“With a disarming smile, 11 year old Pappu who lives on the streets of New Delhi knocks on the window screens of luxury cars to sell „self-help‟ books. But he cannot read a single word of these books himself. While every Monday morning, most children across the countries of the Commonwealth attend school, millions like Pappu with special education needs continue to remain excluded”. (Quote from the abstract of the review)
In the year 2000, there was a global commitment to not only to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) but also Education for All (EFA). This momentum was reiterated at the 15th Commonwealth Consultation of Education Ministers (CCEM) in Edinburgh in 2003 and the 16th CCEM in South Africa in 2006, where education ministers from across the Commonwealth identified key areas of action.
ASPBAE has been commissioned by the Commonwealth Foundation to review progress on the education commitments made during the 2007 Commonwealth Peoples Forum (CPF) and 16th CCEM, gauging the achievements, challenges and learnings. This review is envisaged to ascertain whether (and how) the commitments have been useful in promoting education in the Commonwealth and to contribute to deepening accountability post the Ministerial processes.
Ms. Swati Narayan an independent education researcher was appointed to undertake the review and prepare the report on behalf of ASPBAE.
The researcher has prepared a well written report with three components with strong analysis detailing each region‟s achievements, challenges and lessons in meeting educational commitments as stipulated by 2007 CPF and 16 CCEM:
- education challenges in E-9 countries of the Commonwealth Asia and Africa: the four most populous − Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nigeria (i.e. the E4) − which have one-third of the world‟s out of school children and half of the adult illiterates.
- education challenges in the Pacific countries which have emerged from civil conflict with weakened education systems.
- education challenges in the island nations in the Caribbean, most of whom have already achieved universal primary enrolments, who face different educational challenges.
The review has been assisted by partners in the Caribbean and Pacific (identified with the help of the Commonwealth Foundation) who were invited to comment on the findings of the review, within the context of their respective regions – assess the level of progress, challenges and lessons learnt. The researcher has also drawn upon resources such as the Economist Intelligence reports or the UNDP Human Development country reports for quantitative and qualitative information gaps post 1996.

Priority areas for action and improvement towards and beyond the
Education MDGs:
The key recommendations to governments in the Commonwealth based on
a holistic perspective of universal basic education (pre-primary, primary,
secondary and adult literacy levels), are:
1. Implement legal guarantees to provide free and compulsory universal basic education;
2. Strengthen the implementation of the Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol and make it legally binding;
3. Fill 40 million teacher vacancies and improve the availability of good quality education infrastructure;
4. Allocate 20 percent of annual government expenditure to basic services especially education, with 10-20 percent devoted to non-salary recurrent expenditure;
5. Ensure that overseas development assistance of donors is co-ordinated, predictable and long-term and 20 per cent is utilised for basic services especially education;
6. Eliminate social and gender inequality in education with special strategies for the retention of children from marginalised communities and special needs;
7. Invest in education for effective HIV/AIDS prevention.
The main findings of the review were presented at a Stakeholders‟ Forum Plenary held n Malaysia, in June 2009. The Stakeholders Forum Plenary will also mandate the findings and recommendations of the review for use in
policy interventions.

Excerpts from the abstract of the review:
“In all the E-4 countries there has been a visible decline in the absolute numbers of out-of-school children since 2000. Even earlier, in the decade of the nineties, Bangladesh had already increased girls‟ enrolment in primary education from 66 to almost 100 per cent”.
“Teacher absenteeism from classrooms is another chronic problem in the E4. This truancy costs India US $2 billion per year. Often teachers are de-motivated about working in under-equipped, under-funded, under-staffed and overcrowded schools. In Nigeria, many teachers do not even have a desk to sit on in the classroom. High student dropout rates of 20 - 35 percent across the E4 are a natural outcome. Brain drain from English-speaking countries is also a serious problem especially in the Caribbean”.
“The Female Secondary Stipend Programme in the mid-1990s in Bangladesh played an undeniably important role in expanding girls‟ enrolments. Universal school meals provided in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu which especially serve as an incentive for poor students have not only improved nutrition but also reduced dropouts”.
“Education in formal classrooms offers the potential to be „the single most effective preventive weapon against HIV/AIDS‟ especially in the Caribbean where girls and young women are at three or six times greater risk. Infrastructural support to make all schools inclusive for children with disabilities is also the need of the hour”.