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It is no secret that the Education for All (EFA) movement cannotsucceed without the necessary political will and efficient use ofexisting skills already present in local communities, countries and
the international community. We often discuss what governments or donors need to do to ensure that every child, woman and man has access to education by 2015.
This edition of Education Today focuses on another critical part of the EFA equation:the important role played by civil society and non-governmental organizations(NGOs). One of the pledges of the Dakar Framework for Action was to “ensure theengagement and participation of civil society in the formulation, implementationand monitoring of strategies for educational development.”
Over the past six years, we have witnessed how very diverse civil society groups –from NGOs to teachers’ unions, women’s and parents’ associations, faith-basedorganizations and others – have formed unprecedented national and internationalcoalitions to jointly advocate for the right to EFA. They also monitor progress,debate policy, provide innovative learning opportunities and raise new and alterna-tive perspectives on education and development.
A recent evaluation concludes that in many countries, “UNESCO has taken a lead infacilitating the role of [Civil Society] and NGOs within the EFA planning process,often advocating and financially supporting their participation in consultations.”But in order for communities around the world to participate in educationalgovernance and management, UNESCO and other partners need to know what NGOsdo best and help them do it.
UNESCO must strive to support NGOs better by giving them comprehensive infor-mation in a timely manner. We also need to recognize the considerable – and oftencostly – efforts they make to sit at our table and participate in our conferences.
The Norwegian playwright Heinrik Ibsen once said, “A community is like a ship;everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.” UNESCO and Civil Society are navigating this ship together, along with our other partners in the EFA community.
N0. 17June-September 2006
EDITO
INSIDE
Peter SmithAssistant Director-General for Education
EEDUC
ATIO
N
FOR ALL
BBRIEFS
LLEAR
NING WORLD
FFOCUS
Global teacher shortage, p. 10
Young people gain life skills in Barbados, p. 3
Civil society fights for education, p. 4
EFA Week around the world, p. 8
United Nations Educational, Scientificand Cultural Organization
The Newsletterof UNESCO’s
Education Sector
In recent years, non-governmental organizations have establishedthemselves as fully recognised partners in the Education for Allmovement. Focus, a four-page dossier, reports.
CIVIL SOCIETY PUSHES THE WAY FORWARD
Education TODAY No. 172
LEARNING WORLD
She notes that literacy hasmade her more aware ofwhat is going on in her vil-lage and the wider commu-nity. Her new skills have alsoenabled her to continue tofeel useful in her old age,since she can read medicalinstructions and other writ-ten material for her familymembers.
Meanwhile, the youngermembers of her literacyclass benefit from theirnewly gained literacy skillsin a variety of ways, fromreading the Tamil-languagesubtitles of Hindi moviesand surfing the Internet toembarking on courses in
small-business management.
Sustainable solutionsAnu’s Community Learning Centre is partici-pating, along with four other Indian Centres,in the $20,000 “ICT Applications for Non-Formal Education Programmes” project,which is run by UNESCO Bangkok. The mostessential expenses are for digital camerasand computer systems with modem, tele-phone, a printer and software packages withtouch screen monitor, which cost approxi-mately $350 and $2,000 respectively.
The programme goes beyond non-formaleducation: it consists of an integrated mixof linked projects that promote relevant ICTas tools to enhance the reach and quality ofteaching and learning in all educational con-texts. All five Centres are currently workingwith UNESCO to develop village-specific sus-tainability strategies for when the UNESCOprogramme is completed.
“Unless implemented judiciously, investingin ICT can be a waste of scarce resources,”says Cedric Wachholz of UNESCO Bangkok.
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.unescobkk.org/education/ict
In a Community Learning Centre in theMadurai district of Tamil Nadu state,India, a grandmother named Anu waits
with a CD-Rom clutched in her hand. Visitorshave gathered in the Centre for a workshopabout a UNESCO project that uses informa-tion and communication technologies (ICT)to enhance literacy education.
In a few minutes, it is Anu’s turn to speak.Her presentation is about what she learnedin her literacy course at the Centre. Shecalmly inserts her CD-Rom into the com-puter and shows the audience how she isable to read and write in her own language.
Then the other members of her literacycourse eagerly present what they havelearned. The learners range from teenagersto elderly members of the community suchas Anu, who is 65 years old.
One of the workshop participants is HameedA. Hakeem, Chief of the Asia-Pacific Pro-gramme of Education for All (APPEAL) atUNESCO Bangkok. Well aware of the long his-tory of efforts to improve literacy world-wide, Hakeem remarks, “the lack of success
in many cases indicates that there is a clearneed for improved delivery and betterlearning materials. ICT can help.”
“This is a good example of how ICT and mul-timedia can attract and empower learnersand enhance non-formal education,” he adds.
Creating local contentAnu’s course is radically different from theusual literacy lessons provided in learningcentres in India. Instead of using conven-tional “literacy primers” – which often con-tain content that is unrelated to thelearner’s needs – Anu and other learnerscreate personalized learning content usinga digital camera and other ICT tools.
A personalized approach makes the learningprocess more effective and sustains thelearner’s motivation. It also has the advan-tage of ensuring learning material in thestudent’s own language.
Anu is excited about her literacy and herability to use new technologies. “I can readbus boards and travel alone to my relatives’houses,” she says. “I’m able to count themoney I earn doing farm work and look aftermy own accounts,” she explains. “I can alsouse the Internet now,” she adds proudly.
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Learners use computers to gain literacy skills
Tailoring to my needsAnu’s literacy course began with a lesson on how to use a digital camera.She photographed people and objectsin her daily life, including her grand-children and household items.
In her next lesson, Anu learned how to put her photographs into slide presentations and how to store themon CD-Roms, using the computers in her Community Learning Centre.Then, with the help of the trainer, Anupaired each photograph with a letterof the alphabet (in the Tamil language).For example, a photograph of herself(Anu) was paired with the letter “a”.
Anu then used these slides as learningmaterial. She also made print-outsthat enabled her to practice and build her literacy skills outside the classroom.
Beyond literacy primersIndians learn to read and write with the help of technology
selling and learns about job search tech-niques, computers, basic cooking and resi-dential housekeeping. “I try to get them tothink beyond their daily life,” says Colette, aclothes designer who tutors in the pro-gramme. “It is difficult to keep themfocused, so I ask a lot of questions. Theywant to be heard and seen,” she says.
Another training focuses on entrepreneur-ship. Participants learn to write a businessplan and about legal aspects, marketing,effective costing and pricing. They receive agrant – from $500 to $3,000 – to start orexpand businesses such as small liquorshops, fruit selling and food production.
The third course on skills enhancement isparticularly important for getting youngmen on board as it concentrates on topicssuch as plumbing, tiling and electricalinstallation. “We have to go to the block andtrain them there,” says Grant. “For example,they are afraid of exposing their lack of literacy skills if they join the courses in thechurch hall”.
HIV and AIDS prevention education isembedded in all courses. “They ask manyquestions about things we thought they
would know, for example how you use a con-dom,” says Reverend Hughson Inniss, J.P.,the programme’s HIV and AIDS tutor.
Dada stresses that partnership-building andcommunity ownership is key to the project’ssuccess. The private sector is involved inorganizing job fairs, facilitating recruit-ment and on-site occupational training.
Inspiring success story Michelle is part of the second group partic-ipating in the programme. In the first groupof 14 participants, a few dropped out or areback on drugs, but the great majority hasdeveloped or expanded a business. ColeenPaul, a 54-year-old woman who makes “rôti”,filled pancakes, is a star graduate. Before,she would sell 5 rôtis a day, now her produc-tion has gone up to 150! She sells to herneighbours and even to a local supermarket.“I’m very happy. I’ve learned about how youdo business,” she says with a smile.
Michelle dreams of becoming a housekeeper.Today’s course was a step in the right direc-tion: She learned how to iron.
Contact: Mehboob Dada, UNESCO Paris
E-mail: [email protected]
Education TODAY No. 17 3
Michelle cuddles her 3-week-olddaughter and listens to a talk abouttextiles. The 19-year-old sits in a
warm church situated in the “red-light”district of Bridgetown, Barbados’ capital.It is day four of a six-month employment-preparedness course.
Michelle knows what is at stake. “I want togive my baby a better life,” she whispers. Herstory is similar to that of the 14 other girlsand sole boy sitting around the table.Aged 17-29, they are all unemployed drop-outs living in the deprived Nelson Street district, a stone’s throw from the city’sbeautiful white beaches. Some 1,200 peoplelive in this area where drugs, violence, bur-glary, shoplifting, prostitution and abuse arepart of daily life. Girls suffer the most – manyof them are single mothers.
Michelle and the others are trying to changetheir lives by joining a UNESCO/EuropeanUnion-funded programme that seeks to cre-ate sustainable development through non-formal education. It aims to promoteincome opportunities while reducing theimpact of drug use and HIV infection.
Three different paths“At first there was a lot of scepticism,” saysRodney Grant, director of the Pinelands Cre-ative Workshop, the NGO that is implement-ing the $200,000 programme : scepticismfrom the churchgoers who finally agreed tolend out their church hall and scepticismfrom people in the neighbourhood who weretired of hearing promises with little follow-up. “But UNESCO has delivered, and morepeople are encouraged to participate in theproject,” he adds.
“The project provides an alternative oppor-tunity to those denied access to both edu-cation and personal development,” saysMehboob Dada, UNESCO’s programme coor-dinator.
Three types of courses are available.Michelle’s course aims to give participantsskills that improve their chances of findingemployment. She receives career coun-
A local hero“The main problem here is lack of self-esteem, man,” comments Jerry “Streaker”Yearwood when greeting a group ofyoungsters hanging out on Nelson Street.He knows the area inside out and his roleas a recruiter for the UNESCO/EuropeanUnion-funded programme has made himfamous.
Close to forty, Jerry wears gold chains and a Rasta hat. He calls himself a “hero”.“I dropped out of school early, enjoyed the dangerous life, and had 5 children with different women,” he tells. But one day,he decided to change his life. He now hashis own shop and his children are in goodschools. “I swam in the same sea, but I have shown that it’s possible to breakthe cycle,” Jerry says.
Business skills for deprived youthUNESCO project focuses on partnership-building and community ownership in Barbados
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4
The mood of the NGO community on the eve of the2000 World Education Forum in Dakar could onlybe described as one of frustration. While a similarconference ten years earlier had declared uni-
versal education a central priority, key indicators likeliteracy, gender equality and enrollment had notprogressed quickly enough. Multilateralassistance had decreased. Andmany grassroots groups who hadbeen promised an increased rolein policy-making had been shutout of the official meetings.
But the Forum proved to be a turningpoint in civil society involvement inthe push toward education for allchildren, young peopleand adults.
“Dakar was a majorbreakthrough,” saysKailash Satyarthi, a keyactivist who attended theForum, “not only for thecivil society engaged inthe Educationfor All initia-tive, but alsofor the move-ment itself.”
FOCUS
Today’s Non-Governmental Organizations have carved out a critical place as the makers
Civil Society pushes
The doors were opened to all those who had gathered inprotest. Education activists were able to advocate forkey changes to the final declaration.
“We wanted to send an absolute, clear mes-sage backed by real money and incen-
tives for governments to actually dosomething,” adds Kevin Watkins, a for-mer Oxfam official who lobbied hard
for the inclusion of quantifiable goals of gender parity by 2005 and universal
primary education by 2015. “In the end, weproduced a good communiqué.”
Much of the success on the part of NGOswas due to the decision by major
groups including ActionAidInternational, Edu-cation International,
The Global MarchAgainst Child Labor andOxfam to form a cam-paign to advocate for
greater say in Dakar.
Education TODAY No. 17
“Demanding Mother”by Pepe Agost (Spain).
The artist prepared this work for the “Send my Friend to School” Campaign
of EFA Week 2005. More than 3.5 million cut-out friends were made and presented topoliticians, calling on them to “educate now
to end poverty”. The Global Campaign for Education, a coalition of over 400 NGOs, led
the initiative with support from UNESCO.
This artwork is part of a travelling exhibit .For more information contact:[email protected]
“No one is collecting this information in asystematic way,” says UNESCO’s Sabine Detzel.“There are bits and pieces everywhere, butno place where information on the activitiesand impact of civil society groups comestogether so we can evaluate it.”
Work, however, is beginning in this direction.An evaluation of UNESCO’s support to nationalEFA planning, completed in January 2006 bythe organization Education for Change, doessuggest that new links between govern-ments and NGOs are being built with the aidof UNESCO and development partners.
Nevertheless, in too many case study coun-tries, the evaluation finds very little follow-up after the first round of participation inconsultative meetings/fora and no clearrole for NGOs in subsequent monitoring andevaluation rounds.
Further research done by UNESCO and theAsian South Pacific Bureau of Adult Educa-tion (ASPBAE) also indicates that while thereis growing evidence in many countries ofthe intensified policy dialogue with govern-ment, it rarely extends beyond information-
Education TODAY No. 17 5
progress in different terms and frameworks.But I see us as allies in the effort to getmore political commitment and financialresources behind the six EFA goals.”
Gaining a seatThe Dakar Framework for Action calls ongovernments to involve NGOs in the devel-opment and evaluation of education strate-gies by setting up EFA fora at the local andnational level.
“Right from the planning stages, civil soci-ety needs to be involved,” reiterates Sat-yarthi. “We are the ones who can give moreindependent, critical and constructivepoints of view because of our understandingof the issues, our ability to innovate and ourvery direct relationship with the people.”
UNESCO was tasked with assisting in thisprocess, and in 2001 issued detailed guide-lines on how to develop a national consulta-tive and coordination body that would bring together a broad range of represen-tatives with a vital stake in EFA. The lack of data makes it difficult to determine the effectiveness of these national fora.
and monitors of the Education for All movement
the boundaries
Y
“The Global Campaign for Education (GCE)gave leadership and a strong voice to theentire civil society,” adds Satyarthi, who iscurrently president of what he says hasbecome the largest civil society coalition inthe world. Policy research, monitoring andadvocacy rather than grassroots work arethe focus of this coalition of international,regional and national NGOs representingthousands of individual groups and teach-ers’ unions in over 100 countries.
“The beauty is that we work from the groundup to mobilize,” Satyarthi says. This is mostevident in the Campaign’s annual GlobalAction Week, which has grown steadily since2001. Last year, five million campaignerscame together to rally around the theme“Send My Friends to School.” In 2006, thetheme is “Every Child Needs a Teacher.”(See page 8-9 for an in-depth update.)
A watchdog roleThe GCE also plays a strong watchdog role,highlighted by its School Report Card,Missing the Mark, that grades leaders from developing and donor countries intheir commitment to basic education. Themost recent report gives red marks to 75 per cent of countries in Asia and thePacific and called donor countries intoaccount for falling way short of the financialtargets they themselves had set.
Abhimanyu Singh, Director of UNESCO’sDivision of International Coordination andMonitoring for EFA, points to these publi-cations as examples of the good work doneby the NGO community to help publicize theresearch of the annual Global MonitoringReport, a publication commissioned byUNESCO on behalf of the internationalcommunity to monitor progress towardthe EFA goals.
“They stimulate a public debate thatUNESCO supports,” Singh comments. And ofthe GCE’s often critical stance, he adds, “wemight discuss countries’ commitments and
UNESCO’s strategy in cooperating with education NGOsUNESCO’s collaboration with civil society is relevant to all levels and aspects of education.This cooperation:
advances and develops knowledge and best practices around learning;
facilitates partnership and broad-based policy dialogue among different stakeholders; and
promotes the transformation of current systems and societies for positive change and participation.
UNESCO teams up with civil society organisations through two thematic collectiveconsultations (The Collective Consultation of NGOs on EFA and on Higher Education).It also works directly with individual NGOs and networks.
NGOs are important partners in conceptualizing and implementing plans of action for theUnited Nations Literacy Decade and the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.They have also been instrumental in the development of the UNESCO-led Literacy Initiativefor Empowerment (LIFE) and Global Initiative on Education and HIV and AIDS (EDUCAIDS).
In the Asia-Pacific region, according to ASPBAE, there were only two national educa-tion campaign coalitions during the Dakar2000 processes. Today, there are at leasttwelve; training workshops are being con-ducted to assist these coalitions in beingmore effective (See box p. 7 for more details).
National networks in Latin America that areactive in EFA planning include El Salvadorand Brazil, where local communities are nowinvolved in developing indicators to evalu-ate the quality of education. This is “a radical departure from the traditional top-down approach characterizing policy formu-lation and development in the past,” statesthe ASPBAE/UNESCO report.
In Africa, 27 national EFA campaigns havebeen set up in the last five years, reportsGorgui Sow, coordinator of the African Network Campaign for Education for All(ANCEFA). He says that 13 of them have taken
pillars of the Bangladeshi formal educationsystem, which did not seem acceptable tothe decisionmakers,” says the study.
Building national coalitionsEducation activists like New Zealand profes-sor Sandra Lee Morrison, who is currentlyserving as president of the ASPBAE, point togrowth in the number and reach of nationaland regional education campaign coalitionsall over the world as an indication that theiradvocacy work is being sustained and, infact, has expanded at the country level overthe last few years. This coalition-building canbe seen as an important step toward build-ing the capacity to influence governmentdecisions in an organized and informed way.
“Of course, much more needs to be done to bring about progressive policy change,but civil society groups in many countriesare poised to sustain their action,” insistsMorrison.
sharing and consultation. Often, the inputfrom education activists has come in tech-nical working groups. In the Philippines, civilsociety groups were asked to participate invisioning exercises on early childhood careand education, formal education, alter-native learning systems and governance and financing. The study notes that the more far-reaching NGO proposals on alternativecurriculum reform and grading were notreflected in the final national plan.
The outcome was similar in Bangladesh,where the national network Campaign forPopular Education (CAMPE) was able to incor-porate most of its recommendations intothe second draft of the National EFA ActionPlan. Crucial recommendations on non-for-mal education and civil society involvementdid not make it into the final plan, however.
“Like in the Philippine case, the implemen-tation of this request would challenge the
Education TODAY No. 176
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Civil Society pushes the boundaries
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Collective Consultation of NGOs on EFA
Coordination EFA group 2006
An elected CCNGO coordination group is composed of four regional and twointernational focal points as well as arepresentative of the UNESCO-NGOliaison committee.
International focal points Education International (EI)
Website : www.ei-ie.org
Office International de l’EnseignementCatholique (OIEC)Website : www.scolanet.org
Regional focal pointsAfrican Network Campaign
on Education for All (ANCEFA)Website: www.ancefa.org
Arabic Network for IlliteracyE-mail: [email protected]
Asian South Pacific Bureau of AdultEducation (ASPBAE)Website: www.aspbae.org
El consejo de educación de adultos de américa latina (CEAAL)Website: www.ceaal.org
UNESCO revitalized the CollectiveConsultation of NGOs on Education for All(CCNGO/EFA) as a key mechanism forinvolving civil society organizations in allfollow-up activities to the 2000 WorldEducation Forum. The CCNGO/EFA, aworldwide network of NGOs, includeshundreds of international, regional andgrassroots organizations working in thefield of EFA.
“We want to make sure to include as manydifferent voices as possible – particularlyfrom the South – into our policy discussionsand joint activities,” says Sabine Detzel,UNESCO’s Focal Point for the CCNGO/EFA.
Civil society representatives activelyparticipate in EFA consultations andconferences organized by UNESCO inregions and at the international level,including the yearly meetings of the
Working Group and the High Level Group on Education for All.
UNESCO is currently updating the CCNGO/EFA list of members and its mailing list.
If you are interested in the network,please consult:www.unesco.org/education/efaor contact [email protected]
part in national committees or fora on EFAand have a year-round campaign agendacentred on abolishing school fees and over-coming issues related to quality of educa-tion such as high pupil/teacher ratios, poorlearning materials and environment, lack ofqualified teachers and unequal opportuni-ties for girls.
The view from Africa From the vantage point of the continentthat is home to the greatest number of the100 million children without access to basiceducation, the achievements and energy ofthe civil society groups engaged in EFA runinto the hard facts.
There are new commitments of funds com-ing from international development banksand donor countries like the United King-dom, which recently pledged an additional$15 billion over the next decade to supportuniversal primary education initiatives –one of the six EFA goals – during the nextten years. In 2005, African ministers alsopledged to devote at least 20 per cent oftheir national budgets to education.
And yet, international aid to fund universalprimary education and gender parityefforts still fall well short of the estimated7 billion US dollars needed each year.
“The current figures are a big shame,” saysSow. Milestones set in 2000, like gender parity by 2005, are already being missed.
“National coalitions did really well in cam-paigning for girls’ education in countrieslike Senegal and Gambia,” he elaborates,“but more than 50 per cent of African coun-tries missed the 2005 target, so the situa-tion cannot be considered a full success.”
On the goal of universal primary educationby 2015, Sow adds: “We should not forgetthat at current rates of progress, Africanchildren will wait another 150 years to enterthe school gates.”
FOCUS
Y NGOs boost capacity Community leaders learn to track education budgets
Training community leaders to engage in budget tracking and analysis can help ensure accountability in education, according to ActionAid International. The NGO is therefore organizing workshops in 16 countries to empower people to take a criticallook at how education budgets are being used.
“If the government abolishes user fees as was the case in Kenya in 2003, then thebudget allocation must go up. If not, then policy is as good as dead,” says ActionAid’sChike Anyanwu. “That is one of the reasons for doing this budget training.”
Organizers invite school management teams comprised of teachers and parents toreflect on their own household budgets and then to use that experience to betterunderstand their district or council’s education budgets. The experience cansometimes be eye-opening.
“At the end of day, the participants are asking why it is that we spend more on districtauthorities’ travel costs than we pay for education, water or sanitation,” Anyanwu says.
The exercises have also been helpful in rooting out budgetary discrimination againstwomen by highlighting issues such as subsidies to boys-only private schools and lack of spending on sanitation facilities for females. Other participants have been alarmedto find out that parental contributions to their local school are being used to pay fordistrict office expenses.
Education TODAY No. 17 7
And that is not to speak of the millions ofyoung people and adults who are denied aneducation. They, too, have the right toimprove their lives.
2015: Education for All?The growing challenge for civil society inAfrica and around the world is how toaddress this gap between the reality and the promise of Education for All.
There are some who question the value ofthe targets themselves, worrying that thisgoal-oriented approach risks compromis-ing the credibility and veracity of nationaldiscourse on EFA when countries must con-cede on quality to meet enrollment goals.Others are concerned that without targets,the sense of urgency built up in Dakar willdissipate.
“Education needs long-term commitments,but there are so many other priorities com-peting for international resources,” says
Steve Packer, former U.K. Department forInternational Development official and for-mer Deputy Editor of the Global MonitoringReport.
“We should be putting the same urgencyinto education that the world attaches tocombating HIV/AIDS”, Kevin Watkins adds.“This is a crisis we can’t afford to ignore.”
But the head of the Global Campaign forEducation remains optimistic. “Govern-ments are more serious. Civil society is moreinvolved. And the people on the ground aremore and more starting to understand thepower of education,” Satyarthi insists.
2003
2004
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2007
2008EDUCATION FOR ALL
Education TODAY No. 178
EFA Week 2006 – Teachers! Teachers!On 24 to 30 April, UNESCO and the Global Campaign for Education mobilized global action around the theme “Every child needs a teacher”
Much more on
T hroughout the year’s EFA week, thou-sands of campaigners from around theworld united together to lobby national
governments, development agencies and theinternational community. Their demand? Thatthere be enough teachers in schools to ensurethat children get a quality education.
Websites:www.unesco.org/education/efaweek2006www.campaignforeducation.org
© David Fish/ActionAid / Mozambique
© G
CE
Global Action PlanUNESCO is currently coordinating a consultativeprocess aimed at developing a Global Action Plan(called the “GAP”) to speed up progress towardsEFA at the international level. The theory behind
the GAP is simple: by improvingcoordination at the internationallevel, development agencies willachieve more effective andtargeted action on the ground at the country level.
“We have already missed the first EFA target – gender parity by 2005,” says Peter Smith,UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Education. “If we are to reach EFA by 2015, wemust radically change our plan of action.”
Last year, UNESCO’s ExecutiveBoard asked the Director-General to speak with the otherEFA lead agencies (World Bank,UNICEF, UNDP and UNFPA)
Global Literacy ConferenceThe scene: a luncheon on 24 April in New York
to celebrate EFA Week.
The keynote speaker: Mrs Laura Bush,Honorary Ambassador for the United NationsLiteracy Decade.
The good news: Mrs Bush announced that she will host The White House Conference on Global Literacy to provide a forum for advocacyand action, with a special focus on girls and women. This high-level leadership conference will take place on Monday, 18 September, 2006 in New York City. Participants will include FirstSpouses and education experts from countriesaround the globe.
“We’ll be looking at literacy programs that work, and connecting countries with theinformation they need to implement similarprograms,” said Mrs Bush in her speech.“The Conference will also encourage leaders from around the world to become involved in literacy in their own countries, and then to learn ways to support UNESCO’s goal of Education for All by 2015,” she added.
The Conference will enlist the participation of the Director-General of UNESCO, KoïchiroMatsuura. UNESCO, as the lead agency for the Literacy Decade, will also provide technicalassistance in identifying good literacy practices as well as the key characteristics of effectiveliteracy programs.
© GCE
© UNESCO
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Brazil
PresidentLuis Inacio Lula da Silva attends‘Big Hearing’at the Brazilian Parliament.
Chile
Celebration of EFAWeek in the CulturalCentre of the presi-dential palace of Chile (Palacio de la Moneda).
Lebanon
A 2.5m x 18 m sign on a bridge nextto the UNESCO Beirut office.
Mozambique
NelsonMandela and Graca Machelcampaigning.
Namibia
Movie starAngelina Jolie speaks outon teachers.
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Education TODAY No. 17 9www.unesco.org/education/efa
and to agree on the specificroles, responsibilities andcontributions of eachorganization for the period2005-2015. These agencies are currently working inten-sively together to finalize the GAP as a joint platform for re-invigorating EFA efforts.
In April 2006, UNESCO’sExecutive Board debated the GAP, and now UNESCO isseeking broad support from the Heads of the EFA leadagencies, as well as recognitionof its potential on the part ofthe G8 countries. On this basis,the GAP will provide a common and flexibleinstrument to improve cooperation amongmultilateral agencies where it matters most – at country level, in support of nationaleducation sector plans.
© UNESCO © UNESCO
One country, one plan
© UNESCO
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© GCE and Action Aid
USA
AssistantDirector-General for Education Peter Smith launches the UNESCOInstitute of StatisticsReport on Teachers in New York.
Uzbekistan
Teachers from Karshi Schools participate in the Education for All 2006 online forum.
Pakistan
EFA Walk inIslamabad.
Palestinian Authority
EFA Weekconference in Ramallah.
South Africa
Takalani SesameMuppets go to school.
Laura Bush
Honorary Ambassador for theUnited Nations Literacy Decade
“All of us can remember the teacherswho made a difference in our lives… My favouritewas my second grade teacher, Ms. Gnagy. I wanted to grow up and be just like her. And I did, so I becamea teacher, and then a librarian.”Source: Speech given on the occasion of a luncheon marking the EFA Week, on 24 April 2006.
NelsonMandela
Nobel Prize Winner and
UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador
“On the first day of school, my teacher gave each of us an English name and said that from then onthat was the name we would answer to in school...That day the teacher told me that my new namewas Nelson. Why this particular name was bestowedon me I have no idea. Perhaps it had something todo with the great British sea captain Lord Nelson,but that would only be a guess.”Source: Long Walk to Freedom, 1995.
KoïchiroMatsuura
Director-General of UNESCO
“The teacher I most fondly rememberfrom my schooldays is Mr Matsuzaki,who taught me for three years in grades1-3 in a junior high school in Tokyo.A teacher of Japanese literature,Mr Matsuzaki encouraged me to read
literature, to thinkabout life and abouthaving objectives in life, and to startwriting seriouslyunder his guidance.I remember
Mr Matsuzaki with much gratitude forstimulating my love of reading, forencouraging me to write and foropening up new worlds of experience.”
Source: Personal recollection.
memorableteachers3
UNESCO is taking a new approach toeducational support at country level.“One country, one plan” is the slogan of the Organization’s newly developed NationalEducation Support Strategies (UNESS).
“Education does not exist in a vacuum,”says Mohammad Radi of UNESCO’s Division of Educational Policies and Strategies.“For UNESCO to be effective on the ground,we need to be in line with UN common countryprogramming,” he adds.
UNESS is an effective response to definingUNESCO’s support to educational development which takes into account the country’s ownpriorities and needs in terms of data, policies,
capacities and finance. This response will alsoconsider the contributions of other develop-ment partners and UNESCO’s own comparativeadvantage and priorities.
UNESCO is currently working with 12 countries to pilot the development ofUNESS. “We start the jigsaw puzzle by findingout what has been done already,” says Radi.“Then we can better see what UNESCO’sstrategy should be.” The first UNESS missiontook place in Nigeria last May. Eventually,UNESS exercises are expected to be completedin all countries where UNESCO works.
Contact: [email protected]
Education TODAY No. 1710
BRIEFS
The first step will be to strengthen the“Navega Protegido Campaign”, launched bythe Ricky Martin Foundation and Microsoft to promote child safety online and securechildren from dangers such as childpornography, sex predators and identitytheft. Educational material regardinghazards in cyberspace will be distributed tochildren and teachers of the UNESCO networkof Associated Schools in Latin America andthe Caribbean.
A specific project to be announced later by the partnership will also be developed for Puerto Rico, the birthplace of the singer
after whom the Foundation is named.The project financed by the Ricky MartinFoundation will promote artistic educationas a rehabilitation tool. It will be similar to a UNESCO project that has been operatingsuccessfully in Brazil since 2000.
This initiative falls within the framework of the UNESCO Programme “Education of Children in Need”.
Contact: Françoise Pinzon-Gil, UNESCO ParisE-mail: [email protected]
Ricky MartinFoundation workswith UNESCOUNESCO and the Ricky Martin Foundationhave launched a global initiative aimed atsafeguarding children against exploitationand abuse. A Memorandum of Understandingcommitting the two partners to jointprojects promoting human rights, povertyreduction and the social inclusion of childrenwas signed on 5 May in Paris.
The lack ofqualified teachersto teach presentand futuregenerations of children hasreached crisisproportions.Eighteen millionmore teachers willbe needed world- wide by 2015.
The shortage spares few countries, butstrikes developing countries hardest.
Teachers and Education Quality: MonitoringGlobal Needs for 2015, the latest report by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics,concludes that looming teacher shortagescould prevent achievement of the EFA goalof universal primary education.
“We have to invent new solutions or we are as good as writing off this generation,”says Peter Smith, UNESCO’s AssistantDirector-General for Education.Sub-Saharan Africa will suffer the mostfrom the crisis. The continent will need to raise its current stock of teachers by 68 per cent – from 2.4 to 4.0 million –
by 2015 in order to provide universalprimary education (see brief below).
Countries in the greatest need of teachers also face severe fiscal constraints.Many have no choice but to rely upon “para-teachers”, who generally have lowerqualifications than their civil servantconterparts and are paid just a fraction (25-50 per cent) of their salaries.
Access the report at www.uis.unesco.orgContact: Amy Otchet, UNESCO Institute for StatisticsE-Mail: [email protected]
Teacher shortages threaten Universal Primary Education
Boosting Teacher Training in AfricaUNESCO’s new Teacher Training Initiative for sub-Saharan Africa (TTISSA) has takenoff in 17 African countries. Nationalcoordinators met in early March in Dakar,Senegal, to identify priorityactions and discuss howthey would beimplemented at thenational level over thenext four years.
The national coordinators and UNESCO staff examined good practices at the country level and lessons learned in teachereducation, especially on several key
issues such as teacher status andmotivation, the use of ICT in teacher-training and the overall strengthening of teacher training institutions. The
meeting provided an occasion for the national coordinators
to clarify their roles andresponsibilities and toreview the expectations of their work. Each nationalcoordinator is nowpreparing a national action plan with UNESCO.
TTISSA is a 10-yearprogramme (2006-2015) that
aims at improving national teacher policyand strengthening teacher education in all 46 sub-Saharan countries through intra-country, sub-regional and regionalcooperation. The first wave of countriesparticipating in this initiative from 2006to 2009 are Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi,Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad,Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo,Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Madagascar, Niger,Nigeria, Sierra Leone, United Republic ofTanzania and Zambia.
Contact: Georges Haddad, UNESCO ParisEmail: [email protected]: www.unesco.org/education/TTISSA
1st phase (2006-2009):Reaching out to 17 countries
Education TODAY No. 17 11
Arriving at theElectronic FrontierAchieving universal primary education incountries jumpstarts secondary education.However, many regions find themselveswithout the resources needed to meet thisdemand. A UNESCO program using Open andDistance Learning (ODL) systems is givingsecondary school students access to theworld of learning.
“This situation urgently calls for thedevelopment of innovative new educationalservices and an expansion of existingeducational methods,” says Sonia Bahri of UNESCO Paris. “Reaching geographicallyremote and impoverished urban areas is a particular challenge,” she adds. Pilot sitesin Asia, Africa and Latin America aredemonstrating the effectiveness of ODL via e-Learning as an important educationaltool for meeting this challenge.
In Ecuador, a partnership between UNESCOQuito, the United Virtual IberoAmericanFoundation and the Program of the WorkingBoy resulted in the IberoAmerican OnlineHigh School (www.bachilleratovirtual.org).After a year, the school already boasts132 students aged 15-45, including 61 women.Enrollment will expand to 400 by the end of2006, thanks in part to scholarships providedby UNESCO and the Ministry of Social welfare.Students pursue high school degrees at a network of “Infocenters” in one of fourareas: science, computer science, culturaland social promotion and, beginning inOctober 2006, cultural tourism andsustainable development.
In Kazakhstan and Namibia, UNESCO ODLprojects are building productivepartnerships between governments,educational resources and NGOs. Specifically,the projects strive to overhaul the existinginefficient paper routing system byestablishing a system that will disseminateeducational materials electronically at locallearning centers. Proof of the success of theprogrammes? The Namibian project has justsecured a large portion of a $26 milliongrant given by the African DevelopmentBank.
Contact: Sonia Bahri, UNESCO ParisE-mail [email protected]: www.unesco.org/education/stv
Can the educationsector cope withHIV and AIDS?The results of the first international surveyassessing the capacity of the nationaleducation sector to manage and mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS have just beenreleased. The report, Education Sector Global HIV & AIDS Readiness Survey 2004:Policy Implications for Education andDevelopment, looks at activities,achievements and planning on HIV and AIDSundertaken by Ministries of Education andcivil society in almost 100 countries.
Many ministries are dedicating moreresources to developing more comprehensiveresponses. HIV and AIDS educationcomponents have been integrated intoprimary and secondary curricula inrespectively 79% and 89% of participatingcountries.
Much more can still be done. While nearlythree-quarters of the ministries haddedicated HIV and AIDS managementstructures in place, only one-third hadadopted a sector-specific education policy.Many high-prevalence countries have noprogrammes for orphans and vulnerablechildren within the education sector.Responses tend to emphasize HIV prevention,with comparatively little attention tomatters of care and support, workplaceissues and management of the disease’simpact.
“This publication provides an importantbenchmark from which to gauge progress
towards a comprehensive education sectorresponse to the HIV and AIDS epidemic,” saysMary Joy Pigozzi, UNESCO Global Coordinatorfor HIV and AIDS. It was commissioned by theUNAIDS Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT) onEducation, which is coordinated by UNESCO.
Contact: Justine Sass, Coordinator, UNAIDSInter-Agency Task Team on EducationE-mail: [email protected]
Girls’ Educationin NigerFive small European donor countries are pooling their resources to help girls and women living in villages belonging to the Youri community in Niger. Andorra,Cyprus, Luxembourg, Monaco and San Marinoare contributing to a joint fund totalling$200,000 that will finance the project.
The project focuses specifically onreinforcing the capacities of girls and womenthrough increased enrollment in schooling,literacy training and empowerment of womenthrough income-generating activities andsensitization to human rights.
“This project is an excellent expression of multi-country partnership,” says LeneBuchert of UNESCO Paris. “By cooperating,they make it possible to reach a largernumber of women and girls, which may have a multiplier effect.”
Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world. For over a decade, it has occupiedone of the lowest spots in the UNDP’s HumanDevelopment Index (ranked 177/177 in 2005)and only 34 per cent of children are enrolledin school. Young girls and women make upover two-thirds of the population living inpoverty.
Contact: Florence Migeon, UNESCO ParisE-mail: [email protected]
BOOKSHELF
Education Today is a quarterly newsletter on trends and innovations in education, on worldwide efforts towards Education for All and on UNESCO’s own education activities. It is published by UNESCO’s Education Sector in Arabic,Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian. All articles are free of copyright restrictions and can bereproduced provided Education Today is credited.Editors: Anne Müller and Edna YahilContributors: Ellie Meleisea, p. 2; Elizabeth Elliott, pp. 4-7; Matthew Quigley, p. 11 Assistant: Martine Kayser • Design: Pilote Corporate • Layout: Sylvaine BaeyensPhoto credits (cover): Berthold Egner; UNESCO/ASPnet/Karin Hunziker; UNESCO/Brendan O’Malley;UNESCO/Georges Malempré; UNESCO/Spier-Donati • ISSN 1814-3970
Education Today, Executive Office, Education Sector, UNESCO • 7, place de Fontenoy • 75352 Paris 07 SP • France Tel: 33 1 45 68 21 27 • Fax: 33 1 45 68 56 26/27 • E-mail: [email protected] news on: www.unesco.org/education
United Nations Educational, Scientificand Cultural Organization
Education Makes News. An updated second edition of UNESCO’smedia training and resource kit for writing about and reporting on Education for All (EFA). The goal of the kit is to encourage themedia to highlight EFA in the press. E-mail: [email protected]
Education Resource Projections in the Context of Sector-WideDevelopment Planning. Volume 10 in the series Education Policiesand Strategies is a compendium of experiences and good practiceson the part of 26 Member States in the elaboration and implemen-tation of education policies and strategy within the framework of Education for All (EFA). E-mail: [email protected]
Girls’ and Women’s Education in Kenya. This study sheds light on underlying reasons for persistent gender gaps in education inKenya. It analyzes how far we have to go in achieving the EducationFor All (EFA) goal of eliminating gender disparities and achievinggender equality in education. Email: [email protected]
Winning People’s Will for Girl ChildEducation. This publication describes theprocess, outcomes and lessons learned from a UNESCO project to educate girl children in two communities in the Kathmandu Valleyof Nepal.
Education Through Art: Building Partnerships for Secondary Education.This publication explores how art can help
secondary school learners in different cultures grow bothintellectually and personally. It also examines how partnerships can be created between cultural institutions and schools.Email: [email protected]
História da educação do negro e outras histórias. This bookaddresses the exclusion of the black population from Brazil’seducation system through a historic lens. It also presentsalternatives that the black social movement found to confrontthese inequalities. In Portuguese. Website: www.unesco.org.br
The Impact of Women Teachers on Girls’ Education.This new advocacy brief from UNESCO Bangkok looks at therecruitment of women teachers, drawing on research and practicefrom different contexts. It highlights the importance of womenteachers, as well as the need for a broad gender equalityperspective when developing policy and programmes for them.Website: www.unescobkk.org
Mobile Learning for Expanding Educational Opportunities examines thepotential of information and communicationtechnologies (ICT) to expand educationalopportunities and accelerate national socioeconomic development in previouslyunreachable and remote locations in the Asia and Pacific Region.Website: www.unescobkk.org
Starting My Own Small Business is a prototype modular trainingpackage that helps learners acquire an entrepreneurial mindsetand the knowledge necessary to set up a small business. There aretwo training packages for different target groups: technical andvocational education students at the secondary level and learnersin nonformal settings. Each training package consists of two parts– a facilitator’s guide and a participant’s workbook.Email: [email protected]
Guidelines and Recommendations for Reorienting TeacherEducation to Address Sustainability. This document offersconcrete suggestions on how to reorient teacher education toaddress sustainable development. Available in Arabic, Chinese,English and French. Email: [email protected]
Higher Education in Turkey by Fatma Mizikaci provides acomprehensive analysis of the structure of the higher educationsystem in Turkey. It considers the governance and management ofTurkey’s institutions, describes recent developments and changesand gives a realistic diagnosis of the challenges that lie ahead.E-mail: [email protected]
Inter-Agency Peace Education Programme. Sixteen volumesdescribe a programme on how to introduce peace education andconflict minimization for refugee and returnee children. Theprogramme is run by UNESCO in collaboration with the UnitedNations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Study Abroad 2006-2007.The latest edition of UNESCO’s essentialreference book contains 2,900 entriesconcerning post-secondary education andtraining opportunities throughout the world.¤22. To order: publishing.unesco.org/
Unless otherwise stated, all publications are available free of charge from UNESCO’sEducation and Information Service,Education Sector.E-mail: [email protected]
