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Following
this too rapid review of the situation in our countries,
the advances secured, the main difficulties encountered
and the policies implemented, often in an innovative
way, it is appropriate to return to the concept of basic
education itself, which has been the leading idea in
all our thinking, and which lies at the heart of our
Conference and is its raison d'être.
5.1 REMODELLING THE EXPANDED VISION OF BASIC EDUCATION
The Jomtien "Declaration on Education for
All" and the action plan accompanying it received the
broad approval of the international community, which
recognized its general philosophy and its ethical dimension,
and the validity of the "expanded" approach to basic
education which it proclaimed: the international community
thus reaffirmed its commitment to those humanistic and
democratic values which constitute, at the deepest level,
the ultimate foundation of our modernity.
In terms of concrete application, however,
it has sometimes been regretted that the action plan
accompanying the Declaration was not more precise, in
particular in terms of target figures and timing. These
observations lead us to question, not the legitimacy
of the concept of education for all as defined ten years
ago, but the conditions necessary to make it more operational
and more effective.
After all, the encouraging results noted
in this review could also be interpreted as the result
of national policies which, even if there had been no
Jomtien Declaration, would have been put in place anyway
and developed in the same way, given the upheavals in
the political, economic, social and technical contexts
whose impact on education policy we have witnessed.
Indeed, most of the reports make it clear
that many dimensions of the "expanded vision" of basic
education coincide with one or other aspect of
national policy, while it is not really possible to
conclude in reading the reports that the design of these
policies was actually inspired by any "expanded
vision".
If the Conference were to share such a
feeling, then an essential question would arise: how,
beyond the renewal of a purely moral, and therefore
not very constraining adherence to the principles of
"education for all", can this be made central to policy-making,
and how can it be given a realistic and effective framework
for action?
5.1.1 Power and modernity of the concept of basic education
We have seen throughout this review to
what extent the concept of basic education, with all
the richness of its various facets, has been enshrined
as the founding principle of our cultures and contemporary
society. We shall here stress only three of its truly
decisive aspects:
- the truly strategic dimension of the concept of
basic education:
·
insofar as it is the vehicle for values of
justice, respect for human dignity, tolerance and
openness, basic education is in its very essence deeply
democratic. It is the fruit of democratic labours,
but it is also the crucible and the place where democracy
is perpetuated and reinforced.
·
it is also a vehicle for values of solidarity
and equalization of opportunity, at the national and
international levels, and it is a powerful factor
of social cohesion and an instrument of peace.
·
finally, it is also a vehicle for a personal
development plan, opening up access to knowledge,
skills and qualifications, and enabling both individual
and collective development.
- the globality and transversality of basic education:
as we have seen, it has sometimes been difficult to
position the concept of basic education relative to
education policy (access to and extension of the duration
of schooling), to the training of adults, to persons
in difficult circumstances, and to issues of the general
development of the cultural level of a society. This
is because the concept includes the entire population,
of all age groups, and many reports emphasized these
discrepancies and the difficulty of including the concept
in the policies described. Its global, transverse dimension
fits ill with administrative organizations which are
often somewhat compartmentalized, although they may
seek, by developing decentralization processes and mobilizing
actors close to the pupils, to give it substance and
space.
If the aim is to devise a really effective
action plan, then this transverse dimension must be
taken fully into account, and must be the key to its
success.
- the modernity of basic education: the contributions
of the various countries of our region, despite their
relative diversity, clearly point to a strong general
dimension: in the overall movement towards the development
of our region, from the transition to an industrial
society, then to post-industrial, service-oriented
and knowledge-based societies, a "basic quality education
for all" represents the essential foundation for all
subsequent development, and its necessary condition.
We may observe that the situation seems
to be the same in other regions, where more traditional
societies and economies dominate: the World Bank report
Knowledge for Development for 1998-99 is particularly
stimulating by virtue of its analyses and the many case
studies of which it gives details. Basic education thus
appears as a powerful vector of development of all societies,
from the most traditional to the most advanced.
Hence this question: if the Conference
were to share these points of view, could it consider,
at the conclusion of its work, and in line with the
Dakar Conference:
- reaffirming the central importance of the concept
of basic education, as defined at Jomtien, while placing
greater emphasis on its strategic dimension, its globality
and its transversality, and on its decisive role in
development strategies within the region and throughout
the world?
- mandating the rapporteurs of our Conference to propose,
on these lines, a "remodelled vision" of basic education
for all, which would take these dimensions into account,
and which could, on behalf of our region, be proposed
as a subject of discussion for all?
5.1.2 Integrating the concept of basic education into
national policy
If the Conference can agree on this concept
of the truly modern, global and strategic importance
of basic education, then it will be necessary for it
to consider ways and means of placing actions to promote
basic education at the very heart of the framing of
educational, social and cultural policies.
In this respect, this review of the situation
teaches us several things: certain countries have not
yet begun the exercise; others consider that the exercise
does not really concern them, since many of the aspects
usually mentioned in connection with basic education,
such as universal access to schooling, have already
been long since achieved; finally, still others denounce
in their reports the unsuitability or inadequacy of
the indicators proposed, a point also stressed in the
OECD document, in particular for whole sectors such
as early childhood, adult education, and the assessment
of populations suffering from hardship. The conference
could decide to make it a priority to construct new
tools for the evaluation of all situations and problems
encountered in the development of basic education, and
to include this in the calendar of the future action
plan.
Lastly, in the majority of cases, the work
carried out has been performed by teams brought together
for the purpose, in the form of interministerial cooperation
or task forces, or has sometimes been entrusted to consultants,
but seldom to a permanent team with the constant role
of monitoring the issues raised here. The quality of
the analyses provided through this assessment work is
remarkable, but it does not afford any guarantee of
regular follow-up to these questions. Irrespective of
the quality of the work contributed, this situation
is undoubtedly one of the major obstacles to real inclusion
of the issues of basic education in national policies
in our region.
It is therefore clearly necessary to reverse
the general trend observed in the country reports: to
move away from "coincidences" observed between national
policies and the issues that concern us, and to succeed
in transforming them into ways of effectively helping
with planning and decision-making in the sectors concerned.
It is clear that in order to carry out
a kind of "Copernican revolution", a number of principles
and provisions need to be reaffirmed and adopted, and
that the Conference should come to a conclusion on two
points:
- it should reaffirm the principle of the full
sovereignty of States which sign up to the "remodelled
vision" of basic education on the ways and means of
implementing the resultant policies.
- it should commit itself to setting up a permanent
structure with a watching brief to provide early warnings
and advice on all questions concerning the proper
development and strengthening of basic education.
It would be left to each State to choose the means
or structures deemed most suitable to achieve this
general goal.
5.1.3
Objectives to be achieved by the year 2015
The experience of the last 10 years clearly
shows that it can be somewhat unwise to set objectives
which are too optimistic or too general: many of the
targets which the Jomtien Conference set itself do not
appear to have been reached everywhere, and certain
regions have experienced even greater difficulties,
for various reasons, including wars, epidemics and economic
and financial crises.
For our region, in which political and institutional
stability has increased, where, in part at least, economic
growth has been strong, or where a return to growth
can be expected soon, given the reforms undertaken,
it is not unreasonable to set a number of general objectives,
bearing in mind, however, that, like the rainbow, some
of them may recede as we approach them.
The Conference could therefore set itself
certain minimum objectives to be achieved by the year
2015, encouraging each country to adapt its calendar
to its own situation and resources. These objectives
could be as follows:
1.
To define basic education in terms of levels to be
reached, in terms of the knowledge and essential skills
deemed to be the indispensable development tools needed
for personal and social integration, and possibly
to adapt the duration of compulsory schooling to those
levels of achievement.
2. To that end, to maintain and broaden access
to schooling until it reaches the required levels,
in countries where it has not yet been completely
accomplished, and for those categories of the population
who are unable to take proper advantage of it. The
duration of this schooling is to be fixed country
by country.
3. To bring about as large a reduction as possible
in the number of young people who do not reach the
level of attainment necessary to complete their basic
education, i.e. the minimal level prescribed country
by country. To make it possible for all young persons
or adults who have not completed their basic education
or who have fallen below this level to take advantage
of measures allowing them to achieve or regain this
level and to maintain it.
4. To provide a "foundation" for basic education
by bringing efforts to bear on early childhood and
pre-elementary education, in order to improve conditions
for personal development and learning. In addition
to improving early childhood care, all children from
three to six years of age should have access to pre-primary
education, if their parents so wish. But improving
the conditions of entry into schooling does not go
far enough. It is also necessary to be concerned with
life after leaving school, and to develop "maintenance"
policies which are primarily "cultural opportunities
for all" policies, in order to avoid any weakening
of the achievements which basic education is to provide,
and to make it possible to build personal or professional
careers in a context of lifelong learning.
5. To strengthen actions in favour of those
with learning difficulties through positive discrimination,
through a more attentive approach to their difficulties,
which presupposes that we take their problems comprehensively
into consideration, in partnership with them rather
than as helpers or fixers. Such an approach involves
them in the search for suitable solutions. This implies
that we should design true blueprints of personal
or family reconstruction, with basic education as
one of the major components. Such measures imply the
mobilization and joint efforts of various public services,
and likewise the support of the voluntary sector.
6. To reinforce and enrich teacher training
so as to prepare teachers to cope with the profound
transformation of their profession. To take all measures
which could improve their material situation whenever
this is particularly difficult, and which could make
it possible to improve their social status, in order
to help to place education once again at the heart
of overall plans for society.
7. To develop decentralization policies and
to increase the autonomy of individual schools, in
order to allow them to relate better to their immediate
environment, to take greater account of pupils' needs
and expectations, and to play their parts fully with
all their partners - families, other public services,
local communities and associations.
8. To channel more funds into basic education,
making it a real budget priority or maintaining it
as such. Adjustment in favour of basic education,
in all its aspects, is justified by reasons of justice
and social cohesion, and by the very high cost of
dealing with exclusion.
5.1.4
Agendas: objectives, resources and pace of implementation
Fixing targets for 2015 is one thing. Achieving
them by means of a series of concrete actions is another:
what we are now proposing to the Conference is that
we provide ourselves with the means to implement the
above-mentioned objectives in practice, by exploring
four directions:
- the establishment of a permanent system:
as indicated above, the "remodelled vision" of basic
education, if it is to be completely integrated in
the very process of policy-making, would justify the
establishment, or the maintenance, of a permanent
system;
- the definition of levels: also as mentioned
above, a priority objective should be to define levels
of knowledge, skills and qualifications according
to the levels of individual countries' requirements;
- the establishment of an agenda appropriate to
the situations of countries and their financial possibilities:
the recognition of each country's specificities and
different priorities, even if these are found largely
within a framework of shared inspiration, should lead
to the definition of quantified priorities and the
elaboration of action plans which neglect none of
the extremely varied questions raised by the furtherance
of basic education for all. By all these means it
should be possible to establish precise agendas;
- management and regular evaluation of all questions
raised by the strengthening of basic education for
all: operations under the national agenda of education
for all should be accompanied by regular follow-up
and quasi-continuous assessment. This concern to monitor
progress compared to national baseline levels in parallel
to the strengthening of the process, is moreover shared
by many in positions of national or international
responsibility, and takes pride of place in the Dakar
agenda.
5.2 CAPITALIZING AND SHARING: REGIONAL COOPERATION
The analysis of the contents of the country
reports and the two documents submitted to the Conference
by UNICEF and OECD reveals three directions, the last
of which is fundamental. Initially, these studies show
considerable convergence in the policies of the States
of the region, and overall agreement on a social and
economic model, for a society in which education for
all occupies a central position. They go on to emphasize
the options and priorities which appear to depend largely
on the situation of each country, according to whether
it is facing economic problems as a result of economic
transition, or problems of social cohesion, for example.
In this there is nothing which is not entirely natural
and legitimate: determining general orientations and
priorities, and choosing ways and means, lie completely
within the competence of national sovereignty.
But the third point to be emphasized here,
on the other hand, poses some problems: there sometimes
seems to be a certain lack of focus in the language
or presentation of these concepts, and ultimately in
the concepts themselves: we saw this clearly when we
looked more closely at various countries' definitions
of schooling and basic education.
However, this is no cause for alarm, and
we shall simply note that one of our region's major
assets lies in this search for definitions, in this
slight instability of conceptual frontiers. This hesitation
over concepts, this groping for highly innovative solutions
appropriate to each situation, actually opens up immense
possibilities for regional (and international) cooperation
which can only be advantageous: we must all learn to
learn from one another, and it is precisely that which
is the most promising approach to managing cultural
diversity, and which is the key to the rich variety
of our region.
Accordingly, bearing this in mind, the
Conference could decide at the regional level:
- To organize close cooperation across the region
for the definition of levels of attainment considered
to be essential to the achievement of basic education
for all in each country. This first stage should be
accompanied by the development of new evaluation tools,
and a permanent monitoring process to track how the
concept of basic education is progressing.
This should be done with the close involvement,
as proposed above, of those structures intended to monitor
questions of basic education in each country: the objective
being, in terms of regional cooperation, to create or
to reinforce a specific network which can monitor all
aspects of basic education.
- To encourage work at the regional level on topics
of common interest, in order to be better able to
capitalize on and share in the experience gained over
the whole of the region.
- To strengthen coordination of implementation, on
the basis of data provided by the network, and possibly
to foster the convergence of education policies and
their evaluation.
- To give support, including financial support, to
both material and virtual exchanges between schools,
teachers and pupils on subjects of common interest,
in order to increase mutual understanding and to contribute
to the necessary cultural openness in today's world,
which is also a response to expectations often expressed
by young people.
- To develop strong, rigorous communication policies
in order to enhance public opinion concerning the
role of education and its fundamental importance for
individual and social development.
5.3 CAPITALIZING AND SHARING: COOPERATION WITH OTHER
REGIONS
The question of international cooperation
with other regions and developing countries was tackled
directly in some of the reports. France and Germany
mentioned this subject very explicitly. However, other
countries did not, including some known to play an extremely
important role in the area of international educational
cooperation, presumably because they are holding their
contributions in reserve for the Dakar Conference.
Admittedly, one of the first objectives
of our Conference is to report as fully as possible
on the situation, on the progress achieved and the obstacles
encountered in our region in the development of basic
education for all. However, it must not be forgotten
that basic education and its development constitute
a major world issue, and thus represent a strong call
for solidarity among our countries, for the sake both
of ethics, and of straightforward realism. We are well
aware of the threats in our own regions of poverty and
exclusion, and the denial of education which accompanies
them, as well as their costs to society. We should therefore
be doubly aware of the same phenomena when observed
on a much larger scale in other regions.
Solidarity, security and our own interests
should lead us to a significant reinforcement of cooperation,
particularly in the field which concerns us.
The question will very probably be discussed
at length at our Conference when the FRAMEWORK ACTION
PLAN is presented for the appraisal of each regional
Conference, and subsequently, in April, when it is submitted
to the World Conference in Dakar. Against this backdrop,
our region, with its long tradition of cooperation,
has a duty to make bold proposals to the World Conference,
proposals which answer the expectations expressed to
us on many occasions. There is no doubt that, in each
of our countries, the thinking is along these lines.
For the present, and given the problems
that we have identified as far as we ourselves are concerned,
the Conference may well ask to what extent the actions
of regional cooperation suggested above might not also
have a wider impact, and form at least part of our proposals
to the World Conference.
Our region could thus propose:
5.3.1 Technical measures
- To adopt a "remodelled vision" of education for
all (EFA), taking into account the experience
built up in our region and in other world regions
during the decade, which truly includes the dimensions
of basic education that we have just explored.
- To request each State, as we shall do ourselves,
taking into account the situation and resources of
each, to define the levels of achievement of basic
education that it regards as essential, and to draw
up an agenda for their implementation and an
estimate of the necessary funding.
- To propose the extension to other regions of
the watching brief to observe the state of progress
of basic education as mentioned above, at national
and regional levels. A true "Observatory of Basic
Education" could be thus created, which could
be placed under the aegis of the recently created
UNESCO Institute for Statistics, with the role of:
· contributing to the creation on a world scale
of reliable and complete observation tools with
which to monitor the state of basic education in
each country;
· collecting statistics, together with information
on and evaluations of initiatives, projects or programmes
of general interest, based on a network of national
and regional centres, in order to make clear
and complete information available to all;
· placing at the disposal of all decision-makers
and other actors permanently updated information,
through the creation of an "electronic gateway"
specifically devoted to EFA;
· ensuring that the specific dimension of the "remodelled
vision" of EFA is taken into account in the development
of programmes of bilateral or multilateral cooperation,
through the authority which the Forum represents
for concerted action of this kind, and calling for
better coordination of development aid, particularly
where basic education is concerned.
All of the above corresponds fully to the desire to
monitor the framework of action proposed for the Dakar
Conference, and to the wishes of many delegations in
our region to have a permanent tool with which to track
progress on these matters.
5.3.2 Financial measures
From a financial point of view, considerable
efforts appear indeed to be necessary if those regions
in particularly difficult situations are to benefit.
The following proposals have been made:
- the already pre-existing commitment to devote
0.7% of GDP to government aid to development should
be reaffirmed, a commitment which only a few countries
have succeeded in honouring, in the hope that, as
many countries of the world return to growth, it will
at last be carried into execution;
- debt rescheduling or cancellation mechanisms
could be supplemented with clauses giving priority
to investment in the sector of basic education, after
examination of national plans produced by beneficiary
countries;
- a new proposal could be put forward: given
the fundamental importance for development of the
establishment and maintenance of a universally accessible
system of quality basic education, our Conference
could consider the advisability of creating a specific
Fund financed by a percentage of the educational expenditure
of each country;
This
suggestion may appear unrealistic in view of the budgetary
constraints weighing on each of us.
But those responsible for education
in our region are fully aware of the great importance
of the issue at stake, and can therefore testify to
their solidarity with these educational aims in strong,
concrete and forthright terms.
5.4 BY WAY OF CONCLUSION: STRENGTHENING THE EFA PROCESS
The past 10 years have seen some progress
to some degree, but have also led to disappointments
which the enthusiasm of Jomtien did not foresee.
If it were possible, at the end of this study, to express
a wish, it would be twofold:
- First, to "remodel" the "expanded vision" of
the Jomtien Conference, by restating some of its concepts,
and emphasizing the truly essential role which basic
education can and must play in the foundation and
development of individuals, societies and cultures.
- Second, to give priority not to grand but remote
objectives, which the hazards of national and international
life are likely to cause to recede, but to a system
which can strengthen the EFA Forum by furnishing it
with:
· a clearer vision of what is at stake in basic
education;
· instruments to steer the undertaking and monitor
progress, through the creation of an "Observatory
of Basic Education" throughout the world;
· funds to enable it to embark on the work of collecting,
analysing and making available to decision-makers
and all other actors all the accumulated experience,
and to make the sharing of that experience one of
the great strengths of cooperation on basic education.
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