G LO B A L E D U C AT I O N M O N I TO R I N G R E P O R T 2 0 1 6 SUMMARY Place: cities and human settlements U rbanization is one of today’s defining demographic trends – over half of the world lives in cities and urban areas, and most projected urban population growth to 2050 will happen in lower income cities. The GEM Report looks at the ways cities and urbanization affect education, and how education affects urban issues. The scale and speed of urban change necessitate good governance, flexibility and innovation. Education should be integrated into urban planning so that the education needs and rights of all are met as urban populations change. But the broad education sector is largely missing from key urban development discussions. Education stakeholders and urban leaders need stronger advocacy and leadership if education is to gain a seat in discussions on the future of cities. CITIES AFFECT EDUCATION PLANNING Globally, about half of urban growth is due to natural population growth and half to migration from rural areas. Such growth raises demand for basic education, lifelong learning, skills development and teachers, and increases the need to foster social cohesion and tolerance of cultural diversity through education, including for slum dwellers, migrants and refugees. More than one-third of urban residents in lower income countries live in slums or shanty towns in city centres or urban peripheries. Slums’ conditions vary greatly, but many are characterized by poor access to basic services, including education. Data compiled from 130 slum settlement profiles from 12 cities and towns in Uganda found that while most settlements had access to schooling, the respondents highlighted the need to increase the number of accessible public schools. By late 2014, 6 out of 10 refugees lived in urban areas. More than half the world’s refugees are under 18 Migrants to cities looking for employment face challenges such as discrimination, language barriers, unemployment and exploitation in the informal economy. Addressing these requires a focus on skills development. Urban education systems that receive forcibly displaced children and youth need to adapt to support their long-term integration — particularly as the global refugee crisis is deepening. By late 2014, 6 out of 10 refugees lived in urban areas. More than half the world’s refugees are under 18. In Turkey, 85% of Syrian refugee children in camps attend school, compared with 30% of those in urban areas. The prevalence of private schools, especially in major cities and peri-urban areas, is often underestimated or disregarded in discussions of public education. Their growth in peri-urban areas is mostly informal, often not captured in official statistics, and critically neglected. The 2010/11 private school census of Lagos state, Nigeria, revealed that over 85% of pre-primary and 60% of primary students were enrolled in private schools. EDUCATION HAS ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS ON CITIES … Good quality primary and secondary education and high enrolment rates in tertiary education are fundamental for fostering innovation and increasing productivity in knowledge economies. Cities attract human capital and foreign direct investment by positioning themselves as global hubs for higher education, skills, talent, knowledge and innovation. The megacity of Shanghai, China, attracts a wide range of talent, has access to over 100,000 graduates and has doubled the proportion of college-educated labour force in a decade. Stanford University has reportedly had significant global economic impact: 18,000 firms created by its alumni are based in urban areas of California. Informal work is a major source of employment and income in lower income countries, especially in cities, and an important stopgap employer in higher income economies during economic crises. Recognizing and including informal work in urban economies is important for prosperity and social inclusion in cities. 27