Seminar on the completion of the Norwegian Education Trust Fund NETF

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Seminar on the completion of the Norwegian
Education Trust Fund (NETF)

• Why was the NETF established?
• Strategy and achievements
• Oslo, October 4, 2007
• Birger Fredriksen

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1. Why NETF?

• 1. Serious deterioration in the education sector
  in SSA in the mid-1990s
• Following spectacular growth 1960-1980,
  stagnation and decline 1980- early 1990s. Gross
  Enrollment Ratio (GER) for primary education
  increased from 45 in 1960 to 80 in 1980,
  declined to 72 in 1992. Many countries less
  than 35 GER in 1995. Adult literacy 50 40
  for women. Share of SSAs school-age population
  in countries with GER above 100 down from 50
  around 1980 (16 countries) to 7 mid-1990s (7
  countries)
• Main reasons Stagnating budgets (economic
  decline, lower priority for education) poor
  policies (difficulty moving from elite to mass
  system) increasing private costs rapid pop.
  growth emergence of HIV/AIDS wars
• To turn around trend needed Stronger political
  priority for education better quality policies
  and programs broader national consensus and
  ownership
• Also more aid But domestic resources more than
  80 of total education budgets. Therefore,
  priority to developing programs that could
  mobilize more both domestic and external sources
  AND using ALL more effectively
• 4. NETF created to help countries and their
  partners address these issues

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2. Strategy

• Analytical work to prepare better technical
  programs addressing key policy issues (e.g.,
  budget priority teachers training, recruitments,
  deployment, support, salaries textbooks
  repetition, girls education adult literacy
  HIV/AIDS orphans school health post-primary
  education quality). Focused first on 16 low
  enrollment countries
• Governments to develop national consensus with
  key stakeholders on policy options to ensure
  programs owned and implementable. Often, too
  little consultation with teachers parents
  communities private sector
• Promote regional knowledge creation,
  dissemination, dialogue All policies must be
  rooted in national context, but must also learn
  from others successes and failures. Ed.
  policy-making NOT exact science
• 4. Strengthen WBs capacity to (i) promote
  effective policy dialogue, (ii) enhance
  partnerships with other agencies (iii) address
  neglected areas girls education, adult
  literacy, school health, HIV/AIDS and education

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3. Main achievements

• Most important Support for sector programs in 41
  countries. Greater understanding of need for
  evidenced-based policies
• Major support for regional activities
• Analytical work, including contributing to
  underpinning of many regional initiatives UNSIA
  (before Dakar 2000) ed./health part of HIPC/
  PRSPs FTI girls education literacy school
  health HIV/AIDS and education orphans TVET
  secondary education teachers textbooks
• Policy dialogues workshops/conf. largely
  conducted by others ADEA, UNESCO, UNICEF, EI,
  CONFEMEN, FAWE, or African Governments
• Synergy between work of different organizations
• Bringing in key stakeholders Teachers, parents,
  African NGOs, parliamentarians, journalists
• Publications About 120 country-specific (CSRs)
  or regional
• Capacity development Countries Preparation of
  sector programs new approach to TA enhanced
  national consultations. WB Technical capacity
  ability to conduct sector dialogue deal with
  neglected areas
• Annual seminars in Norway

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4. NETF Effective Norwegian aid

• MFA has long supported very strategically
  analytical work and policy dialogue in WB to
  develop better policies/build common ground on
  contentious issues environment gender
  education health HIPC private sector
  governance African development issues
• This approach, coupled with excellent partnership
  behavior and credibility, has helped Norway
  impact international development policies to
  bring them closer to Norways positions and to
  punch above its weight on the internationally
  aid scene
• NETF fits this pattern. It has also opened new
  avenues for supporting cooperation and synergy
  among agencies, capacity-building in Africa
  (including outside government) and development of
  new instruments to further advance this work
  (EPDF). This type of instruments even more
  important now as agencies increasingly rely on
  budget support