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| Europe
and North America redefine basic education for the information
society |
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 Warsaw
(Poland), February 8 - Forty-three countries from Europe and
North America have decided to redefine national approaches to
basic education and lay the foundations for lifelong learning,
recognised as an indispensable instrument for individual empowerment
in the emerging information-based society. |
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| A
3-day meeting, the Conference on Education for All in Europe
and North America, closed in Warsaw, Tuesday, with the adoption
of a Framework for Action reflecting the will of the region
which developed the educational model now applied world-wide
to update basic education and extend its availability to all
people beyond the traditional confines of childhood and of formal
classrooms. The Framework recommends three levels of action:
in each country, in the region, and globally. |
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| The
Conference was organised by the International Consultative Forum
on Education for All (EFA), comprising the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Children's
Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and
the World Bank. |
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| For
each country, the Framework notably recommends that basic education
provide "key skills, used as personal development tools [including]
a first vocational initiation, the culture, values and abilities
that are needed for social cohesion, sustainable development,
[...] and for the exercise of participatory and responsible
citizenship in a democracy." To achieve this, it also emphasises
the need to fight against functional illiteracy, a considerable
and persistent problem in all countries, including the most
developed. |
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| Regarding
the allocation of resources for basic education, emphasis is
placed on the need to maintain, and in some cases increase,
expenditure despite declining demographic trends in the region,
and to ensure that resource allocation serve to reduce inequities
in access to, and the quality of, education. |
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The need to promote effective partnerships between schools,
families, communities, civil society, social services and political
authorities is brought to the fore, especially for excluded
groups. The importance of basic education in the fight against
AIDS and other health risks is also stressed. Other concerns
include: monitoring results against both quantitative and qualitative
targets, with particular attention to those populations that
have most difficulty in attaining the desired objectives, providing
teachers with adequate training, notably in-service training,
and with a recognised status. |
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On the regional level, information sharing is encouraged and
"given the needs for further improvements in education systems,
particularly in hard hit economies of Central and Eastern Europe,
enhanced flows of financial assistance are merited and should
be provided". The Framework recommends "significant increases
of assistance to education" and urges region-wide efforts to
combat the exclusion of many adults from learning opportunities.
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| At
the global level, the Framework states: "Education must be allowed
to play its key role for lasting development in the context
of globalisation and by respecting the responsibilities of each
country. This can be achieved by 2015", provided certain steps
are taken. Among the measures listed, the Conference recommended
that Europe and North America: "respond to the requests coming
from countries in other regions [...]; request that the UNESCO
Institute for Statistics, and other international agencies collect
internationally-comparable data [... and] assist in national
capacity-building for statistical collection and analysis."
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| The
Framework adopted today also reflects the region's lessons from
its participation in an unprecedented stock-taking exercise,
EFA 2000 Assessment, which has covered 90% of the world in a
bid to monitor progress and needs in basic education since the
international community at the 1990 Jomtien Conference in Thailand
pledged to provide basic education for all and reduce illiteracy
massively. |
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| Unequal
access to existing educational provision was a major source
of concern in the presentation of reports on 29 countries in
Western Europe and a report on Central and Eastern Europe which
covered 20 countries. In the West, there was particular worry
about the influence of social exclusion on the educational and
subsequent professional success of learners while in the East
issues of family background, ethnic origin and geographic location
were brought to the fore. |
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| In
Central and Eastern Europe, budgetary constraints have led to
a decline in the mobilisation of resources for education in
many of the region's countries and have had a negative impact
on both access to, and quality of, education, the Assessment
shows. |
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| It
also points out that while schools generally continue operating
in the region, budgetary constraints mean that they rely more
on contributions from families to pay for supplies and extracurricular
activities but rising unemployment and poverty mean that households
also have fewer resources to devote to education. |
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Some of the main reasons to redefine basic education are explained
in the Framework for Action, notably the fact that: "With the
development of knowledge, [...] basic education takes more time:
in our countries, it covers at least lower secondary education,
and it is progressively concerning other levels; basic education
cannot be defined solely by an obligatory duration; it must
also be defined by its outcomes." |
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| Questions
are also raised regarding those who, despite the universal availability
of primary and early secondary education in the region, fail
"to reach the level that is required for successful integration
into working life and who cannot take part in social development."
This issue is linked to that of the fight against poverty and
exclusion in which adult education, notably the education of
young adults, must play a key role. The Framework notes that:
"As society is rapidly changing, each person needs lifelong
education; it must start from early childhood, so as to favour
the psychological, motor, affective and cognitive development
of young children." This is described as a holistic process
which begins at birth. Regarding early childhood education,
two reports presented at the Warsaw Conference - one for Eastern
and Central Europe, the other for Western Europe and North America
- syntheses of national reports from the region's countries,
showed early childhood education to be the weakest link in the
educational chain. |
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| Globalisation,
to be acceptable, "should lead to a convergence in levels of
education for the countries of the world," the Framework cautions,
noting: "However, an educational system cannot be severed from
its historical, cultural, religious and linguistic roots, which
our fellow citizens consider as essential, no doubt in reaction
to the threat of loss of identity that globalisation can represent."
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| The
Framework places basic education firmly as part of lifelong
learning: "the importance of valuing the learners' experience
in order to create both the curriculum and opportunities for
learning is paramount: education from all as well as for all.
[...] We believe that participation in learning builds self-confidence,
citizenship and autonomy. [...] We recommend that learning how
to learn is seen as a fundamental skill for all." It also highlights
the need to encourage teachers to see themselves as learners
too. |
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| The
Framework for Action will be presented - along with other reports
and Plans of Action adopted in five other regional and international
conferences - at the World Education Forum in Dakar (Senegal,
April 26 - 28) in which the international community will define
ways to reinforce efforts to provide quality education for all
world-wide. |
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EFA
Website: http://www.unesco.org/education/efa
Contact: EFA Forum, Teresa Murtagh - tel. (+33) (0)1 45 68 21
27,
email: t.murtagh@unesco.org
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