, there are various pathways to secondary education offered. InSingapore,students in the top10percentof theprimaryschool leavingexamcanattendaspecialcourseforsecondaryschool.Otherstudentstakeeithertheexpresscourseornormalcoursedependingontheiracademicachievement.Sim