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| NGOs
and EFA: a personal view |
| By
Clinton Robinson |
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|
 I
walked into the EFA Forum Steering committee in Paris for
the first time in 1997, wondering why NGO representatives
had not been there from the start (1991). Anyway, at least
we were there now. Round the table were several UN agencies
and some Western donors - money, power, influence. Jackets
and ties. Noblesse oblige. And the South? A few individual
experts with good things to say - where are the southern governments?
I thought they were the big national players in education.
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| A
southern representative mentions that adult education and literacy
in their country is entirely in the hands of NGOs. That's true
elsewhere too, but it doesn't seem to be much on the agenda
of the meeting - more about statistics of primary school enrolment.
That's OK to give an idea of access to education, what about
quality and relevance? What about local culture and language?
What about designing education that fits with women's workload
and daily schedule? |
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| It's
not long before I start asking where the voice of civil society
has been all this time. Some response. I am back the next year
with the same message, other colleagues now giving support.
Things move fast. We commit ourselves to the assessment - some
case studies on the qualitative issues forgotten by the official
process - gender, community participation, partnerships, teachers'
perspectives and so on. We speak up again and get a role in
helping draft the Declaration, the framework for action for
the next push forward in EFA. |
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| So
far, so good. Now what? Can we keep the grassroots firmly in
view as we discuss global initiatives? As we take part in discussions
about money and structures, can we emphasise the soft side of
education - the diversity of human experience and culture, the
richness of language and history, the huge human potential which
goes to waste if education isn't really for all. |
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| How
has the decade affected my own organisation, SIL International?
We were represented at the Jomtien conference in a tentative
sort of way. As an organisation, we were at the time discussing
what our role should be in literacy and education for all. We
were well known for our work in linguistics and translation,
and were not sure how to respond to the many new requests to
expand our literacy and educational work. Early in the decade,
we took a decision to commit ourselves more strongly in these
areas and this has drawn us closer to the EFA agenda. |
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| For
those of us working with minority and indigenous communities,
the EFA decade seemed the best hope that they would finally
be included in the 'all' for whom education was now intended.
Our hopes have not been fulfilled. EFA has been held too tightly
to the breast of multilateral institutions and their member
governments. Civil society and the marginalised populations
they work with were left on the edges during most of the decade.
For instance, it has been difficult to keep adult literacy and
education on the agenda. |
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| I
think I am basically an optimist. We can't give up. As NGOs
and civil society, we should go on working and we should go
on talking with those who don't take the initiative to talk
to us. By our work and our words, we must challenge the way
in which international and national structures work - can they
be opened up so that they bring commitment, but not control?
Let's open up space for education to take root with local people
so that it really is education for ALL. |
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Clinton
Robinson is co-chair of the UNESCO-NGO Collective Consultation
on Literacy and Education for All. He works for the Summer
Institute of Linguistics
2000 |
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