Education for All: Three New Year’s wishes

By Pauline Rose, director of the Education for All Global Monitoring Report

As the 2015 deadline for the Education for All goals fast approaches – and the global economic crisis threatens to slow progress – here are the three things we most want to happen in 2012. They offer an agenda for the kind of change that is needed to give everyone in the world an opportunity for a decent education.

Give young people the skills they need to get good jobs

Upheavals around the world in 2011, notably in Arab countries but also in parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America, turned the spotlight on the disillusionment of young people. Soaring unemployment, fed by the economic crisis and political mismanagement, has left millions of youth without opportunities to fulfill their ambitions. The International Labour Organisation estimates that as many as 1 in 10 young people are not in work. The real number of young people without worthwhile jobs is likely to be much higher, as many of the most vulnerable are forced into low-paid, informal, insecure work. Young people who already face disadvantages – because of where they live, their gender, poverty or ethnicity – have been hit the worst, largely because they lack the skills needed to compete for available jobs.

In 2012, political leaders need to listen to the voices of young people, particularly those who suffer most from poor education and job opportunities, before it is too late. The 2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report, to be released in September, will examine how skills development programmes can improve young people’s opportunities for decent jobs and better lives. We hope that policymakers will act upon the messages in the Report. In 2011 the G20 paid insufficient attention to the vital role of education and skills in addressing barriers to employment and growth. When G20 leaders meet in Mexico in June, they need to speak out more loudly for education and skills.

Make aid count

Countries that have made the most remarkable progress towards Education for All, such as Ethiopia and Tanzania, have benefited from a combination of strong political will and sustained financial commitment, with aid donors backing nationally developed education plans. Yet funding for education remains grossly insufficient and fragile according to recent analysis by the GMR team. The Busan High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in 2011 highlighted the changing aid landscape, with new donors, such as Brazil, India and China, and the private sector playing a more prominent role in development financing. Despite replenishment commitments for the Global Partnership for Education in 2011, there is still a long way to go to fill the US$16 billion financing gap.

The Global Partnership for Education needs to reinforce its efforts in 2012 to mobilize additional financing, including from traditional donors as well as the “BRICs” (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and the private sector, ensuring that this funding is used to reach those most in need.

Put education at the centre of global development beyond 2015

Policymakers need to step up their efforts for the 67 million children still denied a basic education and the 796 million young people and adults without basic literacy and numeracy skills. Much more can be done in three years left before the Education for All and Millennium Development Goal deadline. But there will still be huge tasks to accomplish after 2015. Despite progress in getting more children into school over the past decade, there are still wide gaps in education opportunities between boys and girls, and rich and poor. Many children drop out of school before they have learnt how to read or write. Inequalities in access and learning will need to be given greater attention after 2015.

As convening agency for Education for All, UNESCO needs to take the lead this year in guiding debates on education priorities to ensure education maintains its central position in the global development architecture beyond 2015. The United Nations General Assembly in September is one important venue for UNESCO to work together with other EFA partners to develop a consensus on education after 2015.

Education in the spotlight in 2011

By Pauline Rose, director of the Education for all Global Monitoring Report

The Arab Spring, South Sudan’s long-awaited independence and the world’s 7 billionth baby featured in our top 10 blog posts for 2011, which highlighted key messages of the 2011 Education for All Global Monitoring Report, The hidden crisis: Armed conflict and education, as well as crucial questions that we will explore in our 2012 Report on youth, skills and work.

Top of the list of most-read posts is an investigation by former GMR director Kevin Watkins of how a chronic mismatch between education systems and labour markets helped to fuel discontent among young people who took to the streets in Arab countries [1. Education failures fan the flames in the Arab world].

Young people have been in the spotlight right around the world in 2011. As unemployment has soared, their disaffection with political leaders’ failure to address their hopes and aspirations has led to protests globally. As we will be showing in our 2012 Report, there is an urgent need to pay attention to the skills that young people need to realise their potential [6. When we talk about youth, we need to talk about skills].

Other top 10 blogs highlight the hidden crisis in countries where education progress has been held back by conflict, including two of those most seriously off-track for achieving the Education for All goals [3. Pakistan declares ‘education emergency’; 4. Southern Sudanese pin their hopes on education].

South Sudan’s independence this year provides an opportunity for realising the hopes of its citizens through education, including for those returning after living in refugee camps for many years. Lessons might be learnt from the post-conflict experiences of Cambodia and Ethiopia, where a combination of political will and support from aid donors has helped to develop strong education systems [8. Education bounces back in Cambodia and Ethiopia].

EU review says need for skills is urgent

Another strong argument for the importance of developing young people’s skills –the subject of the forthcoming 2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report – comes from a new review by the European Commission, which warns that the recession has made it even more urgent to improve skills across the board.

Like the OECD report on wage inequality that we noted earlier this month, the first annual review of Employment and Social Developments in Europe argues that skills are the key not only to the economic recovery but also to individuals’ prospects – especially those of the marginalized, who will be the special focus of the 2012 Global Monitoring Report.

“Understanding the skills requirements of new jobs is critical for improving the employability of the European labour force and identifying mismatches in the labour markets, as well as for lifting the low-skilled out of poverty,” according to the review.

Even before the economic crisis, the review says, jobs were becoming “concentrated in relatively high and low pay levels.” The recession has had the effect of intensifying this divide by destroying medium-paid jobs, while new jobs are increasingly demanding higher educational and skills qualifications, “thus compromising the chances of re-employment and access to well-paid jobs for lower-skilled people who lost their jobs during the recession.”

“Young people remain the hardest hit by the crisis and its aftermath,” the review adds.

Dinos lo que piensas sobre la necesidad de adquirir competencias

Acabamos de lanzar  el blog denominado Jóvenes, Competencias y Trabajo donde los jóvenes pueden expresar sus ideas sobre las destrezas que se necesitan para tener un trabajo decente.  Jóvenes, Competencias y Trabajo es un espacio abierto para los jóvenes del mundo. Puedes presentar un ensayo, una foto, un dibujo,  un poema o simplemente  participar en la discusión  al comentar las contribuciones de otros.

Estamos recolectando las opiniones de jóvenes como parte de nuestro trabajo de investigación para el Informe de Seguimiento a la Educación para Todos 2012  que tratará sobre el desencuentro crónico que existe entre los sistemas de educación y el mercado laboral , hecho que se presenta en muchas partes del mundo.

Son  los jóvenes que nunca asistieron  a la escuela, o que no terminaron y se fueron sin adquirir las competencias necesarias para prosperar en una sociedad que sabe leer y escribir los que son más vulnerables.  El Informe  de Seguimiento a la Educación para Todos 2012 cuestionará el tipo de políticas públicas  que se requiere  para brindarles a todos los jóvenes – sin importar su lugar de origen, potencial económico, raíz étnica o sexo- la oportunidad de recibir entrenamiento para que puedan acceder a un trabajo e ingreso seguros .

¿Qué piensas de la necesidad de adquirir competencias y entrenamiento para el trabajo?  Comparte tus ideas, dudas, soluciones, preocupaciones  y experiencia en Youth, Skills & Work.

Comparte este sitio con tus amigos y también puedes mostrarles la animación que antecede.

Dites nous! De quelles compétences ont besoin les jeunes?

Nous venons de lancer notre nouveau blog « Youth, Skills & Work »  (jeunesse, compétences et le monde du travail), une plateforme pour les jeunes qui souhaitent échanger leurs points de vue sur le niveau d’éducation et les compétences nécessaires pour trouver un emploi décent. Le blog est ouvert aux jeunes du monde entier. Vous pouvez aussi nous envoyer vos textes, photos, dessins, poèmes ou participer au débat en commentant sur les contributions des autres.

Nous collectons en ce moment les opinions de jeunes pour préparer le Rapport mondial de suivi sur l’Education pour tous (EPT) 2012, qui traitera, entre autres, des différences chroniques qui existent dans de nombreuses régions à travers le monde entre les systèmes éducatifs et le marché du travail.

Les jeunes qui n’ont jamais été à l’école, qui sont partis trop tôt, ou sans les compétences nécessaires pour réussir dans leurs sociétés, sont particulièrement vulnérables. Le Rapport mondial de suivi sur l’EPT 2012 examinera les politiques nécessaires pour donner aux jeunes – indépendamment d’où ils vivent, de leur sexe, d’où ils viennent ou de leur richesse – accès à des formations qui leur permettront de trouver un emploi stable qui leur rapporte un salaire leur permettant de vivre.

Selon vous, quelles compétences et formations sont nécessaires pour trouver un emploi ? Partagez vos idées, vos questions, vos opinions, vos solutions et vos expériences sur notre blog Youth, Skills & Work.

Et parlez-en à vos amis ! Vous pouvez aussi partager la vidéo ci-dessus.

BRIEFLY: Employment is a right, Youth Forum says

Entrepreneurship education in schools and improving youth employability are key ways to deal with youth unemployment, according to the report Youth Employment in Europe: A Call for Change. The report was launched at an event with the same name, organized by the European Youth Forum at the OECD in Paris, where young delegates have spent the last two days discussing issues such as youth unemployment and the skills-jobs mismatch. “Policy makers must be held accountable to the young people of Europe and young people must demand their right to fair, decent employment”, the report concludes.

The 2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report will focus on how skills development can improve young people’s opportunities for decent jobs and better lives.

How can the right to education be defended?

Education is a basic human right, enshrined in law all over the world. Yet in 2009, 67 million children were not enrolled at school – 42% of them in poor countries affected by conflict. Human Rights Day on December 10 is an occasion to remember the importance of defending the right to education, especially during armed conflict.

As we found in the 2011 EFA Global Monitoring Report The hidden crisis: Armed conflict and education, violent conflict can have devastating effects on countries’ education systems, making it even harder to reach the Education for All goals that were established in 2000.

During the civil war in Bosnia, for example, snipers targeted schoolchildren in Sarajevo as part of a wider strategy to break down community life and force ethnic displacement.

As we stated in the 2011 EFA Global Monitoring Report, there is an urgent need for more regular, reliable and robust reporting on attacks against schools, schoolchildren and teachers, especially given the growing prominence of education as a target. Only limited and disjointed data are currently available. There have been several efforts to fill the information gaps. But for the right to education to really be defended, what is needed is a reporting system that systematically and comprehensively records, analyses and corroborates reported attacks, identifies those responsible and evaluates efforts to prevent and respond to such attacks.

Climate change: education has a key role

By Mark Richmond,
 director, Division of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development, UNESCO

The latest round of international climate talks, which began on November 28 in Durban, South Africa, is focused on preventing “dangerous human interference with the climate system” by securing a new binding agreement on greenhouse-gas emissions. But the question of how to cope with the impact of climate change is also high on the agenda – and that’s where education has a vital role to play.

Climate change education should aim not only to foster public understanding of climate change and “climate literacy” among students, but also to reorient the entire education system to achieve low-emission and climate-resilient development. This includes, for example, rethinking unsustainable lifestyles and promoting responsible consumption, “greening” technical and vocational education and training, integrating disaster preparedness in education, and building safe and green schools.

UNESCO promotes climate change education as a central element of the global response to climate change through its Climate Change Education for Sustainable Development programme, within the framework of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

Equipping people with knowledge, skills and values to cope with climate change and ensuring safe, inclusive and eco-friendly learning environments are a vital part of facing the challenge of sustainable development.

Tell us what you think about the need for skills!

Today we launch Youth, Skills & Work, a new blog where young people can make their voices heard on education and skills needed to get decent jobs. Youth, Skills & Work is open to young people around the world. You can submit text, a photo, a drawing, a poem, or join the conversation by commenting on what others have contributed.

We are gathering opinions from young people as part of our work preparing the 2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report, which will focus on the chronic mismatch between education systems and labour markets that plagues many regions of the world.

Young people who never attended school, who left early or who left without the skills needed to thrive in literate societies, are particularly vulnerable. The 2012 EFA Global Monitoring Report will ask what kinds of policies are needed to give all young people – regardless of where they live, or their gender, ethnicity or wealth – access to employment-relevant training to help them gain access to secure work that pays a living wage.

What do you think about the need for skills and training? Share your thoughts, questions, solutions and experiences at Youth, Skills & Work.

And pass on the word to friends! You can also share the movie clip above.

Skills are the key to fighting inequality, OECD says

A new report from the OECD argues that focusing on skills – the subject of the forthcoming 2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report – is essential to combat rising wage inequality, which traps many people, especially the young and the marginalized, in temporary, part-time or badly paid jobs.

“Upskilling of the workforce is by far the most powerful instrument to counter rising income inequality,” the secretary-general of the OECD, Angel Gurría, said today as he launched the report, Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Rising. “The investment in people must begin in early childhood and be followed through into formal education and work.”

The 2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report will focus on the chronic mismatch between education systems and labour markets that plagues many regions of the world.

Young people who never attended school, who left early or who left without the skills needed to thrive in literate societies, are particularly vulnerable. The 2012 GMR will ask what kinds of policies are needed to give them access to employment-relevant training, among other questions.

Divided We Stand found that in OECD countries the gap between rich and poor had reached its highest level for over 30 years, and warned governments to act quickly to tackle inequality – and especially to reach out to the marginalized, who will be a key focus of the 2012 Global Monitoring Report.