Making Education a Priority in the Development Agenda

                  This post is a summary of the report published with the incomplete title above in September 2013  https://www.unicef.org/education/files/Making_Education_a_Priority_in_the_Post-2015_Development_Agenda.pdfe

             Mobilization of resources for education is identified as an important strength of the goals framework at the national and international levels. Increased spending on education has been a significant factor in positive educational outcomes, with expanding education budgets in low-income countries making a key contribution to education progress. A global education agenda is crucial to mobilizing partnerships among all actors, including civil society organizations such as NGOs. \in addition, the involvement of the orivate sector in the global education agenda is becoming more commonplace, and global frameworks are recognized as important because they facilitate the mutual accountability of all stakeholders. Nevertheless, the lack of political will to invest in education has been raised as a key concern. Adequate financing and government commitment were often cited as key obstacles to making adequate progress in achieving the global education goals. As a basic right, education is an intrinsic good in itself, leading to broadened individual capacities and freedoms. Further, it is associated with a host of positive development coutcomes that contribute to the achievement of other development goals. Education underpins all social progress. If the general education level worldwide is improved, global unemployment problems can be hugely tackled leading to improvements in poverty and general standards of living. This further emphasized that access alone is not enough, and that good-quality education is key to national development and individual well-being. In commenting on the inseparable link between education and development goals, a contributor to the online Education consultations maintained that if there were only one development agenda beyond 2015, it should be "equitable human development." This theme was echoed in the Addressing Inequalities consultation, where comments highlighted two factors - increasing access to secondary education for vulnerable groups, and the quality of education delivered - as important considerations for reducing inequity. One contribution to this consultation called for a "development agenda which should ensure sustained action and accountability for universal access to quality, comprehensive, integrated health education and services, counselling and information, with respect for human rights and emphasising equality and respect for diversity."  Good governance relies on educated citizens who are able to exercise their democratic rights, and have tolerance and respect for each other. An educated population is able to hold government to account and to participate effectively in decision making at all levels of society. The interaction of education and health is seen in the fact that learning acievement has an impact on combating disease and raising healthy families. Education has positive effects on lowering child mortality, improving child health and nutrition, and lowering the number of children per household. One of the strongest themes that emerged in the education consultations was a rights-based approach in which rights are indivisible. This suggest that all aspects of education should be considered from a rights perspective. Through omission and a skewed focus, the current global education agenda has tended to neglect the right to education of vulnerable groups and has failed to address issues of inequality in education that compromise this right. The specific roles of respective stakeholders generated much discussion in the consultations. Frequent references were made to parents's involvement in schools to ensure that schools/teachers are held accountable. There were also strong feelings that parents and local communities should have greater ownership of schools. Many contributions mentioned the importance of community involvement in raising awareness and marginalized groups. To facilitate shared responsibility, a clear framework for decentralizing education is required that recognized the differentiated role of stakeholders, including policymakers, schools administrators, teachers and parents. Civil society and NGOs have a crucial role to play in education, particularly in holding governments accountable. Effective public-private partnership requires effective coordination and regulatory mechanisms that enable dialogue and debate between governments and the private sector around a common vision of education. The role of the private sector is vital within the context of changing labour market trends and the new skills required. To ensure sustainability, programmes for education and training and skills development must endeavour to respond to learners' and labour market demands. Discussion about private sector also brought into focus the role of private schools and, in particular, low-fee private schools. While it was noted that governments and donors could improve effectiveness by subsidizing established private schools rather than starting new public schools, the role of government in regulating the private sector was also mentioned. Meaningful participation is closely associated with accountability, and the accountability of education  ministries to citizens, and schools to parents requires processes and structures that are transparent. Transparency is important in overcoming corruption and abuse of power, and in enabling stakeholders to have access to information to better understand the outcomes of education investments and hold governments accountable. Frequently Mentioned Obstacles to Good-Quality Education: 1) Social context - poverty was the major reason for children not accessing or dropping out of formal education. Tuition fees, malnutrition, poor living conditions and parental literacy levels were also connected to participation and learning levels. 2) Narrow focus on primary education - failure to consider all levels of education. 3) Inequity - failure to include and respond to the needs of children and young people socially excluded or with disabilities. Lack of attention to children living in contexts of political instability, conflict, disasters and emergencies. 4) Inputs and infrastructure - poor learning condition, such as; shortage of desks, classroom and adequate school building, lack of appropriate teaching and learning materials and poor schools environments. 5) Education process - these items included a narrow focus on assessment, shortage of qualified teachers, outdated curricula, absence of linkages to employment, and violence in schools. The consultations highlighted teachers' central role in ensuring good-quality education. Teachers' qualification, competence, commitment and motivation to deliver quality education are central in achieving any goal related to education.  The contributions also underscored the following essentials for supporting teachers' effectiveness: 1) good conditions of employment, including duration of contracts and salaries, and prospects for career progression. 2) good conditions in the work environment, based on schools contexts that are conducive to teaching. 3) high-quality pre- and in-service training for teachers, based on respect for human rights and inclusive education. 4) effective management, including teahcer recruitment. The consultations noted that a major challenge in education and training was to establish better links with employment opportunities and employability. One recurring theme was that education systems are failing to equip youth with relevant skills and competencies for securing decent work. Several imputs spoke about an education system that was not responsive to the labour market and an outdated curriculum that did not provide skills for the twenty-first century.