Saturday, May 24, 2008

What do we mean by Education for All?





The World Education Forum (26-28 April 2000, Dakar) adopted the Dakar Framework for Action, Education for All: Meeting Our Collective Commitments. In doing so, its participants reaffirmed the vision of the World Declaration on Education for All adopted ten years earlier (Jomtien, Thailand, 1990). The Dakar Framework for Action is based on the most extensive evaluation of education ever undertaken, the Education for All (EFA) 2000 Assessment. Each country assessed its progress towards the goals of Jomtien and reported its findings at six regional conferences in 1999 and 2000:
1. Sub-Saharan Conference on Education for All, Johannesburg, South Africa, 6-10 December, 1999;
2. Asia and Pacific Conference on the EFA 2000 Assessment Bangkok, Thailand, 17-20 January, 2000;
3. The Arab Regional Conference on EFA, Cairo, Egypt, 24-27, January 2000;
4. The Third Inter-Ministerial review Meeting of the E-9 Countries, Recife, Brazil, 31 January-2 February, 2000;
5. Conference on Education for All in Europe and North America, Warsaw, Poland, 6-8 February, 2000; and
6. Regional Education for All Conference in the Americas, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 10-12 February 2000. The Dakar Framework for Action states that the heart of EFA lies at country level. It also affirms that no countries seriously committed to education for all will be
thwarted in their achievement of this goal by a lack of resource.


The Purpose
Article 1: Meeting Basic Learning Needs
Article 2: Shaping the Vision
Article 3: Universalizing Access and Promoting Equity
Article 4: Focusing on Learning
Article 5: Broadening the Means and Scope of Basic Education
Article 6: Enhancing the Environment for Learning

Article 7: Strengthening Partnerships


The Requirements
Article 8: Developing a Supportive Policy Context
Article 9: Mobilizing Resources
Article 10: Strengthening International Solidarity




Goals
1. Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children
2. Ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality
3. Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes
4. Achieving a 50 percent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults
5. Eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieving gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality
6. Improving every aspect of education, and ensuring their excellence so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy, and essential life skills


Strategy
1. Mobilize strong national and international political commitment political commitment for Education for All, develop national action plans and enhance significantly investment in basic education.
2. Promote EFA policies within a sustainable and well-integrated sector framework clearly linked to poverty elimination and development strategies.
3. Ensure the engagement and participation of civil society in the formulation, implementation and monitoring of strategies for educational development.
4. Develop responsive, participatory and accountable systems of educational governance and management.
5. Meet the needs of education systems affected by conflict, natural calamities and instability, and conduct educational programmes in ways that promote mutual understanding, peace and tolerance and that help toprevent violence and conflict.
6. Implement integrated strategies for gender equality in education that recognize the need for change in attitudes, values and practices.
7. Implement education programmes and actions to combat the HIV/ AIDS pandemic as a matter of urgency

8. Create safe, healthy, inclusive and equitably resourced educational environments conducive to excellence in learning, with clearly defined levels of achievement for all.
9. Enhance the status, morale and professionalism of teachers

10.Harness new information and communication technologies to help achieve


EFA goals
11.Systematically monitor progress toward EFA goals and strategies at the national, regional and international levels.
12.Build on existing mechanisms to accelerate progress towards Education for All.




Source:


Various UNESCO reports on EFA


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