Global Education

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Global Education

• Where Are We?
• Professor J. McNair

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Almost 60 years ago, the nations of the world,
speaking through the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, asserted that "everyone has a right
to education".
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On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the
United Nations adopted and proclaimed the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
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Article 26 (1) Everyone has the right to
education. Education shall be free, at least in
the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary
education shall be compulsory. Technical and
professional education shall be made generally
available and higher education shall be equally
accessible to all on the basis of merit. (2)
Education shall be directed to the full
development of the human personality and to the
strengthening of respect for human rights and
fundamental freedoms. It shall promote
understanding, tolerance and friendship among all
nations, racial or religious groups, and shall
further the activities of the United Nations for
the maintenance of peace. (3) Parents have a
prior right to choose the kind of education that
shall be given to their children.
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In the 1990s

• More than 100 million children, including at
  least 60 million girls, had no access to primary
  schooling
• More than 960 million adults, 2/3rds of whom are
  women, were illiterate, and functionally
  illiterate.

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In the 1990s

• More than one-third of the world's adults had no
  access to the printed knowledge, new skills and
  technologies
• More than 100 million children and countless
  adults failed to complete basic education
  programs

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In the 1990s

• Millions more satisfied the attendance
  requirements but did not acquire essential
  knowledge and skills

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In 1990, delegates from 155 countries, as well
as representatives from some 150 organizations
agreed at the World Conference on Education for
All in Jomtien, Thailand (5-9 March 1990)
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to universalize primary education and massively
reduce illiteracy before the end of the decade.

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The World Declaration on Education for All thus
defined a bold new direction in education--
education would be tailor-made, adapted to the
needs, culture and circumstances of learners.
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In the 1990s

• Early childhood care and education expanded
  modestly, mainly in urban areas.
• Virtually all countries in the ratified the
  United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
  Child and accepted an obligation to ensure the
  right of every child to a basic education.

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In the 1990s

• The overall adult literacy rate had risen to 85
  per cent for men and to 74 per cent for women.
• Increased levels of education had enabled men and
  women to make more informed choices about family
  size.

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(No Transcript)
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This framework committed governments to the task
of achieving quality basic education for all by
2015, with particular emphasis on girls' schooling
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We hereby collectively commit ourselves to the
attainment of the following goals

• (i) expanding and improving comprehensive early
  childhood care and education, especially for the
  most vulnerable and disadvantaged children

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We hereby collectively commit ourselves to the
attainment of the following goals

• (ii) ensuring that by 2015 all children,
  particularly girls, children in difficult
  circumstances and those belonging to ethnic
  minorities, have access to and complete, free and
  compulsory primary education of good quality

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We hereby collectively commit ourselves to the
attainment of the following goals

• (iii) ensuring that the learning needs of all
  young people and adults are met through equitable
  access to appropriate learning and life-skills
  programers

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We hereby collectively commit ourselves to the
attainment of the following goals

• (iv) achieving a 50 improvement in levels of
  adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and
  equitable access to basic and continuing
  education for all adults

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We hereby collectively commit ourselves to the
attainment of the following goals

• (v) eliminating gender disparities in primary and
  secondary education by 2005, and achieving gender
  equality in education by 2015, with a focus on
  ensuring girls full and equal access to and
  achievement in basic education of good quality

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We hereby collectively commit ourselves to the
attainment of the following goals

• (vi) improving all aspects of the quality of
  education and ensuring excellence of all so that
  recognized and measurable learning outcomes are
  achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy
  and essential life skills.

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Since 2000

• The number of children in school soared (from 599
  million in 1990 to 681 million in 1998)
• Many countries are approaching full primary
  school enrolment for the first time.

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Since 2000

• On the other hand, some 113 million children were
  out of school.
• Discrimination against girls was widespread and
  nearly a billion adults mostly women were
  illiterate.

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Since 2000

• The lack of qualified teachers and learning
  materials is the reality for too many schools.
• Some countries such as Bangladesh, Brazil and
  Egypt are earmarking close to 6 per cent of their
  gross national product (GNP) for education.

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Since 2000

• For some African countries, education absorbs up
  to a third of the national budget, although
  several of them spend as much on debt repayment
  as on health and basic education combined.
• Disparities in quality were also widespread.

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Since 2005

• More than 90 ministers of education reaffirmed
  their commitment to provide quality education for
  all (EFA), at the 33rd session of the UNESCOs
  General Conference in October 2005. 

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Since 2005

• UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura
  insisted on October 7 that three (3) necessary
  steps were needed to achieve the EFA goals set at
  the World Education Forum (Dakar, Senegal, 2000)
  by the target date of 2015

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Since 2005

• Firm and time-bound commitments to abolish school
  fees,
• Greater political will and
• Clearly identified measures to get girls into
  school.

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The Challenges

• How to reach out with education to HIV/AIDS
  orphans in regions such as Africa where the
  pandemic is wreaking havoc
• How to offer education to the ever-increasing
  number of refugees and displaced people

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The Challenges

• How to help teachers acquire a new understanding
  of their role and how to harness the new
  technologies to benefit the poor.
• How to help education overcome poverty and give
  millions of children a chance to realize their
  full potential.