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Recife
Declaration of E-9 Countries
Recife, Pernambuco - Brazil February 2, 2000 |
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PREAMBLE |
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 We,
the Ministers of Education and representatives of the E-9 countries
comprising Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia,
Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan, and accounting for more than 50%
of the world's population, having assembled in Recife, Brazil
from the 31 January to 2 February 2000 have reviewed the progress
of EFA in our countries. Having taken note of the national reports
of the nine countries, we recognize with deep satisfaction,
that since the Jomtien Conference, March 1990, and the EFA Summit
of Heads of State of the E-9 countries, New-Delhi, December
1993, there have been significant breakthroughs in all of the
nine countries. |
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Despite
the diversities among E-9 countries, there is a consensus regarding
the achievements recorded during the last ten years in the field
of education as well as the need to draft a new visionary agenda
for the next Millennium that will reaffirm basic education as
a human right. |
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We
believe that the objectives of Education for All should be pursued
through evaluations of the programs specific to each country
and by targeted actions to address the multiplicity of problems.
We also believe that the realities of the twenty-first century
demand that we all adopt the newest methods and most modern
technologies in our pursuit of truly global modernization in
the field of education in order to achieve excellence for all.
These challenges affect not only the E-9 countries but are also
shared by all countries throughout the world. |
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The
key challenge is the promotion of social and economic development
with equity through quality education for all. Besides formal
organizations for basic education, we should seek to engage
civil society in a broader context with all their creativity
and commitment. We underline that education is for excellence
and excellence is for all. |
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The
fact is that some of the E-9 countries are in a state of transition,
confronted simultaneously by the challenges of advancing to
higher levels of development while also addressing the problems
of underdevelopment. These countries work to meet advanced standards
of excellence while still dealing with pockets of backwardness
in education. |
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We
attest to the crucial role of national governments in partnership
with provincial governments, local bodies, NGOs and civil society
in meeting EFA goals with renewed enthusiasm. |
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New
paradigms of international solidarity are urgently needed. These
new models require increased technical co-operation among countries
and regions as well as broad technical and financial support
from international agencies and development partners. Such co-operation
in turn requires the careful designing of specific projects
that will allow us to draw on the experience garnered throughout
the world in solving educational problems over the last decade. |
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WE
ACKNOWLEDGE THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE DECADE WHICH INCLUDE: |
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 Massive
reduction in adult illiteracy;
Increase
in early child education strategies that involve parents
and that support vulnerable families;
Substantial
increase in pre-school educational services;
Significant
advance towards universal elementary education;
Improved
gender equity in school access for boys and girls and for
school attendance;
Addressing
early development of attitudes and values for coexistence
and civic education;
Decentralization
of educational services;
Development
of national curriculum framework;
Advance
in the process of inclusion of children with special needs
to mainstream schools;
Use
of distance education for the expansion of learning and
for teacher training;
Development
of programs for specific target groups with appropriate
in-built incentives;
Strengthening
of national database, evaluation and accreditation systems
for education;
Expansion
of partnerships with NGOs, civil society and private sector;
Increasing
public awareness for EFA through media and advocacy.
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WE
RECOGNIZE THE FOLLOWING CHALLENGES: |
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Persistence
of large number of illiterates in some countries;
Provision
of access to basic education in remote and inaccessible
areas;
Expansion
of provision of early childhood education and development;
Further
massive reduction of illiteracy and promotion of technological
learning and life skills;
Improving
quality and learning achievement in education;
Addressing
adequately existing inequities in education, particularly
in regard to girls' and women's education;
Mastery
learning and excellence for all.
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WE DECLARE THE FOLLOWING AS OUR GOALS: |
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According
highest national priority to EFA and in particular eradication
of adult illiteracy;
Increasing
the number of students that complete basic, middle and higher
education;
Total
inclusion of children with special needs in the mainstream
schools;
Effecting
changes in legislation to extend basic education and to
include education for all in policy pronouncements;
Implementation
of new educational modalities that link education to the
work force;
Ensuring
access and equity for population located in inaccessible
areas;
Developing
national networks of communication systems for universal
school access to internet and all forms of electronic media;
Strengthening
moral values in the basic education curriculum stressing
the importance of democratic values such as justice, fairness,
tolerance, and respect for diversity and equity-for teachers
and students;
Enhancement
of quality education measured not only by national standards
attained in traditional subjects but also by the acquisition
of knowledge, life skills and technological abilities;
Improvement
of the quality of initial and in-service teacher education;
Development
of special programs that respond directly to the problems
of groups that have been traditionally excluded from development;
Increasing
the participation of civil society including local community
to promote basic learning and life long learning for all;
Increasing modern technology and distance learning in all
aspects of EFA;
Establishing
and effective program for post-literacy and continuing education;
Paying
greater attention to education of adolescents [HIV / AIDS]
and to equip them with life skills;
Strengthening
database for education;
Continuing
necessary reforms in management of education to improve
administration and supervision;
Sharpening
focus on gender equity;
Ensuring
excellence for all in education.
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RESOURCE
MOBILIZATION |
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We
wish to strengthen our resolve to further increase resource
allocations for EFA, at the level of national government down
to the provincial, state and local bodies and by mustering the
support of civil society, NGOs as well as industry and business
towards contribution and involvement in EFA. |
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The
success of EFA program critically depends on mobilization of
adequate resources for education. While all the countries acknowledge
this requirement, some of the countries of the group face enormous
constraints in mobilizing adequate resources. |
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ROLE
OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY |
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Acknowledging
the valuable support and assistance offered at the national
level by UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, the World Bank and bilateral
donors in pursuing the goals of EFA, we would like to invite
these agencies to renew and review their role and strategies
in conformity with national plans and priorities and to evolve
a more coordinated framework for providing international assistance
to quality education for all.
We
unequivocally call on the International Community to prioritize
assistance to:
1. Support National Plans for Basic Education of each member
state;
2. Facilitate reduction and writing off of debt burden in
a manner which provides additional funding for education
as well as commit further resources to education;
3. Promote advocacy and awareness of the benefits of literacy
in alleviating poverty, promoting health and mitigating
social tensions in order to assure sustainable development;
4. Provide technical assistance to improve educational statistics
and information systems and strengthening the evaluation
for quality education for all.
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VISION
FOR THE FUTURE |
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We
acknowledge that quality education for all will be our biggest
challenge and also our greatest hope. Universal access to education
will allow our peoples to participate more effectively in an
interactive world. |
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The
onset of the information and knowledge revolution is changing
our lives in an unprecedented manner. Knowledge has become the
capital and the currency of the twenty-first century. New technologies,
new mechanism and immensely large and varied sources of information
are influencing our private and public lives. While remaining
committed to utilizing the advanced and modern technologies,
we shall remain equally committed to maintaining the cultural
identities of our respective societies and countries. |
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We
realize that we can help the world advance the cause of humanity
by striking a balance between acquisition of information and
knowledge and enrichment of the essence of our rich heritage.
We realize the need for a synergy between technological modernity
and traditional values. We look ahead to a future in which our
countries are liberated from the burden of illiteracy and are
fully empowered to move in fruitful harmony towards peace, prosperity
and global stability, security and technological development. |
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THE
WAY FORWARD |
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We,
the Ministers and representatives of E-9 countries reaffirm
our joint commitment and pledge to sustain, intensify and accelerate
our efforts and policies for achieving the laudable goals of
EFA. While appreciating the sincerity and enormity of efforts
made by governments and civil society in our countries, we acknowledge
the seriousness of the problems that continue to impede our
progress towards EFA. We appreciate that new challenges have
surfaced over the last decade that need to be addressed in an
innovative and creative manner. We see renewed hope in the emerging
technologies that provide undreamed of opportunities for life-long
learning and which have the potential to enable our countries
to leap-frog into the new millennium with hope. |
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We
call on the international community to express their solidarity
and to continue to lend their support to our endeavours in this
regard. We believe that a continuous sharing of knowledge and
experiences could make a visible contribution towards a more
efficient implementation of national EFA policies and programs.
We wish to strengthen alliances and effective partnerships between
countries and the international community to give a fresh impetus
to EFA. We approach the new millennium with the hope and optimism
generated by our achievements and resolve to address the challenges
of EFA with even greater determination and commitment to achieve
excellence for all. |
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