"Education: A necessary Utopia"

A national expert meeting on the Delors Report, Learning: The Treasure Within, was organized by the German Commission for UNESCO in co-operation with the Protestant Academy Arnoldshain, June 1998

Public debate about educational policies has become lively again: Perspectives for higher education, lifelong learning, basic qualifications, role of the school and requirements for the future are hotly debated issues, as Germany re-assesses  its position in the international educational landscape.

Seventy experts and researchers met for two days in the Protestant Academy of Arnoldshain near Frankfurt in June 1998 to discuss the proposals and concepts put forward by the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century. Their report to UNESCO is contributing to the debate at a  moment when similar policy formulating essays and papers are being written by researchers, State administrations and the European Union.

The Delors Report contributes important elements to this debate because it emphasizes the importance of education as a Utopia, learning as empowerment of the individual facing change and unpredictable developments.

Mrs Marie-Angélique Savané from Senegal, member of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century, highlighted the main thrust of its message:

Education needs to be put center stage in the public debate, and should not be limited to a discourse among specialists and educational administrators. The inter-disciplinary, inter-cultural and inter-religious composition of the Commission is essential for its openness and the quality of its results. The participatory working style, with hearings in different parts of the world, is vital in coping with the great diversity among the world's educational systems as they exist. The strong personal commitment, listening skills and integrative energy of the chairperson, Jacques Delors, allowed the diverse team to broaden its vision and arrive at a pluralistic perspective.

Our present international situation requires the educational debate to "go global" and reflect our shared responsibility for "learning to live together", as the report states. How can exclusion from a specific society be prevented or reversed by education for solidarity and dialogue?  From an African perspective, learning to practice democratic forms of acting and decision making is very important.

Lifelong learning with its four pillars, Learning to know, Learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be, opens up a new perspective for the individual student and for the roles of teachers at schools and universities. This is a plea for a transformative culture which encourages people to change their lives and adapt their way of thinking, wherever they may live, be it in Latin America, Africa, Asia or Europe.

The report does not pretend to re-invent the wheel of education. It wants to encourage students and teachers to adopt their own critical attitude towards the Delors Report.

The report of this national expert meeting exists in German.  For further information, please contact the German Commission for UNESCO as follows:

Deutsche UNESCO-Kommission e.V.
Colmantstrasse 15
53115 Bonn
Germany