EDUCATION
In Focus
New private sector global alliance for EFA launched
The private sector, governments, international organizations and donors have joined forces to form a new global alliance for education. The Partnerships for Education (PfE), with UNESCO and the World Economic Forum at the helm, aims to accelerate progress towards Education for All (EFA). Among the corporate partners of PfE are Advance Micro Devices (AMD), Cisco, Intel Corporation and Microsoft, and the EFA Fast-Track Initiative. PfE will extend financial assistance, technical resources and expertise to countries to support education reform. Read more
News
Donor's pledge more funds to meet EFA goal of getting all children to school
Billions of euros of new aid for education have been pledged at a high-level donors conference in Brussels. The World Bank, the European Commission (EC), and the United Kingdom were among the main conveners of the "Keeping our Promises on Education" conference. The focus was to discuss how to accelerate progress towards the education Millennium Development Goal (MDG) that all children complete primary education by 2015, which is also a core goal of the Education for All (EFA) initiative. Read more
Campaign for education of visually impaired children launched in the Pacific
A campaign to ensure that children who are blind or vision impaired have equal access to education provided to non-disabled children has been launched in the Pacific. The Education for All Children with Visual Impairment (EFA-VI) campaign for the Pacific was launched at forum in Perth, Australia in January 2007. A follow-up forum is being planned in September 2007 in Fiji. Read more
Public officials, civil society groups in Bangladesh push for education rights
Representatives from various sectors in Bangladesh have reiterated their recognition of education as a human right and their commitment to meet the Education for All (EFA) goals of 2015. This was made at a policy roundtable on "education as a human right", which was part of several activities to mark the EFA Global Action Week. The 2007 EFA Global Monitoring Report was also launched in Bangladesh as part of the activities. Read more
"I want other children to go to school like me"
Thai schoolchildren and adults alike have made hundreds of paper chains to dramatize their demand for education rights. "I want other children to go to school like me," a young girl wrote on the back of a human-shaped paper chain she made to mark Education for All (EFA) Global Action Week in Thailand. Nearly a thousand paper chains, representing children, have been made. The chain aims to remind national and world leaders of their promise of Education for All and demand for ‘education rights now!' Read more
AIMS-UIS starts education statistics training series in Nepal
A first in a series of training to strengthen the capability of Nepalese education officials in using education indicators for planning and management was recently undertaken in Kathmandu. A total of 23 regional and district education officials participated in the training, which is part of the Statistical Capacity Building programme being carried out in Asia-Pacific by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) Regional Office. Read more
Call for nominations for the 2007 UNESCO Literacy Prizes
UNESCO is now accepting nominations from governments and international NGOs for five International Literacy Prizes, worth US$20,000 each. This year's theme is "literacy and health." The deadline for submissions is 15 June. Winners will be celebrated on International Literacy Day, 8 September 2007. Health is the current theme of the United Nations Literacy Decade (UNLD), for which UNESCO is the lead agency. The nominations should therefore focus on literacy and its links with general health care, nutrition, family and reproductive health and health-related community development. Read more from the UNESCO Portal
Upcoming Events
6th Central Asia Education Forum
National policy makers, technical experts and programme planners in education from the five Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will meet again for the 6th Central Asia Education Forum. This year's meeting will be held from 26 to 28 June 2007 in Astana, Kazakhstan. It will focus on the progress of the EFA Mid-Decade Assessment exercise in the Central Asian countries. UNESCO, UNICEF, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Union and other bilateral donors will also participate in the meeting. For more information, e-mail almaty[at]unesco.org or visit UNESCO Almaty's website or the 5th CARK Education Forum website.
Pacific EFA Mid-Decade Assessment Capacity Building Workshop
This workshop aims to build the capacity of Pacific Island States in the monitoring of EFA by enhancing education officials' understanding and analytical skills of education indicators and their usage in the preparation of the national EFA Mid-Decade Assessment reports. The workshop will include presentations, group work assignments and hands-on exercises. It will be held from 23 to 30 July 2007 in Apia and is organized by UNESCO Apia in collaboration with UNESCO Bangkok's AIMS Unit, the Regional Office of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). E-mail apia[at]unesco.org
Resources
Promoting Literacy in Multilingual Settings
This publication presents the outcomes of the Promoting Literacy in Multilingual Settings workshop, in particular experiences from nine countries that participated in the UNESCO pilot mother-tongue/bilingual literacy projects. Countries where these projects were implemented are Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam. The publication also includes two resource papers on the topic. Download from the UNESCO Bangkok e-library
Global Monitoring Report 2007: Confronting the Challenges of Gender Equality and Fragile States
This annual report published by the World Bank assesses the contributions of developing countries, developed countries, and international financial institutions towards meeting universally agreed development commitments enshrined in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This year, the report focuses on the third MDG of gender equality and empowerment of women, and the special problems of fragile states, where extreme poverty is increasingly concentrated. Download the report from the World Bank Website.
Boys' Underachievement in Education: An Exploration in Selected Commonwealth Countries
This report examines the causes of boys' underachievement and poor attendance in school in Commonwealth countries, and recommends possible solutions. It presents a cross-regional analysis of the data and reviews available literature explaning why girls are now often outperforming boys in both participation and performance, especially in countries which have universal access and participation rates. The report includes cases studies covering Australia and Samoa, among others. Download from the ELDIS website
Global Perspectives on Teacher Learning: Improving Policy and Practice
Published by UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP), this publication looks at all forms of teacher learning, formal and informal, from teachers' own early schooling, through their training, and up to the end of their teaching career. It argues that to formulate policy and design effective programmes for teacher preparation and professional development, the whole spectrum of teacher learning must be considered. Download from the UNESCO Portal
Global Campaign for Education (GCE) 2007 School Report: Not up to Scratch
This report focuses on the need for donors to help countries meet the EFA goal of getting all children to school by 2009 and universal primary completion by 2015. It looks at the world's 22 richest OECD countries and ranks their contribution to education. Netherlands and Norway are leading the donors as well as the UK. The US, meanwhile, ranks 20th followed only by Greece, Italy and Austria at the very bottom of the group. It also includes an analysis of donors' policies on education aid. Download from the GCE website
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