"The goal of basic education for all is — for the first time in history — an attainable goal."

JOMTIEN 1990

Meeting Basic Learning Needs

Adopted by the World Conference on Education for All.
Meeting Basic Learning Needs
Jomtien, Thailand, 5-9 March 1990



1 EFA: The purpose- 2 An expanded Vision- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- Requirements- 8- 9- 10



PREAMBLE



More than 40 years ago, the nations of the world, speaking through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, asserted that "everyone has a right to Education"

Despite notable efforts by countries around the globe to ensure the right to education for all, the following realities persist:

  1. More than 100 million children, including at least 60 million girls, have no access to primary schooling
  2. More than 960 million adults, two-thirds of whom are women, are illiterate, and functional illiteracy is a significant problem in all countries, industrialized and developing More than one-third of the world's adults have no access to the printed knowledge, new skills and technologies that could improve the quality of their lives and help them shape, and adapt to, social and cultural change
  3. More than 100 million children and countless adults fail to complete basic education programmes; millions more satisfy the attendance requirements but do not acquire essential knowledge and skills.

At the same time, the world faces daunting problems: notably mounting debt burdens, the threat of economic stagnation and decline, rapid population growth, widening economic disparities among and within nations, war, occupation, civil strife, violent crime, the preventable deaths of millions of children and widespread environmental degradation. These problems constrain efforts to meet basic learning needs, while the lack o basic education among a significant proportion of the population prevents societies from addressing such problems with strength and purpose.

These problems have led to major setbacks in basic education in the 1980s in many of the least-developed countries. In some other countries, economic growth has been available to finance education expansion, but even so, many millions remain in poverty and unschooled or illiterate. In certain industrialized countries, too, cutbacks in government expenditure over the 1980s have led to the deterioration of education. Yet the world is also at the threshold of a new century, with all its promise and possibilities.

Today, there is genuine progress toward peaceful detente and greater co-operation among nations. Today, the essential rights and capacities of women are being realized. Today, there are many useful scientific and cultural developments. Today, the sheer quantity of information available in the world — much of it relevant to survival and basic well-being — is exponentially greater than that available only a few years ago, and the rate of its growth is accelerating. This includes information about obtaining more life-enhancing knowledge — or learning how to learn. A synergistic effect occurs when important information is coupled with another modern advance — our new capacity to communicate.

These new forces, when combined with the cumulative experience of reform, innovation, research and the remarkable educational progress of many countries, make the goal of basic education for all — for the first time in history — an attainable goal.

Therefore, we participants in the World Conference on Education for All, assembled in Jomtien, Thailand, from 5 to 9 March, 1990: Recalling that education is a fundamental right for all people, women and men, of all ages, throughout our world; Understanding that education can help ensure a safer, healthier, more prosperous and environmentally sound world, while simultaneously contributing to social, economic, and cultural progress, tolerance, and international co-operation; Knowing that education is an indispensable key to, though not a sufficient condition for, personal and social improvement; Recognizing that traditional knowledge and indigenous cultural heritage have a value and validity in their own right and a capacity to both define and promote development; Acknowledging that, overall, the current provision of education is seriously deficient and that it must be made more relevant and qualitatively improved, and made universally available; Recognizing that sound basic education is fundamental to the strengthening of higher levels of education and of scientific and technological literacy and capacity and thus to self-reliant development; and Recognizing the necessity to give to present and coming generations an expanded vision of, and a renewed commitment to, basic education to address the scale and complexity of the challenge;

Proclaim the following World Declaration on Education for All: Meeting Basic Learning Needs

WORLD DECLARATION ON EDUCATION FOR ALL

EDUCATION FOR ALL: THE PURPOSE

ARTICLE 1. MEETING BASIC LEARNING NEEDS

Every person — child, youth and adult — shall be able to benefit from educational opportunities designed to meet their basic learning needs. These needs comprise both essential learning tools (such as literacy, oral expression, numeracy, and problem solving) and the basic learning content (such as knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes) required by human beings to be able to survive, to develop their full capacities, to live and work in dignity, to participate fully in development, to improve the quality of their lives, to make informed decisions, and to continue learning. The scope of basic learning needs and how they should be met varies with individual countries and cultures, and inevitably, changes with the passage of time. The satisfaction of these needs empowers individuals in any society and confers upon them a responsibility to respect and build upon their collective cultural, linguistic and spiritual heritage, to promote the education of others, to further the cause of social justice, to achieve environmental protection, to be tolerant towards social, political and religious systems which differ from their own, ensuring that commonly accepted humanistic values and human rights are upheld, and to work for international peace and solidarity in an interdependent world. Another and no less fundamental aim of educational development is the transmission and enrichment of common cultural and moral values. It is in these values that the individual and society find their identity and worth. Basic education is more than an end in itself. It is the foundation for lifelong learning and human development on which countries may build, systematically, further levels and types of education and training.

EDUCATION FOR ALL: AN EXPANDED VISION AND A RENEWED COMMITMENT

ARTICLE 2. SHAPING THE VISION

To serve the basic learning needs of all requires more than a recommitment to basic education as it now exists. What is needed is an ‘expanded vision’ that surpasses present resource levels, institutional structures, curricula, and conventional delivery systems while building on the best in current practices. New possibilities exist today which result from the convergence of the increase in information and the unprecedented capacity to communicate. We must seize them with creativity and a determination for increased effectiveness. As elaborated in Articles 3-7, the expanded vision encompasses: _ Universalizing access and promoting equity; _ Focusing on learning; _ Broadening the means and scope of basic education; _ Enhancing the environment for learning; _ Strengthening partnerships. The realization of an enormous potential for human progress and empowerment is contingent upon whether people can be enabled to acquire the education and the start needed to tap into the ever-expanding pool of relevant knowledge and the new means for sharing this knowledge.

ARTICLE 3. UNIVERSALIZING ACCESS AND PROMOTING EQUITY

Basic education should be provided to all children, youth and adults. To this end, basic education services of quality should be expanded, and consistent measures must be taken to reduce disparities. For basic education to be equitable, all children, youth and adults must be given the opportunity to achieve and maintain an acceptable level of learning. The most urgent priority is to ensure access to, and improve the quality of, education for girls and women, and to remove every obstacle that hampers their active participation. All gender stereotyping in education should be eliminated. An active commitment must be made to removing educational disparities. Underserved groups — the poor; street and working children; rural and remote populations; nomads and migrant workers; indigenous peoples; ethnic, racial, and linguistic minorities; refugees; those displaced by war; and people under occupation — should not suffer any discrimination in access to learning opportunities. The learning needs of the disabled demand special attention. Steps need to be taken to provide equal access to education to every category of disabled persons as an integral part of the education system.

ARTICLE 4. FOCUSING ON LEARNING

Whether or not expanded educational opportunities will translate into meaningful development — for an individual or for society — depends ultimately on whether people actually learn as a result of those opportunities, i.e. whether they incorporate useful knowledge, reasoning ability, skills, and values. The focus of basic education must, therefore, be on actual learning acquisition and outcome, rather than exclusively upon enrolment, continued participation in organized programmes and completion of certification requirements. Active and participatory approaches are particularly valuable in assuring learning acquisition and allowing learners to reach their fullest potential. It is, therefore, necessary to define acceptable levels of learning acquisition for educational programmes and to improve and apply systems of assessing learning achievement.

ARTICLE 5. BROADENING THE MEANS AND SCOPE OF BASIC EDUCATION

The diversity, complexity, and changing nature of basic learning needs of children, youth and adults necessitates broadening and constantly redefining the scope of basic education to include the following components: _ Learning begins at birth. This calls for early childhood care and initial education. These can be provided through arrangements involving families, communities, or institutional programmes, as appropriate. _ The main delivery system for the basic education of children outside the family is primary schooling. Primary education must be universal, ensure that the basic learning needs of all children are satisfied, and take into account the culture, needs, and opportunities of the community. Supplementary alternative programmes can help meet the basic learning needs of children with limited or no access to formal schooling, provided that they share the same standards of learning applied to schools and are adequately supported. _ The basic learning needs of youth and adults are diverse and should be met through a variety of delivery systems. Literacy programmes are indispensable because literacy is a necessary skill in itself and the foundation of other life skills. Literacy in the mother-tongue strengthens cultural identity and heritage. Other needs can be served by: skills training, apprenticeships, and formal and non-formal education programmes in health, nutrition, population, agricultural techniques, the environment, science, technology, family life including fertility awareness, and other societal issues. _ All available instruments and channels of information, communications, and social action could be used to help convey essential knowledge and inform and educate people on social issues. In addition to the traditional means, libraries, television, radio and other media can be mobilized to realize their potential towards meeting basic education needs of all. These components should constitute an integrated system — complementary, mutually reinforcing, and of comparable standards, and they should contribute to creating and developing possibilities for lifelong learning.

ARTICLE 6. ENHANCING THE ENVIRONMENT FOR LEARNING

Learning does not take place in isolation. Societies, therefore, must ensure that all learners receive the nutrition, health care, and general physical and emotional support they need in order to participate actively in and benefit from their education. Knowledge and skills that will enhance the learning environment of children should be integrated into community learning programmes for adults. The education of children and their parents or other caretakers is mutually supportive and this interaction should be used to create, for all, a learning environment of vibrancy and warmth.

ARTICLE 7. STRENGTHENING PARTNERSHIPS

National, regional, and local educational authorities have a unique obligation to provide basic education for all, but they cannot be expected to supply every human, financial or organizational requirement for this task. New and revitalized partnerships at all levels will be necessary: partnerships among all sub-sectors and forms of education, recognizing the special role of teachers and that of administrators and other educational personnel; partnerships between education and other government departments, including planning, finance, labour, communications, and other social sectors; partnerships between government and nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, local communities, religious groups, and families. The recognition of the vital role of both families and teachers is particularly important. In this context, the terms and conditions of service of teachers and their status, which constitute a determining factor in the implementation of education for all, must be urgently improved in all countries in line with the joint ILO/UNESCO Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers (1966). Genuine partnerships contribute to the planning, implementing, managing and evaluating of basic education programmes. When we speak of ‘an expanded vision and a renewed commitment’, partnerships are at the heart of it.

EDUCATION FOR ALL:THE REQUIREMENTS

ARTICLE 8. DEVELOPING A SUPPORTIVE POLICY CONTEXT

Supportive policies in the social, cultural, and economic sectors are required in order to realize the full provision and utitlization of basic education for individual and societal improvement. The provision of basic education for all depends on political commitment and political will backed by appropriate fiscal measures and reinforced by educational policy reforms and institutional strengthening. Suitable economic, trade, labour, employment and health policies will enhance learners’ incentives and contributions to societal development. Societies should also insure a strong intellectual and scientific environment for basic education. This implies improving higher education and developing scientific research. Close contact with contemporary technological and scientific knowledge should be possible at every level of education.

ARTICLE 9. MOBILIZING RESOURCES

If the basic learning needs of all are to be met through a much broader scope of action than in the past, it will be essential to mobilize existing and new financial and human resources, public, private and voluntary. All of society has a contribution to make, recognizing that time, energy and funding directed to basic education are perhaps the most profound investment in people and in the future of a country which can be made. Enlarged public-sector support means drawing on the resources of all the government agencies responsible for human development, through increased absolute and proportional allocations to basic education services with the clear recognition of competing claims on national resources of which education is an important one, but not the only one. Serious attention to improving the efficiency of existing educational resources and programmes will not only produce more, it can also be expected to attract new resources. The urgent task of meeting basic learning needs may require a reallocation between sectors, as, for example, a transfer from military to educational expenditure. Above all, special protection for basic education will be required in countries undergoing structural adjustment and facing severe external debt burdens. Today, more than ever, education must be seen as a fundamental dimension of any social, cultural, and economic design.

ARTICLE 10. STRENGTHENING INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY

Meeting basic learning needs constitutes a common and universal human responsibility. It requires international solidarity and equitable and fair economic relations in order to redress existing economic disparities. All nations have valuable knowledge and experiences to share for designing effective educational policies and programmes. Substantial and long-term increases in resources for basic education will be needed. The world community, including intergovernmental agencies and institutions, has an urgent responsibility to alleviate the constraints that prevent some countries from achieving the goal of education for all. It will mean the adoption of measures that augment the national budgets of the poorest countries or serve to relieve heavy debt burdens. Creditors and debtors must seek innovative and equitable formulae to resolve these burdens, since the capacity of many developing countries to respond effectively to education and other basic needs will be greatly helped by finding solutions to the debt problem. Basic learning needs of adults and children must be addressed wherever they exist. Least developed and low-income countries have special needs which require priority in international support for basic education in the 1990s. All nations must also work together to resolve conflicts and strife, to end military occupations, and to settle displaced populations, or to facilitate their return to their countries of origin, and ensure that their basic learning needs are met. Only a stable and peaceful environment can create the conditions in which every human being, child and adult alike, may benefit from the goals of this Declaration. We, the participants in the World Conference on Education for All, reaffirm the right of all people to education. This is the foundation of our determination, singly and together, to ensure education for all. We commit ourselves to act co-operatively through our own spheres of responsibility, taking all necessary steps to achieve the goals of education for all. Together we call on governments, concerned organizations and individuals to join in this urgent undertaking. The basic learning needs of all can and must be met. There can be no more meaningful way to begin the International Literacy Year, to move forward the goals of the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons (1983-92), the World Decade for Cultural Development (1988-97), the Fourth United Nations Development Decade (1991-2000), of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Forward Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, and of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. There has never been a more propitious time to commit ourselves to providing basic learning opportunities for all the people of the world. We adopt, therefore, this World Declaration on Education for All: Meeting Basic Learning Needs and agree on the Framework for Action to Meet Basic Learning Needs, to achieve the goals set forth in this Declaration.

Dakar 2000 - L'allarme di Carol Bellamy

UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND TO THE WORLD EDUCATION FORUM PLENARY ADDRESS BY CAROL BELLAMY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Dakar, 27 April 2000

Mr. President, Distinguished Delegates: I am very pleased to join you for this vitally important gathering. Ten years ago, in Jomtien, the international community proclaimed its commitment to a broad and forward-looking vision: a world where Education for All was no longer a cherished dream - but a living reality. A decade later, we have moved some steps closer to that world. But we are still far from fulfilling the promise of Jomtien - and we face new and daunting obstacles, especially the devastation of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The cost of delay is already unconscionably high. Too many young children are denied the good care that they need to prepare their minds and bodies to learn. Too many school-age children are still excluded from education, while others are consigned to environments that discourage real learning - environments that are unhealthy, unsafe, ineffective, and unfriendly to girls. And too many young people and adults are still denied access to the knowledge and development of skills they need to build a better future. Mr. President, education is the right of all children - and the obligation of all governments, its primacy proclaimed by agreements ranging from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Jomtien Declaration on Education for All. Education is a key to the fulfilment of other human rights. It is the heart of all development. And it is the essential prerequisite for equality, dignity, and lasting peace. As the late President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania reminded us, education is not a way to escape poverty - it is a way of fighting it. Ensuring the right of education is a matter of morality and of justice. It is also a matter of economic common sense, for in this new and information-driven century, the world simply cannot afford the loss of so much human potential. But unless we act now, more and more children will grow up uneducated, illiterate, without skills, without hope. Mr. President, delay is no longer acceptable. The commitments made at Jomtien must be kept. Yet quality basic education for all will not happen without strong measures: strong national leadership, strong political commitment, generous financial support - and an all-out attack on poverty, inequality, discrimination and exclusion. It is an effort that cannot succeed without the active support of all sectors and levels of society - families and communities, governments and funding agencies, service providers of all sectors, the media, the private sector, and civil society. That is the universal commitment we seek here in Dakar. A commitment which we believe is achievable and will be achieved. Our confidence is based on the strong partnership of our colleague agencies (UNESCO, UNDP, UNFPA and the World Bank), the critical and stimulating support of the NGOs, and the positive response of the governments. UNICEF has been mandated by the Secretary-General to develop a series of Future Actions for Children, actions that will be presented for endorsement at a Special Session of the General Assembly late next year. A major part of these actions relate to the educational needs of children at all age levels, from birth through adolescence. What can we do - what must we do - to ensure that these needs are met, and that the promise of Jomtien is finally fulfilled? There are five essential actions:

1. The first is to ensure that all young children are ready for school and for life - that from birth they are nurtured in safe, caring, and gender-sensitive environments - in families and communities, child care programmes and pre-schools - that help them become healthy, alert, secure, and able to learn. We know so much more now than we did 10 years ago about the critical nature of the first few years of a child's life, when good care is crucial in promoting survival, growth, and later development. That is why, Mr. President, we must promote national mobilisation campaigns and more comprehensive policies and programmes that meet the health, nutritional, and developmental needs of young children - especially the poorest and most marginalised. At the same time, we must ensure that there is good care not only for young children but for their mothers - who often have no voice, limited access to resources, no legal protection and no respect. We must also involve fathers in the care of young children. And we must ensure that children are breast-fed and have access to unpolluted air, safe drinking water and uncontaminated food - that they live where there are adequate sanitation facilities - that girls and boys are treated equally - that their environments are safe, healthy and protected - and, above all, that they have time and space to play, to interact with others, to learn, and to be loved. Distinguished Delegates, responsibility for good care lies not only with care-givers, families and communities, but with ministries of education. At a minimum, ministries of education must ensure that early childhood education programmes are designed around principles of good care - and that every education programme targeted at adolescents and young parents includes essential facts and skills needed for parenting.

2. The second essential action is to ensure that all children not only get into school, but stay there, at least to the age of 15, in order to acquire a basic education - and provide good quality "second chance" education opportunities for adolescents and youth who have never been in school. In doing this, we must focus on the needs of those most disadvantaged and excluded from learning, both in and out of school - girls, working children, children of ethnic minorities, and children affected by violence and conflict, disabilities, and HIV/AIDS. We can achieve this in part through social mobilisation campaigns, national enrolment days, and parent education programmes. We must also ensure that every school and community has a mechanism in place to seek out and find excluded and at-risk children and get them into school. Where needed, we must develop more flexible, "non-formal," targeted approaches to education for these children. And we must recognise that getting the last 5 to 30 per cent of children into school is likely to require more innovative approaches - and be more expensive - than the first 70 to 95 per cent. Above all, we must stop labeling excluded children and their families as the problem when the capacity and quality of schools and education systems are also a factor. Mr. President, Education for All will remain a dream until we address the deep poverty that keeps children out of school and often makes child labour necessary. Unless the 250 million children presently caught up in child labour are provided with meaningful and affordable educational opportunities of quality equivalent to that provided their more fortunate peers, we are wasting strategic human resources and perpetuating poverty in the next generation.

3. The third essential action is to ensure that girls have full and equal access to, and achievement in, basic and secondary education. It is a global scandal that the vast majority of the more than 110 million school-age children not in school are girls. Mr. President, unless this problem is addressed forthrightly and across the board, the drive to achieve Education For All will surely fail. Girls' education is a proven 'best investment' for human, social, and economic development. But most importantly, it is every girl's right - and to forget this is to imperil our global future. This is why the United Nations Initiative on Girls' Education that was launched by the Secretary-General on Wednesday is so important. There must be an all-out global effort to crack this major impediment to EFA - and UNICEF is pleased to be playing a key leadership role in this effort. This is also why the goal addressing gender issues in the Framework of Action we are now debating is so important. This Framework must single out girls' education as a priority. We must aim for socialisation of girls and boys in a culture of non-violence and respect for each other's rights, inherent dignity, and equality. We must strengthen accelerated basic education and additional education opportunities for adolescent girls. And we must eliminate all forms of gender bias and discrimination in education systems and schools, in curricula and learning materials, in teaching and in learning processes. Given the experience of the last decade and more, we know how to do this. As one example, we must ensure that schools are located where girls can reach them safely and that every school has separate and functioning latrines for girls and boys.

4. For all these ends to be met, a fourth essential action must be taken. Just as children must be helped to be ready for school, we must make sure that schools are made ready for children. Systems must provide relevant curricula and adequate learning materials for literacy, numeracy, and education on issues such as human rights, gender equality, health and nutrition, HIV/AIDS, and peace. These materials must be gender-sensitive and in languages that teachers and children can read and understand. Teachers must be well-trained to use flexible classroom arrangements, child-centred methods, and life-skills approaches so that children can participate actively and think critically. In every school the best teachers should be put in the earliest grades so that children get the possible start. Schools must have adequate hygiene and sanitation facilities, needed health and nutrition services, and school policies which guarantee physical and mental health, safety, and security. And above all, children must end up learning what they are meant to, and need, to learn. Schools must have practical ways to assess these results and report on them for all to see: parents and communities, as well as national governments. A further aspect of quality is important as we enter the new century. Every useful application of new technology must be harnessed for education, and government policies must ensure affordable access for all young learners. Both new and old technologies, such as Internet connectivity and radio instruction, must be used more creatively to reduce, rather than increase, disparities in access to quality learning. We appeal to technology innovators to use their skills and financial gains to help us ensure education for all, not just for the privileged few in any country. Let us encourage "service providers" in the new technologies to join with us to ensure that real and affordable opportunities are provided for young learners in all countries.

5. The fifth essential part of education in the new century is that in a world more and more fraught with conflict, violence, and instability, we must ensure that in any context of crisis, learning gets going again - and quickly. In such a context, the school can be a sanctuary, a child-friendly place where children can find a zone of peace and a sense of normalcy that is so important for their well-being. In many countries, most recently in Kosovo and East and West Timor, experience has shown that the restoration of education requires the rapid assessment of the educational and psycho-social needs of children, the provision of essential supplies and materials, the promotion of local governance and partnerships in restoring education, and the support of relevant and rapid curriculum and teacher development. Where necessary, the entire education system may sometimes need to be re-constructed - and this demands the help of all of us. Most urgently, children affected by HIV/AIDS deserve our immediate attention. We must ensure, with creative and dynamic life-skills programmes that both transmit information and change behavior, that education has an impact on the pandemic - on decreasing the rate of the transmission of the virus. But we must also act to decrease the impact of the pandemic on education - on the demand for, supply of, and quality of education - and on educational systems, schools, and learning. Mr. President, we must come to grips with the calamitous effects that the AIDS virus is having on communities and institutions, including educational systems, and find ways to mitigate its impact as much as humanly possible. In parts of Africa, it has been estimated that 30 per cent or more of teachers and teacher educators are HIV-positive and likely to die within the decade; that as many as 40 per cent of senior education managers may be ill and dying; and that vast numbers of children are becoming orphaned. We must also once again acknowledge and act on the fact that HIV/AIDS is having an especially great impact on the education and well-being of girls. Mr. President, Distinguished Delegates: There is no single solution to increasing access to education and improving its quality. Rather, there are thousands of proven local and national solutions. And that is why we must continue - in tandem with governments and ministries, schools and communities - to identify the gaps that remain in achieving Education for All, and to design concrete actions to achieve it. In doing so, we must start with the absolute essentials - children able to learn, teachers able to teach and knowing what to teach, and with schools available, affordable, and welcoming to children and to their parents. We must ensure sustained and adequately funded programmes - recognising that reaching the unreached with education of good quality is labour-intensive, time-consuming, and costly, but a good and necessary investment. In this regard, UNICEF strongly endorses the statement in the draft Framework that states that "no country seriously committed to basic education will be thwarted in the achievement of this goal by lack of resources." We and the whole of the international community must redouble our efforts to ensure that Education for All plans and programmes are never again without adequate support. It is in this connection that UNICEF calls on donor countries, within the context of the HIPC initiative, to accelerate the forgiveness of debt. Such debt should be forgiven immediately for countries that have a viable Education for All plan that can be seen as a proxy for a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. Mr. President, over the past decade we have learned many lessons about what works. We have put structures in place and achieved successful results in many countries. Now is the time to use these solid foundations to build for Education for All for the future. Confirm our commitments, accelerate progress, achieve the goals - these are the imperatives that we, as partners in the movement toward Education For All, must follow as this new century unfolds. Ten years after Jomtien, let us see to it that the future begins here and now, in Dakar. Thank you.

NGO: "WE want action now!"

NGO Declaration on Education for All, International Consultation of Non-Governmental Organizations
Dakar 25 April 2000

Ten years after the World Conference on Education for All, the World Education Forum in Dakar provides the opportunity to take stock of the achievements, the lessons and the failures of the past decade. The most disappointing lesson is that the objectives from Jomtien have not been achieved. Yet for 125 million children the right to education is violated every day, leaving them trapped in poverty. For millions more children, lack of teachers, classrooms, and/or books means their education is cut short and little is learnt. Girls account for two-thirds of the children out of school. One in three adults in the developing world - 880 million people - is still illiterate.

Nearly 300 NGOs gathered in Dakar on April 24 - 25 to discuss Education for All believe that Education for All is achievable if Governments and international agencies commit themselves to the following: · There is a need to renew the commitment to education as a right as expressed in UN's declaration on human rights paragraph 26, The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 13 and the Convention of the Right of the Child, Article 28. · There must be a commitment to providing free quality basic education for all children, youth and adults. Equity in quality must be ensured at all levels. All direct costs of basic education have to be removed. · There must be a clear commitment to ensure that quality education for all includes all the marginalised and excluded groups like the disabled, ethnic minorities, internally displaced persons and refugees. · There must be a clear statement that education is a core responsibility of the state. · Education for all depends on the existence of a sound democratic system, with effective structures and · The national plans of action must be developed within the broader framework of a global action plan, ensuring that no government with a credible strategy for achieving education will be allowed to fail for lack of resources. Donor governments should finance their contribution to the plan through increased aid and debt relief. Clear mechanisms for financing, implementing and monitoring the plan must be established by 2002. · Governments must commit themselves to develop and improve mechanisms and structures of democratic participation of, and accountability to civil society, including teachers and their representative organisations, in education decisions at all levels.

· ·

We the NGOs gathered in Dakar from all over the world are committed to work and co-operate with governments and a wide range of groups, individuals and institutions to reach our goal of quality education for all.

WE want action now!



FORUM MONDIAL SUR L'EDUCATION
Dakar, Sénégal, 26-28 avril 2000

L'EDUCATION POUR TOUS:
tenir nos engagements collectifs.


I.Introduction - II.Réalisations et défis - III Buts - IV Stratégies - PRECISIONS - -I Introduction- -II Realisations- -III Buts- -1- -2- -3- -4- -5- -6- -IV Strategies- -1- -2- -3- -4- -5- -6- -7- -8- -9- -10- -11- -12

Commentaire élargi sur le Cadre d'action de Dakar

  1. Nous, participants au Forum mondial sur l'éducation, réunis à Dakar (Sénégal), en avril 2000 , nous engageons à assurer pour tous les citoyens et toutes les sociétés la réalisation des buts et objectifs de l'EDUCATION POUR TOUS.

  2. Le Cadre de Dakar est l'expression de notre détermination collective à agir. Les gouvernements ont le devoir de veiller à ce que les buts et objectifs de l'éducation pour tous soient réalisés de façon durable. Il s'agit là d'une tâche qui, pour être menée à bien avec efficacité, requiert de larges partenariats dans les pays, soutenus par la coopération avec les institutions et organismes régionaux et internationaux.
  3. Nous réaffirmons le principe énoncé dans la Déclaration Mondiale sur l'Education pour Tous (Jomtien, 1990), qui s'appuie sur la Déclaration universelle des droits de l'homme et la Convention sur le droit des enfants , selon lequel toute personne - enfant, adolescent ou adulte - doit pouvoir bénéficier d'une formation conçue pour répondre à ses besoins éducatifs fondamentaux, au sens le plus large et le plus riche du terme, une formation où il s'agit d'apprendre à connaître, à faire, à vivre ensemble et à être. Une éducation qui s'attache à exploiter les talents et le potentiel de chaque personne et à développer la personnalité des apprenants, afin de leur permettre de mener une vie meilleure et de transformer la société dans laquelle ils vivent.
  4. Nous nous réjouissons des engagements pris par la communauté internationale en faveur de l'éducation de base tout au long des années 90, lors de diverses occasions :

    1. Sommet mondial pour les enfants (1990)
    2. Conférence sur l'environnement et le développement (1992)
    3. Conférence internationale sur la population et le développement (1994),
    4. Conférence mondiale sur les droits de l'homme (1993)
    5. Conférence mondiale sur les besoins éducatifs spéciaux : accès et qualité (1994)
    6. Sommet mondial pour le développement social (1995)
    7. Quatrième Conférence mondiale sur les femmes (1995)
    8. Réunion à la mi-décennie du Forum consultatif international sur l'éducation pour tous (1996)
    9. Conférence internationale sur l'éducation des adultes (1997)
    10. Conférence internationale sur le travail des enfants (1997).

    Il s'agit maintenant de tenir ces engagements.

  5. Le Bilan mondial de l'éducation pour tous à l'an 2000 (EPT) montre que des progrès importants ont été accomplis dans beaucoup de pays. Cependant, il est inacceptable, en l'an 2000, que plus de 113 millions d'enfants n'aient pas accès à l'enseignement primaire, que l'on dénombre encore 880 millions d'adultes analphabètes, que la discrimination sexuelle continue de sévir dans les systèmes éducatifs et que la qualité de l'apprentissage et l'acquisition de valeurs humaines et de compétences soient loin de répondre aux aspirations et aux besoins des individus et des sociétés. Des jeunes et des adultes n'ont pas accès aux compétences et aux connaissances nécessaires pour trouver un emploi rémunéré et participer pleinement à la vie de la société. A moins d'un progrès accéléré de l'éducation pour tous, les objectifs nationaux et internationaux fixés pour réduire la pauvreté ne seront pas atteints et les inégalités entre les pays et au sein des sociétés iront s'aggravant.

  6. L'éducation est un droit fondamental de l'être humain. Elle est la clef du développement durable ainsi que de la paix et de la stabilité à l'intérieur des pays et entre eux. Elle constitue donc un moyen indispensable d'une participation effective à l'économie et à la vie des sociétés du XXIe siècle, qui témoignent d'une globalisation rapide. La réalisation des buts de l'éducation pour tous ne saurait être différée plus longtemps. Il est possible et nécessaire de répondre d'urgence aux besoins éducatifs fondamentaux de tous.

  7. 6 GOALS
    En conséquence, nous nous engageons collectivement à assurer la réalisation des objectifs suivants :
    1. développer et améliorer sous tous leurs aspects la protection et l'éducation de la petite enfance, et notamment des enfants les plus vulnérables et défavorisés ;
    2. faire en sorte que d'ici 2015 tous les enfants, notamment les filles et les enfants en difficulté ou issus de minorités ethniques, aient la possibilité d'accéder à un enseignement primaire obligatoire et gratuit de qualité et de le suivre jusqu'à son terme
    3. répondre aux besoins éducatifs de tous les jeunes en assurant un accès équitable à des programmes adéquats ayant pour objet l'acquisition des connaissances ainsi que des compétences
      4. liées à la vie courante;
    4. améliorer de 50 % les niveaux d'alphabétisation des adultes, et notamment des femmes,
      5. d'ici 2015, et assurer à tous les adultes un accès équitable aux programmes d'éducation de base et d'éducation permanente ;
    5. éliminer les disparités entre les sexes dans l'enseignement primaire et secondaire d'ici 2005 et instaurer l'égalité dans ce domaine d'ici 2015 en veillant notamment à assurer aux filles l'accès équitable et sans restriction à une éducation de base de qualité avec les mêmes chances de réussite;
    6. améliorer sous tous ses aspects la qualité de l'éducation et garantir son excellence de façon à obtenir pour tous des résultats d'apprentissage reconnus et quantifiables - notamment en ce qui concerne le lecture, l'écriture, le calcul et les compétences indispensables dans la vie courante.
  8. 12 STRATEGIES Pour atteindre ces objectifs, nous, gouvernements, organisations, institutions, groupes et associations représentés au Forum mondial sur l'éducation, nous engageons à
    9. :
    1. susciter, aux niveaux national et international, un puissant engagement politique en faveur de l'éducation pour tous, définir des plans d'action nationaux et augmenter significativement les investissements dans l'éducation de base ;
    2. promouvoir des politiques d'éducation pour tous dans le cadre d'une action sectorielle durable et bien intégrée, clairement articulée avec les stratégies d'élimination de la pauvreté et de développement ;
    3. faire en sorte que la société civile s'investisse activement dans la formulation, la mise en œuvre et le suivi de stratégies de développement de l'éducation ;
    4. mettre en place des systèmes de gestion et de gouvernance éducatives qui soient réactifs, participatifs et évaluables;
    5. répondre aux besoins des systèmes éducatifs subissant le contrecoup de situations de conflit et d'instabilité et conduire les programmes d'éducation selon des méthodes qui soient de nature à promouvoir la paix, la compréhension mutuelle et la tolérance et à prévenir la violence et les conflits ;
    6. mettre en œuvre des stratégies intégrées pour l'égalité des sexes dans l'éducation, qui prennent en compte la nécessité d'une évolution des attitudes, des valeurs et des pratiques ;
    7. mettre en œuvre d'urgence des activités et des programmes d'éducation pour lutter contre la pandémie de VIH/sida
    8. créer un environnement éducatif sain et sûr, inclusif et équitablement doté en ressources, qui favorise l'excellence de l'apprentissage avec des niveaux d'acquisition bien définis pour tous
    9. améliorer la condition, la motivation et le professionnalisme des enseignants ;
    10. mettre les nouvelles technologies de l'information et de la communication au service de la réalisation des objectifs de l'éducation pour tous
    11. assurer un suivi systématique des progrès accomplis du point de vue des objectifs et des stratégies de l'EPT aux niveaux national, régional et international;
    12. renforcer les mécanismes existants pour faire progresser plus rapidement l'éducation pour tous.

  9. S'appuyant sur les données accumulées dans le cadre des évaluations régionales et nationales de l'EPT, ainsi que sur les stratégies sectorielles nationales déjà en place, tous les Etats seront invités à définir des PLANS D'ACTION NATIONAUX ou à renforcer ceux qui existent déjà avant 2002 au plus tard. Ces plans, s'insérant dans le cadre d'un effort plus large de développement et de lutte contre la pauvreté, devront être élaborés selon des processus plus transparents et plus démocratiques, associant les différents partenaires, notamment les représentants du peuple, les responsables communautaires, les parents, les apprenants, les organisations non gouvernementales (ONG) et la société civile. Ils s'attaqueront notamment aux problèmes liés au sous-financement chronique de l'éducation de base, en définissant des priorités budgétaires qui expriment la volonté d'atteindre les buts et objectifs de l'EPT dans les meilleurs délais et au plus tard en 2015. Ces plans définiront également des stratégies sans équivoque pour répondre aux problèmes spécifiques de ceux qui sont actuellement les laissés-pour-compte de l'éducation, en privilégiant clairement l'éducation des filles et l'égalité des sexes. Ils donneront une forme et une réalité concrète aux objectifs et stratégies définis dans le présent document ainsi qu'aux engagements pris à l'occasion des conférences internationales qui se sont succédé depuis 1990. Les activités régionales de soutien aux stratégies nationales s'appuieront sur des organisations, des initiatives et des réseaux régionaux et sous-régionaux renforcés.
  10. Une volonté politique et une impulsion nationale plus affirmée sont nécessaires pour garantir la mise en œuvre effective et réussie des plans nationaux dans chacun des pays concernés. Cependant la volonté politique n'est rien sans les moyens. La communauté internationale n'ignore pas que bien des pays sont actuellement dépourvus des moyens nécessaires pour atteindre les objectifs de l'éducation pour tous dans des délais acceptables. Il faut donc mobiliser de nouvelles ressources financières, de préférence sous forme de dons et d'aides assorties de conditions libérales, par le biais des institutions de financement bilatérales et multilatérales, comme la Banque mondiale et les banques régionales de développement, mais aussi du secteur privé. Nous l'affirmons : aucun pays qui a pris un engagement sérieux en faveur de l'éducation de base ne verra ses efforts contrariés par le manque de ressources.

  11. La communauté internationale honorera cet engagement collectif en lançant avec effet immédiat une initiative mondiale visant à élaborer les stratégies et mobiliser les ressources nécessaires pour apporter un soutien effectif aux efforts nationaux. Les pistes à explorer dans le cadre de cette initiative sont les suivantes :
    1. renforcer le financement externe de l'éducation, en particulier de l'éducation de base ;
    2. améliorer la prévisibilité des flux de l'aide extérieure ;
    3. assurer une coordination plus efficace des donateurs;
    4. développer les approches sectorielles ;
    5. intensifier, élargir et diligenter l'allégement et/ou l'annulation de la dette pour lutter contre la pauvreté, avec des prises de position fermes en faveur de l'éducation de base ;
    6. prévoir un suivi plus efficace et plus régulier des progrès réalisés dans la poursuite des buts et objectifs de l'EPT, sous forme notamment d'évaluations périodiques.
  12. De nombreux pays ont déjà apporté la preuve de ce que peuvent obtenir des stratégies nationales résolues et s'appuyant sur une coopération efficace en faveur du développement. Les progrès réalisés dans le cadre de ces stratégies peuvent et doivent être accélérés par l'intensification de l'aide internationale. En même temps, les pays aux stratégies moins affirmées - comme les pays en transition, les pays en proie à des conflits ou ceux qui sortent d'une crise - doivent recevoir tout l'appui nécessaire pour progresser plus rapidement vers les objectifs de l'éducation pour tous.
  13. Nous renforcerons les mécanismes régionaux et internationaux permettant de rendre compte de l'action menée afin de donner une claire expression à ces engagements et d'inscrire le Cadre d'action de Dakar parmi les préoccupations de toutes les organisations régionales et internationales, de tout corps législatif national et de toute instance de décision locale.
  14. Le Bilan mondial de l'éducation pour tous à l'an 2000 montre que c'est en Afrique subsaharienne, en Asie du Sud et dans les pays les moins avancés que la situation est la plus préoccupante. En conséquence, même si l'aide internationale ne doit faire défaut à aucun pays qui en a besoin, la priorité doit être accordée à ces régions et pays. Les pays en conflit ou en cours de reconstruction doivent également bénéficier d'une attention spéciale afin de pouvoir bâtir des systèmes éducatifs qui répondent aux besoins de tous les apprenants.
  15. La mise en œuvre des objectifs et stratégies susmentionnés nécessitera une dynamisation immédiate des mécanismes nationaux, régionaux et internationaux. Dans un souci d'efficacité maximale, ces mécanismes seront participatifs et, dans la mesure du possible, s'appuieront sur ce qui existe déjà. Ils incluront des représentants de toutes les parties prenantes et tous les partenaires et fonctionneront selon des modalités transparentes et susceptibles d'évaluation. Ils apporteront une réponse conforme en tous points, dans l'esprit et la lettre, à la Déclaration de Jomtien et au Cadre d'action de Dakar. Ils assumeront, à des degrés divers, des fonctions notamment de sensibilisation, de mobilisation de ressources, de suivi et de création et de partage des connaissances concernant l'EPT.
  16. Le centre de l'activité de l'EPT se situe au niveau national. Des forums nationaux sur l'EPT seront renforcés ou établis pour appuyer la réalisation des objectifs. Tous les ministères concernés et les organisations de la société civile seront systématiquement représentés dans ces forums qui devront être transparents et démocratiques et offrir un cadre de mise en oeuvre à l'échelon infra-national. Les pays établiront des plans nationaux d'ensemble pour l'EPT d'ici 2002 au plus tard. Les pays confrontés à des problèmes particuliers, et notamment à des crises complexes ou à des catastrophes naturelles, bénéficieront d'un soutien technique spécial de la part de la communauté internationale. Chaque plan national d'EPT :
    1. sera défini par les responsables nationaux en consultation directe et systématique avec la société civile du pays;
    2. canalisera le soutien coordonné de tous les partenaires du développement;
    3. définira les réformes correspondant aux six objectifs de l'EPT;
    4. établira un cadre financer pour le long terme;
    5. sera axé sur l'action et s'inscrira dans un calendrier précis;
    6. comprendra des indicateurs de résultats à mi-parcours;
    7. réalisera une synergie de tous les efforts de développement humain en étant intégré dans le cadre et le processus de planification nationale du développement.
  17. Partout où ces processus sont engagés dans le cadre d'un plan crédible, les partenaires de la communauté internationale s'engagent à œuvrer de manière conséquente, coordonnée et cohérente. Chaque partenaire apportera sa contribution en fonction de ses avantages comparatifs à l'appui des plans nationaux d'EPT pour combler le déficit des ressources.
  18. Les activités régionales de soutien aux efforts nationaux s'appuieront sur les organisations, réseaux et initiatives déjà en place aux niveaux régional et sous-régional, en les renforçant au besoin. Les régions et sous-régions décideront d'un réseau d'encadrement EPT appelé à devenir le Forum régional ou sous-régional doté d'un mandat explicite dans ce domaine. La participation systématique de toutes les organisations compétentes représentant la société civile ou à caractère régional et sous-régional est indispensable, de même que la synchronisation de leurs efforts. Les forums régionaux et sous-régionaux sur l'EPT seront rattachés par des liens organiques aux forums nationaux et responsables devant eux. Leurs fonctions seront les suivantes :
    1. assurer la coordination avec l'ensemble des réseaux concernés ;
    2. définir les objectifs régionaux et sous-régionaux et suivre leur mise en œuvre ;
    3. mener une action de sensibilisation ;
    4. favoriser la concertation sur l'action à mener ;
    5. promouvoir les partenariats et la coopération technique ; partager les meilleures pratiques et les enseignements tirés ;
    6. assurer le suivi des activités et en rendre compte ;
    7. enfin, promouvoir la mobilisation des ressources.

    Un soutien régional et international est prévu pour renforcer les forums régionaux et sous-régionaux et les capacités utiles en matière d'EPT, notamment en Afrique et en Asie du Sud. <

  19. L'UNESCO continuera d'assumer le rôle qui lui a été confié d'assurer la coordination entre les partenaires de l'EPT et de maintenir la dynamique de leur coopération. Dans ce cadre, le Directeur général de l'UNESCO réunira tous les ans un groupe de haut niveau à la fois restreint et souple. Ce groupe contribuera à renforcer la volonté politique et la mobilisation des moyens techniques et financiers. Grâce aux informations du rapport de suivi émanant de l'Institut international de planification de l'éducation de l'UNESCO (IIPE), du Bureau international d'éducation de l'UNESCO (BIE), de l'Institut de l'UNESCO pour l'éducation (IUE) et en particulier de l'Institut de statistique de l'UNESCO, et aux données fournies par les forums régionaux et sous-régionaux sur l'EPT, il permettra également de veiller à ce que la communauté mondiale rende compte des engagements de Dakar. Il sera composé de décideurs représentant au plus haut niveau les gouvernements et la société civile des pays développés et en développement ainsi que les organismes de développement.
  20. L'UNESCO fera office de secrétariat. Elle réaxera son programme d'éducation de manière à placer les résultats et les priorités de Dakar au coeur de son activité, ce qui implique la création de groupes de travail sur les six objectifs adoptés à Dakar. Ce secrétariat collaborera étroitement avec les autres organisations et pourra accueillir du personnel détaché par elles.
  21. La réalisation des objectifs de l'éducation pour tous nécessitera un soutien financier supplémentaire des pays et une intensification des efforts d'aide au développement et d'allégement de la dette en faveur de l'éducation de la part des donateurs bilatéraux et multilatéraux de manière à dégager un montant de l'ordre de huit milliards de dollars par an. Il est donc indispensable que de nouveaux engagements concrets soient pris au niveau financier tant par les gouvernements nationaux que par les donateurs bilatéraux et multilatéraux, y compris la Banque mondiale, ainsi que par les banques régionales de développement, la société civile et les fondations.

28 avril 2000 (Dakar - Sénégal)
L'éducation pour tous :tenir nos engagements collectifs
Commentaire élargi sur le Cadre d'action de Dakar

Le présent document fournit des précisions sur chaque objectif et chaque élément de stratégie du projet de Cadre d'action en tenant compte des nombreuses suggestions formulées avant et pendant le Forum mondial sur l'éducation, et plus particulièrement lors des 24 réunions-débats sur la stratégie. Etabli parle Comité de rédaction du Forum mondial sur l'éducationParis, le 23 mai 2000

I. INTRODUCTION

II. REALISATIONS ET DEFIS

Défis et chances à saisir

III. 6 BUTS