THE WORLD’S BIGGEST LESSON 23RD April  Quality Education for All End Exclusion Now!  POLITICIANS BACK TO SCHOOL - IT’S TIME TO LEARN   Global Action Week 21-27 April 2008

THE WORLD’S BIGGEST LESSON 
23RD April

Quality Education for All

End Exclusion Now!

POLITICIANS BACK TO SCHOOL - IT’S TIME TO LEARN

Global Action Week 21-27 April 2008

Inside pages text:

In 2000, leaders of rich and poor countries committed themselves to a set of goals and targets to end global poverty and make the world a better place. Central to these are the Education for All (EFA) goals signed up to be by over 180 Countries in Dakar 2000. 

The EFA goals to be realized by 2015 are:

1. Expand early childhood care and education

2. Provide free and compulsory education for all

3. Promote learning and life skills for young people and adults

4. Increase adult literacy by 50%

5. Achieve gender parity by 2005 
6. Improve the quality of education

Progress has been made but the world is currently so far off track that in many countries these goals will not even be met by 2115 – let alone by 2015.  We urgently need practical action to make these goals a reality.

Quality Education for All is fundamental to ensuring that people of all ages are able to develop their full capacities. All governments must:

• Reiterate their commitments to promoting and attaining the goals of universal and equal access to quality education.

• Make particular efforts to rectify inequalities relating to social and economic conditions without distinction as to race, national origin, gender, age, disability or other status.

• Proactively combat segregation, discrimination and other exclusionary policies and practices and recognize and respect the rights of all especially women, children, persons with disabilities, people living in poverty and those belonging to disadvantaged groups.

“Millions of parents, teachers and children around the world are calling on their governments to provide free, good quality, basic education for all the world’s children. They are part of the Global Campaign for Education; we add our voice to their call.” 
Nelson Mandela & Graca Machel (2002)

Why GCE’s pressure on all governments is critical in 2008:

• Because we are now past the half way point to 2015 when Education for All goals must be fulfilled and we are racing against time!

• There is an inequitable distribution of quality education, with children in poorer countries most affected by a lack of teachers as well as learning materials.

• If worried about the cost of providing quality education – governments must ask themselves if they can afford NOT to provide quality education for all.

• Education empowers people, strengthens democracies and economies, enables people to protect themselves and their families from HIV and illness and to become the person they wish to become.

• 73 million children and 750 million adults are currently without the benefits of education.

Rich Countries should:

• Increase total Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) to Education to at least $16 billion per year, ensuring that 60 low-income countries’ plans are fully funded through the Education For All Fast-Track Initiative.

• Guarantee that ODA is predictable over a ten-year period.

• Fund countries’ full Education For All strategies through harmonised sector or budget support to ensure that cash can be spent on core recurrent costs such as teacher salaries.

• Specifically commit some of the resources to financing social protection for poor and marginalized families.

• Encourage the development of inclusive education strategies in dialogue with partner countries which will achieve a quality education for all.

• Develop innovative financing mechanisms to fund public education provision in conflict-affected fragile states.

Poor countries should:

• Ensure that 20% of national budgets and 6% GNI are allocated to education.

• Include specific measures to reach marginalised and excluded learners such as orphans and vulnerable children, ethnic and language minorities, children with disabilities, children in internally-displaced and refugee communities and working children. 

• Introduce policies and practices to achieve gender equality in education, such as gender-sensitive curricula, ensuring an adequate number of female teachers, making schools safe and hygienic for girls and giving stipends for girls.

• Abolish all fees and charges in education.

• Include specific measures to improve quality of education such as ensuring that all children are taught in a class no bigger then 40 by a professionally-trained teacher, spending at least 25% of recurrent budgets on non-salary quality inputs such as teaching and learning materials and enshrining the right to 9 years of education in national law.

International Institutions

• The EFA Fast-Track Initiative (FTI) should publicly state that country plans addressing the full EFA agenda are eligible for approval and financing through the initiative.

• The World Bank should ensure that its lending is aligned with the EFA-FTI principles of supporting one country, one sector, and one predictable harmonised plan.

• The IMF should drop fiscal policies such as the imposition of public sector wage caps, which prevent countries from increasing domestic spending on Education For All.

• The UN should use its mandate under Special Procedures to prioritise action on education and take concrete steps to urge member states to do the same.

“I’ve met kids who are affected by war and trauma, and they’ve been able to get on with their lives, being able to go to school, talk, play and learn. These kids have every reason to hate, be angry and not want to do anything with their lives, but I’ve seen them in school talking about becoming a doctor, and rebuilding their country, or learning law. We have a commitment. Education is so important”. Angelina Jolie (2006)

Take Part in the WORLD’S BIGGEST LESSON on the 23rd April 2008:

Around the world millions of children, teachers and campaigners are inviting their politicians BACK TO SCHOOL, to take part in the biggest and most important lesson of their life!

How you can get involved:

1. Invite your local politicians, any VIPs or anyone you want to influence to come BACK TO SCHOOL and take part in the World’s Biggest Lesson.

2. Collect a dossier of all the promises that your politicians have made on education over the years.

3. Find out what you want your politicians to do about ensuring EVERYONE receives a Quality Education.

4. Present all these promises and findings to your politicians as part of the World’s Biggest Lesson.

5. Find what’s happening in your country by visiting www.campaignforeducation.org

Anyone can take part - go online and register 
www.campaignforeducation.org

Take part in the World’s Biggest Lesson, and bring along your mum, your distant cousin, your old teacher, and next door neighbour.  Together we’ll make this a lesson to remember.

Together, let us make 2015 a reality!