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| PRESS
KIT CONTENTS (.pdf)
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 The
state of education in Europe and North America: ambitious,
difficult and sometimes disturbing… |
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| Five
major highlights: |
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| Reportages
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| Profile
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| The
conference key words |
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| Informational
graphics (.pdf)
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Adolescents
on the sidelines (16-19 years) |
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Functional
illiteracy (16-65 years) |
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Ten
years of basic education |
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| Photos
(comming soon) |
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A
conference update each day on the web
www.education.unesco.org/efa
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The
state of education in Europe and North America:
ambitious, difficult and sometimes disturbing |
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| Over
300 participants from all over Europe and North America will
converge in Warsaw, Poland from 6 to 8 February. They will be
there to examine the state of education in the forty or so countries
they represent. At the conference, ministers and other education
specialists will take part in the assessment recommended by
the World Conference on Education for All (EFA) in Jomtien,
Thailand, exactly ten years ago. In Jomtien, in 1990, 155 countries,
supported by some 150 international organizations committed
themselves to provide their citizens with universal primary
education and to massively reduce illiteracy by the end of the
decade. The time has now come to review the findings. An exhaustive
assessment, will be presented at six regional conferences, including
Warsaw, as preliminaries to the World Education Forum to be
held in Dakar, Senegal, next April. |
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| In
the rich countries, the public might assume that education for
all is a well-established reality. This is not the case. Developing
countries do not have a monopoly on exclusion from education.
Europe and North America also have teachers who have not been
paid for three years, refugee children attending school under
the most precarious conditions, rural schools lacking even the
most rudimentary equipment, inadequately trained teachers, immigrant
children badly integrated into the school system. The failings
of basic education are legion even in rich countries. We know,
for instance, that some 25 per cent of the adult population
in this part of the world have difficulties with reading and
writing. |
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| The
Warsaw assessment is therefore ambitious, complex and sometimes
disturbing. So many socio-political and technological upheavals
have marked the decade. Promises remain unfulfilled. However,
this record of success and failure is in itself illuminating,
just as the quality or the mediocrity of statistics can be instructive.
But the most important contributions at the Warsaw Conference
will be the reports which situate findings in a regional perspective
and identify trends and innovations upon which the school of
tomorrow can be built. Accordingly, the assessment and round-tables
will be followed by the adoption of a regional Framework for
Action. |
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| The
organizer of the Conference and the assessment, the International
Consultative Forum on Education for All, is co-sponsored by
the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank, along with a number
of bilateral aid agencies. Directed by Svein Osttveit, it is
based at UNESCO's Paris Headquarters. |
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| Pre-school:
the lucky ones and the others… |
| (.pdf) |
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| Early
childhood education varies in many countries from top-quality
to poor provision. The best scenario is when its importance
for the child's future is reflected in the funding it receives.
The worst is when an economic crisis relegates it to the back
burner of the education system. Between the two extremes, there
are wide variations and great differences in quality, notably
between schools in cities and those in rural areas. |
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| The
consequences of the economic crisis on early childhood education
in Central and Eastern Europe have been particularly severe.
Under communism, preschools were generally operated by the factories
or businesses where the parents worked, and many of these have
disappeared. |
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| In
Russia, 27,600 nursery schools closed their doors between 1990
and 1999. In January 1998, only 53.8 per cent of Russian children
between the ages of 3 and 5 were enrolled. Whether pre-schools
are public (in most cases) or private, access to them today
is a real problem. Living standards have declined, but the cost
of education has risen. The combination of high prices and mediocre
quality mean parents keep their children at home. |
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| In
general, early childhood education is progressing. In the United
Kingdom, the percentage of 3-year-olds enrolled at pre-school
level went from 40 per cent in 1989 to 50 per cent in 1997-98.
In Portugal, the rate of pre-school attendance increased more
than 14 per cent between 1989-90 and 1996-97. However, one in
two young children are still at home. Italy, where 95 per cent
of children were in nursery schools in 1998, is aiming at 100
per cent attendance this year, a percentage which the 100-year-old
école maternelle system in France attained many years ago. |
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| Programmes
have been developed to improve quality and facilitate access
to early childhood education. In Portugal, a special programme
aims at progressively integrating 90 per cent of 5-year-olds,
75 per cent of 4-year-olds and 60 per cent of 3-year-olds. In
some countries, at least one year of nursery school is required
for entry into primary level. |
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| Preschool
establishments have more than a child-minding role. Far from
being a place for harried parents to 'park' their children,
they buzz with the stimulation of educational activities. |
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| Pre-primary
education is an essential investment, because of its proven
long-term effects on future schooling and its social role in
reducing the risks of failure, drop-out and marginalization.
After all, a tree grows better when it has good roots. |
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| School
drop-outs: Falling between the cracks |
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| They
have neither a diploma nor a profession, because they left school
too early. For thousands of school drop-outs and the education
systems they have left, this means failure. Yet no country has
ever really resolved the drop-out issue. Each year, too many
adolescents fail to finish their basic education. The causes
sometimes differ, but the consequences are inevitably the same.
When a young man or women lacks education and qualification,
sooner or later, unemployment looms. |
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| Several
countries in Central and Eastern Europe emphasize the extent
of the drop-out problem, notably among 13 to 15-year-olds. Although
it is difficult to put figures on it, this growing trend is
closely linked with the economic crisis. Children from poor
families in rural areas sometimes participate in farm work instead
of going to school. |
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| In
the United States, 5 per cent of students leave school at secondary
level or do not finish their basic education. Their socio-economic
background is a major factor, as proportionally more African-Americans
and Hispanics - who must also contend with a language barrier
- drop out of school. These teenagers have longer periods of
unemployment, lower salaries, and are more likely than others
to run into a multitude of social problems. |
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| In
Western Europe, where the dilemma also exists, specialists consider
the education system to be more at fault than the student. Education
in a number of countries is out of phase with socio-economic
developments. Technical and vocational education often comes
under attack. Perceived as degrading by young people and their
families, and inappropriate by employers, its objectives, methods
and fields of action need to be overhauled. Curricula should
also aim to balance general and professional instruction. |
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| In
short the entire relationship between the school and the workplace
must be reviewed and revised. |
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| In
search of quality |
| (.pdf)
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| In
most of Europe and North America, access to basic education
has generally been achieved. But its quality has declined everywhere
under the impact of two distinct factors - economic crisis in
the East and a general trend towards the curtailment of the
state in the West. Because they are slow to adapt, education
systems have not responded to these developments. Teacher training
and the publication of new textbooks, for example, lag too far
behind expectations and needs. |
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| Rural
areas are at a disadvantage, notably in Central and Eastern
Europe, mostly because regional decentralization rarely comes
with an adequate budget. Some village schools have reached crisis
point. In rural Romania, for example, the situation of post-primary
education is critical. Of the total number of pupils enrolled
in secondary school, at the beginning of the 1996/97 school
year, only 6.4 percent were located in rural areas. |
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| Although
socio-economic background and parents' educational level play
a role, good results everywhere depend on the quality of instruction.
In Great Britain a qualitative analysis reveals that 3 per cent
of schools cannot provide an acceptable level of education.
Another 10 per cent have serious deficiencies. |
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| In
many Western European countries, young people are increasingly
disenchanted with schooling. The British government stated in
1997 that absenteeism and the expulsion of students had become
a serious issue: each year, at least one million children regularly
miss classes, 100,000 are expelled temporarily and 13,000 permanently
excluded from school. |
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| Can
an education be said to be of quality when it no longer guarantees
meaningful employment, even in rich countries? "You study, you
make sacrifices, and in the end, what do you have? Nothing,"
says Rachida Bensmilli, 22, a business student in Paris, France.
"Sometimes I just think that it's not worth it. Employment perspectives
are so bleak." |
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| How
to adapt to new conditions while improving quality? This is
the new challenge to education in the region. It demands addressing
the whole system from pre-school up. It implies improving teacher
training, teaching and learning materials, learning achievement
and drop-out, and the vast disparities between privileged urban
and neglected rural schools. |
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| Nor
will these reforms come free. The falling birth rates in Europe
are lessening the demographic pressure on education budgets,
thus freeing up extra resources that can be channelled to deal
with the real challenges of basic education. In some regions,
the number of 3 to 6-year-olds has gone down by 10 per cent
to 45 per cent. This is good news for education ministers who
can now concentrate on quality. |
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| Eastern
Europe: the fallout of the economic crisis |
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| The
whole education system of Eastern and Central Europe has been
brutally shaken by the economic crisis gripping the region.
Basic education remains more or less accessible to all, but
its quality and functioning have been critically affected. Under
communism, quality free education was a major success throughout
the region. This is why its decline is all the more difficult
to accept today. |
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| For
families, the change is radical. Many live in precarious conditions:
since 1990 the number of jobs lost can be counted in the millions.
In Russia alone, the number of unemployed increased from 2 to
8 million between 1994 and 1997. Almost everywhere, purchasing
power has dropped drastically. In several countries, teachers
are left unpaid for months at a time. In Bulgaria, Lithuania
and Moldova, salaries in general have fallen to one-third of
the 1990 level. And the cost of education, even when comparatively
low, is higher than most poor families can afford. |
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| To
continue teaching often resembles heroism. In Russia, it takes
from between three to ten months to get paid. Because their
salaries are among the lowest of any professional category,
most teachers are obliged to find a second job to have a decent
income. Consequently, they no longer have enough time to guarantee
quality education. Understandably, teaching no longer attracts
competent, motivated professionals. Many teachers are leaving
the profession. The recruitment of future teachers may soon
be limited to men or women who are only motivated by retirement
and social benefits. |
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| For
the want of a maintenance budget, schools are often dilapidated.
Educational materials are extremely limited. New, good-quality
textbooks have inadequate print runs. In Russia, one book is
sometimes shared by four pupils. |
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| Only
the children of well-to-do parents now benefit from advantages
which were previously free and available to all. Work in small
groups, private lessons, extra-curricular activities like sport
or theatre must now be paid for and often at exorbitant prices.
Worse still, there is now a charge for school meals. This means
that poor children, already deprived of well-balanced meals
at home, find themselves excluded from the school cafeteria.
Many countries have begun to remedy the problem but for a great
number of schools, especially in rural areas, nothing can be
done. |
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| The
consequences of the crisis go even farther. With the proliferation
of private schools, a two-tiered system is taking root, reinforcing
inequalities which are already too widespread. |
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| Functional
illiteracy: The invisible problem |
| (.pdf)
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| Today
in the world's developed countries, some men and women lead
daily lives resembling an obstacle course because they have
either lost or never acquired the reading and writing skills
that formed part of their basic education. |
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| Nearly
a quarter of the population of these countries is incapable
of understanding and using the information contained in brochures,
information bulletins, train schedules, road maps and simple
instuctions for household appliances or pharmaceuticals. This
major handicap bears the technical name: functional illiteracy.
No country is immune. |
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| The
assessment confirms the findings of an international survey
on the reading and writing capacities of adults (1994-95) in
twelve OECD countries (1) which revealed that part of
the adult population had reading problems. In Europe and the
United States there are adults incapable of making out a cheque
or verifying a bill, reading a story to a child... or writing
a love letter, and who are petrified by the prospect of future
change such as the arrival of the Euro or new technologies.
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| Those
most affected by functional illiteracy are ethnic minorities,
marginalized groups and also women - in certain provinces of
southern Europe nearly a quarter of women are illiterate. A
number of countries have carried out research into the problem,
but the statistical data necessary for full comprehension is
still insufficient. |
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| One
of the priorities of Education for All is to eliminate functional
illiteracy. But we must first of all determine why the school
has failed in its mission with regard to some students. One
of the ambiguities of compulsory education in the West, is that
it sometimes appears to lead nowhere. And, as far as technical
and vocational training are concerned, they have so far failed
to convince either young people or employers. Tackling this
mismatch promises to be a major task in the coming years. |
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| (1)
International Adult Literacy Survey, OECD |
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A
Tatar School in Crimea
ENTHUSIASM KNOWS NO BOUNDARIES |
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| "It's
always the same nightmare," says Aishe Tchabanova, Principal
of School No. 2 in Staryj Krym, Crimea. "First an explosion...
and then the school goes up in smoke. Our heating system is
rickety and antiquated and frequent power cuts make it dangerous
to use." Aishe Tchabanova has a strong personality and a loud
voice, but they don't hide the fact that she is very worried.
She runs a Tatar school with 540 pupils and 36 teachers in a
small village in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, in the Ukraine
where the population is predominantly Russian-speaking. Her
daily life is a mixture of trouble-shooting and keeping everyone
motivated. Aishe Tchabanova's school has a particularly heavy
burden to bear. Like all schools in the Ukraine, it is facing
the consequences of poverty and the general disintegration of
the old school system. But that's not all: As a school designated
for children of an ethnic minority - the Tatars - it is among
the poorest of the poor, along with all the other minority schools.
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| On
an empty stomach |
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| The
temperature in the school building never rises above 12o C.
Classes begin at 7.30 a.m. and finish early. "We work while
it's still daylight," says Tchabanova. This is partly because
of the constant power cuts. There's no question of asking the
parents to help. "Most of them can't even give 50 kopecks (30
centimes) for their children's lunch," sighs Vice-Principal
Levaje Abibulajeva. "So many pupils work on an empty stomach
now. Under the Soviets the most underprivileged were served
hot meals at no cost. Today, we don't have the means to offer
free food." Those who can afford to eat at school in a cafeteria
without tables or chairs. A few benches are reserved for nursery
school children, and one corner has become a dispensary for
the school doctor. |
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| Teachers
work out of "pure enthusiasm," said Levaje Abibulajeva, proudly.
Their salaries are never higher than $20 ...when they are actually
paid. Before presidential elections last fall, they all received
several months of back salaries. Since then, nothing, "not even
for Christmas," she said, admitting, "there are times when it's
really difficult to motivate them ". |
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| Hunting
for desks |
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| Created
in 1996, the school took over its present location in 1998,
after Tatar families pitched in and carried out most of the
installation themselves. At the inauguration, the municipal
council contributed $5, just about enough to pay for brooms.
Some 500 children tried to enroll - "Parents no longer wanted
a Russian-language school for their children" - but only 275
were accepted. At the beginning, only four classrooms out of
25 were equipped, which meant that pupils were forced to stand
up during their lessons. The State Committee responsible for
Nationalities gave 50 desks and the school recuperated others
from different parts of Crimea: "It was a real desk hunt, "
smiles Levaje Abibulajeva, "They are all different styles. We
could open a museum". |
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| Two
donations were especially appreciated: the Ukraine Soros Foundation
made it possible to equip chemistry and physics classrooms,
and Polish colleagues in the Education for Democracy Foundation
set up a computer room. The students started publishing a school
newspaper in Tatar. "We shouldn't be thinking of financial and
material problems only," says Aishe Tchabanova firmly. "Our
major concern should be the quality of teachers and the evalution
of acquired knowledge". Levaje Abibulajeva agrees, adding that
she does not see much improvement in the financial situation.
But she obviously prefers to relate how the teachers have introduced
innovative teaching methods. School no2 of Staryj Krym may be
cash-poor, but it's rich in enthusiasm and, especially, courage. |
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| A
School in Rural Poland Decentralization hits Kruszow |
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| Last
year, seventy schools were closed and 400 may well suffer the
same fate this year in the Lodz district in Poland. This is
just one result of the decentralization of the education system
which is taking place in most countries in Eastern Europe. Under
communism, both the money and the decisions came from Ministries
of Education. In recent years, however, while financing - often
reduced - continues to come from the central authorities, school
management has become local. Responsibility has been transferred
to the regions, sometimes even to individual schools, with numerous
consequences and mixed reactions. |
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| The
parents of pupils in the village of Kruszow, 25 km from Lodz,
are ready to fight to keep their school, built in 1937, to which
they are sentimentally attached. But the number of children
has dropped year after year, from 100 when it opened, down to
48 today, and the decline is expected to continue. In a decentralized
education system, a region simply cannot afford to finance all
of the establishments under its jurisdiction. |
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| Here,
we live like a family |
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| The
region receives a fixed allocation per pupil, on average 2000
zlotys, and it must pay whatever complement is necessary. But
when the difference amounts to 3000 zlotys, you can hardly call
it a complement. Starting in January 2000, all building expenses
are now added to local budgets, so it is not surprising that
less costly solutions are being sought. The inhabitants of Kruszow
have been invited to send their children to the neighbouring
city of Tuszyn, which already has five primary schools (with
some 1200 pupils) including one which is brand new. The children
from Kruszow would take a bus in the morning and in the afternoon
after school. The village is, however, opposed to the scheme.
"Here, we live like a family," said Bozena Zaduminska, the school
principal. "At School, parents and children work together."
Janina Stawinska, a former principal and teacher, agrees. "There
are many reasons for keeping the school," she says. "It houses
all sorts of extracurricular activities, such as theatre and
sport. This school is at the heart of community life." |
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| "Unacceptable" |
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| We
know exactly what we need and which decisions to make, remarks
a member of the Lodz municipal council, "much better than someone
who works in some ministry miles away." Dorota Szafran, a regional
school administrator, considers that "teaching conditions are
far better in bigger schools and it is unacceptable, in the
year 2000, to oblige children to share classes with pupils of
different levels, as is the case in rural schools". |
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| The
children themselves don't want to leave their school on the
edge of the forest with all its rustic charm. And they are quick
to tell anyone who'll listen that last year's schoolmates, are
now among the star pupils in Tuszyn secondary school. It's so
unique and effective to be able to work with each student, says
Marzena Sobkiewicz, a teacher of Polish. "Unfortunately, this
kind of school is no longer profitable." Unfortunate every way.
When the school closes, eight of its ten teachers will be out
of a job. |
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| The
woman who couldn't read… became a playwright |
| (.pdf)
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| "I
was brilliant at games at school, but when it came to reading
a book or writing things down, I just didn't bother," explains
Sue Torr. "I didn't want to bother the teacher. I left at the
age of 15, unable to read and write." Embarrassed, Sue kept
her illiteracy a secret, even from her husband, a sailor, all
through their 16-year marriage. "At first, he used to write
me letters. When he was on leave, he'd ask, 'Why don't you ever
write to me?' I'd give him some excuse. I didn't want him to
think I was a dunce," she recalls. |
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| "One
night my mother-in-law said, 'Sue, what's on TV tonight? Could
you just have a look in the newspaper?' I picked it up and pretended
to look. 'There's nothing much on,' I said. 'What's on the second
channel?' she persisted. 'Just a load of rubbish,' I said. In
the end, I left the room and ran upstairs." |
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| According
to a 1996 study by the UK-based Basic Skills Agency, 19 per
cent of 37-year-olds have low or very low literacy and 23 percent
have low numeracy. Sue sums up the feeling: "You live in fear.
You've got a twinge in your stomach every time reading is mentioned."
Finally, Sue admitted her secret. "I was with a bunch of children.
They were going through a book and knew all the words. One child
asked me to help her and I sat there struggling with it. This
little girl said, 'You can't read that word, can you Miss?'
I said, 'No, I can't.' She said, 'But you're old. Why can't
you read?' I felt terrible." |
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| Sue
signed up for adult literacy classes and attended them for the
next three years. Then came the turning point. One day, her
teacher asked her to write down a list of what you could and
couldn't do if you were illiterate. "I just kept writing and
writing," remembers Sue. "My teacher understood my writing and
took it home to type it out." She then took the typed manuscript
to a local writers' group. With their help, it became her first
play. Shout It Out was performed at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth,
and on local radio. It won a Sony Radio Award. She then raised
$35,000 to produce a video version of Shout It Out. That won
a Royal Television Society Award in 1997. |
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| Now
aged 44, Sue has left her former job serving school lunches.
She has her own office from which she runs the Shout It Out
learning project. She tours schools and colleges with a one-woman-show
about adult literacy, visits writers' clubs and runs a scheme
to encourage children to read. She has collected numerous prizes
for her work and was recently made Member of the British Empire.
"I've given talks on adult literacy in universities, to students
and lecturers," she remarks. "I had a letter from Reader's Digest
asking me to go up to London to give a talk. So I did. They
wanted to know what it was like learning to read at a late age." |
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| Adapted
from an article by Martin Whittaker in the Times Educational
Supplement. |
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| THE
CONFERENCE KEY WORDS |
| (.pdf)
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| EFA
FORUM |
| The organizer
of the Warsaw Conference, the International Consultative Forum
on Education for All (EFA Forum for short) monitors progress
and promotes action in favour of basic education. Created ten
years ago in the wake of the Jomtien Conference (see below),
it is co-sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),
the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank,
along with a number of bilateral aid agencies. Directed by Svein
Osttveit, it is based at UNESCO's Paris Headquarters.
|
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| JOMTIEN |
| In 1990,
the seaside town of Jomtien, Thailand, hosted the first World
Conference on Education for All. At the Conference, the 155
participating countries and 150 organizations committed themselves
to the goal of universal primary education and the massive reduction
of illiteracy by the end of the decade. That same Conference
decided that in the year 2000 a general assessment should be
carried out. |
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| OBJECTIVES |
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| The
six objectives of Education for All are: |
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Expansion
of early childhood care and development activities. |
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Achievement
of universal primary education |
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Improvement
in learning achievement |
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Reduction
of adult illiteracy |
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5Expansion
of training in essential skills |
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Increased
acquisition of the knowledge required for a better quality
of life. |
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| THE
CHALLENGE |
| "Everyone
has the right to education", states Article 26 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948. Nonetheless, today
nearly one billion adults are still unable to read or write
and 84 million school-age children have no access to education.
Giving them this right is today a major challenge. |
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| ASSESSMENT |
| The Warsaw
review concerns all of Europe and North America. It is based
on national assessments carried out in the various countries.
To date, over thirty countries have presented reports. |
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| REGIONAL
FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION |
| This will
be discussed and elaborated at the Warsaw Conference during
plenary sessions and round-tables. Based on the findings of
national reports, its aim is to set new goals which are realistic,
concrete and for which there are adequate means. |
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| DAKAR |
| The World
Education Forum will be held in Dakar, Senegal from 26 to 28
April 2000. Drawing on the conclusions of the six regional conferences,
including Warsaw, it will elaborate a Global Framework for Action
- a veritable blueprint for basic education in the 21st century.
Some 900 people will participate in the Conference: heads of
state, ministers, representatives of non-governmental organizations,
education specialists and other experts from over 180 countries. |
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