What makes a good teacher?

Source: the Advocacy Project

Just as we should have high expectations for all learners, we should also have high expectations for teachers. These two are closely interlinked. High-quality teachers are essential to providing quality education and thus improving learning achievements. In general, studies have concluded that “effective teachers are capable of inspiring significantly greater learning gains in their students when compared with their weaker colleagues”.

However, recruiting and retaining quality teachers is still a major challenge in many parts of the world, despite the efforts of many ministries/departments of education. Moreover, it is often in schools, neighbourhoods and regions where quality teachers are most needed that they are lacking the most. In many countries, low-performing schools, poorer neighbourhoods and rural areas experience the greatest shortage of teachers, let alone quality teachers.

What are the characteristics of a quality teacher? In 1996, UNESCO published a book entitled “What makes a Good Teacher?”. Over 500 children aged 8-12 from some 50 countries shared their opinions.

Yuventius, from Indonesia, said “a great teacher interacts with the child (physically, and mentally)”. Sheeba, from Saudi Arabia, said a good teacher “should be patient and kind, resourceful, tolerant and open minded with a good sense of humour. Enthusiastic and enjoys teaching. Should be honest, imaginative and creative. Efficient. Self-disciplined. Helpful. Humble and modest…”.

Marie, from the USA, shares the following attributes:

• “A good teacher makes herself available to all students, however, knows which students need extra assistance.
• A good teacher is an effective communicator, however, who knows when she needs to change her communicating techniques to be sure students can grasp instructional concepts.
• A good teacher allows students to ask questions, however, does not answer questions without drawing from other students’ learning experience first.
• A good teacher has classroom rules and procedures which help students know what is expected from them and how the students can help themselves.
• A good teacher encourages cooperation and sets an example with other students and faculty.
• A good teacher is flexible and able to change lessons “spur of the moment” in order to accommodate the needs of her students.
• A good teacher respects all students and encourages good performance.”

It is important to hold teachers accountable to deliver on these high expectations, and likewise teachers also need the support, resources and incentives to meet these expectations. Everyone has an important role to play to make quality education a reality for all learners.

For more opinions on ‘what makes a good teacher’, check out the following links:

• UNESCO – “What Makes a Good Teacher? Opinions from around the world”
• UNESCO – “What makes a good teacher? Children speak their minds”
• Education Week – “Teacher Quality”
• Economic Policy Institute – “Teacher Quality: Understanding the Effectiveness of Teacher Attributes”
• National Council on Teacher Quality website

What are some important characteristics of quality teachers? Let us know what you think in the comments.

How and what to teach in school – a continuously evolving discussion

Source: Ramadian Bachtiar-CIFOR

How and what to teach children is not only a current concern in many countries, but also a recurring one. Our understanding of how children should be taught and how they are actually taught (often different), as well as the content of such teaching, has generally evolved to improve education.

There is still a strong emphasis on traditional methods of teaching, where the teacher lectures to passive, note-taking students and the content is often structured to prepare students for testing. This is often referred to as ‘passive learning’, ‘teacher-centred learning’ and ‘teaching to the test’.

Nowadays however, there is a growing focus on the learner – what is often called ‘learner-centred’ or ‘student-centred’ approach to teaching. The teacher strives to create a learning environment in which the student can learn to restructure the new information and their prior knowledge into new knowledge about the content and to practice using it. The learner becomes active in his/her own learning.

Inclusive education, as promoted by UNESCO, advocates for such active student participation in the classroom. It calls for a child-centred, inclusive curriculum. A child-centred curriculum is characterized by a move away from rote learning and towards greater emphasis on hands-on, experience-based, active and cooperative learning.

Introducing inclusion as a guiding principle has implications for teachers’ practices and attitudes – be it towards girls, slow learners, children with special needs or those from different backgrounds. It is essential to ensure that curricular content, processes, provisions and settings are both common and different to all learners in order to move away from a standardized approach based on the needs and competences of an average learner.

María Rosa Blanco, a specialist in inclusive education, stated that “the key element of inclusion is not the individualization but the diversification of the educational provision and the personalization of common learning experiences … the teaching-learning process and the curriculum [must] consider from the very beginning the diversity of needs of all students, instead of planning on the basis of an average student and then carry out individualized actions to respond to the needs of specific students or groups who were not taken into consideration by an education proposal based on a logic of homogeneity instead of diversity”.  

To learn more about the student-centred approach to teaching and learning, take a look at some of the following resources:

• Changing teaching practices. Using curriculum differentiation to respond to students’ diversity
• Understanding and responding to children’s needs in inclusive classrooms. A guide for teachers
• Index for inclusion: developing learning and participation in schools
• Embracing Diversity: Toolkit for Creating Inclusive, Learning-Friendly Environments
• Guidance materials on inclusion and intercultural education in the curriculum

What is your experience in the classroom – is it teacher-centred or student-centred? Feel free to share some examples to illustrate your answer. Thanks!

What is Inclusive Education?

Source: Julien Harneis

Inclusive Education (IE) is a continually evolving concept. Since the beginning of the 21st century, UNESCO defines inclusive education as “a process of addressing and responding to the diversity of needs of all learners through increasing participation in learning, cultures and communities, and reducing exclusion within and from education”. This means education systems should strive to educate all children equally according to their needs and abilities, to provide them with equal opportunities. It requires a common vision for all children, and a conviction that it is the responsibility of the regular system to educate all children, regardless of their abilities. This view of education involves changes and modifications in content, approaches, structures and strategies.

Previously, IE was simply understood as the sum of initiatives and efforts in favour of specific groups or targeted categories (e.g. girls; migrants; children with special needs; the poor; ethnic, linguistic, social, and religious minorities). Particularly, IE was often closely associated with special needs education – the focus was primarily on integration, not inclusion. Many countries still struggle to move away from this association and towards the progressive understanding of inclusive education as the provision of quality learning opportunities for all learners. For example, this understanding persists in parts of Europe, where the approaches and responses given to students’ needs are mostly remedial and corrective.  In North America, IE still frequently refers to processes of including students with disabilities in mainstream schools.

In 2008, at UNESCO’s 48th International Conference on Education (ICE), inclusive education was agreed upon as a way to achieve quality, equitable learning opportunities for all learners, providing a holistic approach to the design, implementation, monitoring and assessment of educational policies for achieving Education for All (EFA). As such, the ICE outcomes have broadened the conceptualisation of inclusive education to “a general guiding principle to strengthen education for sustainable development, lifelong learning for all and equal access of all levels of society to learning opportunities”.

This broadened vision was emphasised as a way to overcome a narrow conceptualisation and implementation of EFA that focused on access to primary school education and considering equity and quality as separate dimensions of education, when in fact they go hand-in-hand. Moreover, this broadened understanding is grounded in the belief that education is a fundamental human right. This process involves learning how to engage with and value diversity, and how diversity can foster learning, as well as strengthen education systems and communities to attain more inclusive societies.

Thus, inclusive education is now seen as a principle to guide all educational policies and practices, intertwining different dimensions (access, processes, participation and learning outcomes), levels (formal, non-formal, adult education) and units (national frameworks, curricula, schools, classrooms, teachers and learners).  Based on the belief that education is a fundamental human right and the foundation for a more just society, inclusive education can be seen as a process of strengthening the capacity of an education system to reach out to all learners, recognising and engaging them as participants in communities and society.

To learn more about Inclusive Education, here are a few articles and websites you may be interested in checking out:

• UNESCO, Guidelines for inclusion. Ensuring Access to Education for All. Paris, UNESCO, 2009.
• UNESCO-IBE – 48th session of the International Conference on Education website
• UNESCO-IBE – Inclusive Education website
• Inclusive Education in Action project
• 10 Questions about Inclusive Education – UNESCO

For our younger readers:

• Kids Together Inc. – Benefits of Inclusive Education

If you have any questions or thoughts about Inclusive Education and what it means, don’t hesitate to share or ask us in the comments!

Understanding UNESCO’s 4 Pillars of Education

Source: The Advocacy Project

In 1990, the World Conference on Education for All (Jomtien, Thailand) launched the “Education for All” movement, a precursor to the Education for All goals set in 2000. One of the most important outcomes of this meeting was the notion of lifelong learning, to be supported by four pillars of knowledge:

1. Learning to know, by combining broad general knowledge with the opportunity to work in depth on a small number of subjects. This also means learning to learn, to benefit from the opportunities education provides throughout life. It aims to provide individuals with the cognitive tools required to better comprehend the world and its complexities, and an adequate foundation for future learning.

2. Learning to be, to develop one’s personality and act with greater autonomy, judgement and personal responsibility. The aim is to provide individuals with the self analytical and social skills to develop to their fullest potential. Accordingly, education must not disregard any aspect of a person’s potential, including memory, reasoning, aesthetic sense, physical capacities and communication skills.

3. Learning to do, to acquire not only occupational skills but also, more broadly, the competence to deal with many situations and work in teams. It also means learning to do in the context of young people’s various social and work experiences. These can be informal, as a result of the local or national context, or formal, involving courses, alternating study and work. This pillar aims to provide individuals with the skills to effectively participate in the global economy and society.

4. Learning to live together, by developing an understanding of other people and an appreciation of interdependence – carrying out joint projects and learning to manage conflicts – with respect for the values of pluralism, mutual understanding and peace. This exposes individuals to the values implicit within human rights, democratic principles, intercultural understanding and respect, and peace in society and human relationships. It enables individuals and societies to live harmoniously.

Lifelong learning is central to these four pillars of knowledge; they cannot be anchored solely in one phase in a person’s life or in a single place. When and what to teach should be complementary and interrelated in such a way that all people can get the most out of their specific educational environment throughout their lives. Unfortunately, many education systems around the world still emphasize the acquisition of knowledge over other types of learning. As promoted by UNESCO and many others, a more holistic approach to education is needed to enable each and every person to become a lifelong learner.

To learn more about the 4 pillars of education, check out the following resources:

• The 4 Pillars of Education – UNESCO
• Four ‘Pillars of Learning’ for the Reorientation and Reorganization of Curriculum: Reflections and Discussions

Do you agree with these 4 pillars of education? Would you add or change anything? Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

What do we mean by Quality Education?

Source: Judy Baxter

According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, not only do all children have a right to education, but a right to quality education. Much has been done over the past decade to provide quality basic education for children, yet, in many regions, simply providing access to education is a challenge, let alone quality education. To make matters more complicated, the quality of education depends on numerous factors and sectors – many outside the education system, such as health and infrastructure.

What does quality mean in the context of education? There is no one definition, set criteria, definitive curriculum, or list of topics for a quality education. Many definitions of quality in education exist, testifying to the complexity and multifaceted nature of the concept. The terms inclusion, efficiency, effectiveness, equity and quality have often been used synonymously. Nevertheless, considerable consensus exists around the basic dimensions of quality education today.

According to UNESCO, quality education is a dynamic concept that changes and evolves with time and changes according to the social, economic, and environmental contexts. Because quality education must be locally relevant and culturally appropriate, quality education will take many forms around the world. According to a UNESCO report, improving the quality of education would require the developing and providing contents in the curriculum that respect learners’ socio-cultural contexts.

The importance of good quality education was resolutely reaffirmed as a priority for UNESCO in 2003, meaning that it is a priority for its 193 Member States. UNESCO promotes access to good quality education as a human right and supports a rights-based approach to all educational activities. Within this approach, learning is perceived to be affected at two levels. At the level of the learner, education needs to seek out and acknowledge learners’ prior knowledge, to recognize formal and informal modes, to practise non-discrimination and to provide a safe and supportive learning environment. At the level of the learning system, a support structure is needed to implement policies, enact legislation, distribute resources and measure learning outcomes, to have the best possible impact on learning for all.

According to UNICEF, quality may imply:

1. learners who are healthy, ready to participate and learn, and supported by their families and communities;
2. environments that are conducive to learning;
3. relevant content and materials for acquiring basic skills, e.g. in literacy;
4. processes through which trained teachers use learner-centred teaching approaches and skillful assessment to facilitate learning and reduce disparities; and
5. outcomes that encompass knowledge, skills and attitudes, and are linked to national goals for education and positive participation in society.

The Jomtien Declaration in 1990 and, more particularly, the Dakar Framework for Action in 2000 recognized the quality of education as a prime determinant of whether Education for All is achieved. Moreover, quality education is an effective means to fight poverty, build democracies and foster peaceful societies. Quality education empowers individuals, gives them a voice, unlocks their potential, opens pathways to self-actualisation and broadens perspectives to open minds to a pluralist world.

How can we improve the quality of education? For example, providing relevant and adequate initial and ongoing teacher training, increasing the quality and quantity of teaching-learning materials available, improving the infrastructure of teaching-learning environments, etc. UNESCO-IBE recommends high-quality inclusive curricula to reinforce education as an instrument for social mobility and change, combating poverty and inequity. An inclusive curriculum may be seen as a tool to encourage both equity and quality, and to support competencies for citizenship education and personal development. It is a crucial factor in the improvement of the welfare of the poorest populations by supporting key social and economic policies to attain social cohesion and inclusion.

To better understand the need and importance of quality education, check out the following links:

• UNICEF – Defining Quality in Education
• UNESCO – Education for All – The Quality Imperative
• USAID Improving Educational Quality Project – Pupils, Learning, and Educational Quality

How would you improve the quality of education? Thanks for sharing your ideas in the comments section.

Understanding the Importance of the Right to Education

Source: Julien Harneis

Going back to basics is helpful to understand how and why education is crucial. Most people acknowledge that education is important, but truly understanding it as a necessary foundation or building block for a good quality of life – in all aspects – has yet to become widespread. Indeed, as well as being a right in itself, the right to education is also an enabling right, that is, education can help people develop the skills, capacity and confidence to secure other rights. Education gives people the ability to access information about their rights and government’s obligations. And it is because of this paramount role that every human being in this world has the right to a quality and inclusive education.

The right to education has been universally recognised since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 (though referred to by the ILO as early as the 1920s) and has since been enshrined in various international conventions, national constitutions and development plans. Compared to other human rights, the right to education is well defined: universal access to free and compulsory primary education, universal availability/accessibility of secondary education, in particular by the progressive introduction of free education; equal access to higher education on the basis of capacity, in particular by the progressive introduction of free education.

When referring to the right to education, people will often hear about the 4 As – for education to be a meaningful right, it must be Available, Accessible, Acceptable and Adaptable. What do these terms imply?

Availability – that education is free and government-funded and that there is adequate infrastructure and trained teachers able to support education delivery.
Accessibility – that the system is non-discriminatory and accessible to all, and that positive steps are taken to include the most marginalised.
Acceptability – that the content of education is relevant, non-discriminatory and culturally appropriate, and of quality; that the school itself is safe and teachers are professional.
Adaptability – that education can evolve with the changing needs of society and contribute to challenging inequalities, such as gender discrimination, and that it can be adapted locally to suit specific contexts.

In other words, it implies an inclusive and quality education for all.

However, as with many other rights, practice often differs from rhetoric. While the vast majority of countries have signed up to, and ratified, international conventions (such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child), far fewer have integrated these rights into their national constitutions or provided the legislative and administrative frameworks to ensure that these rights are realised in practice. In some cases, the right exists along with the assumption that the user should pay for this right, undermining the very concept of a right. In others, the right exists in theory but there is no capacity to implement this right in practice. Inevitably, a lack of government support for the right to education hits the poorest hardest. Today, the right to education is still denied to millions around the world.

Learn more about the right to education through these websites:

• Right to Education Project
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (See Article 26)
• Convention on the Rights of the Child (See Article 28)
• UNESCO and Education – “Everyone has the right to education” publication
• UNESCO – Right to Education
• Youth for Human Rights – Right to Education video

Why do you think education is important? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Are the Education for All goals and Millennium Development Goals realistic?

Source: Clare Gilbert

Only 4 years remain to achieve both the EFA goals and the MDGs, which were agreed upon back in 2000. Countries have been working toward these goals for almost 11 years already, and in some cases, are still far from achieving them. So are these goals realistic and will we achieve them? The simple answer: yes and no.

Globally, improvements are happening at all levels, bringing countries closer to achieving these important objectives. In most cases,  this implies guaranteeing people the full enjoyment of their human rights – e.g. the right to education. Of course, developed countries have more resources to devote to achieving these goals than developing countries; and stable, peaceful countries are more likely to achieve them than unstable, conflict-ridden countries.

In 2009, 88% of children enrolled in primary school reached the last grade of this level of education, compared to 81% in 1999. Yet, in 20 countries – mostly in sub-Saharan Africa – a child in the last grade of primary school has a 75% chance at best of making the transition to lower secondary. Two out of three children in Africa are left out of secondary school. Governments are struggling to meet the rising demand for secondary education, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where there are enough school places for just 36% of children of age to enrol, according the latest edition of the Global Education Digest.

So what is realistic and what isn’t? The majority of the goals are actually realistic. Those are the ones that call for improvements in education, health and people’s general welfare. The goals that can be called more idealistic than realistic are those that contain the word ‘all’. These are idealistic goals that we should strive for, but they cannot realistically be achieved within the agreed timeframe in today’s diverse society. While this may seem pessimistic, power and money are often what rule decisions and actions, and unfortunately, the elite tend to put their welfare above that of the masses. Of course, the masses have power of their own, but when agendas and opinions are divided, time and patience are required. Just because these goals are idealistic does not make them impossible to achieve in the long run.

For example, the goals that call for all children everywhere, boys and girls alike, to be able to complete a full course of primary schooling by 2015, and the elimination of gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015 (both MDG indicators) are unrealistic. So are EFA goals that seek to ensure that 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to, and complete, free and compulsory primary education of good quality, and ensure that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programmes. While these goals push us to move in the right direction, it will certainly take more than 15 years to achieve change of such magnitude.

Interestingly, the EFA goals were deemed feasible back in 2001. To quote UNESCO’s 2001 Monitoring Report on Education for All: “The good news is that achieving EFA is feasible – politically, financially and programmatically”. Although time remains before the 2015 deadline, most reports are pessimistic about a number of countries achieving some of the EFA goals. Were we wrong in thinking these goals were feasible or is it likely that we will achieve them by 2015?

To learn more about countries’ progress towards achieving the EFA goals and the MDGs, check out these links:

• MDG 2 – Achieve Universal Primary Education – Fact Sheet
• MDG 3 – Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women – Fact Sheet
• EFA Global Monitoring Report
• MDG Monitoring

What do you think about the feasibility of the EFA and MDG goals? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Girls’ education – providing the same educational opportunities as boys

Source: The Advocacy Project

Despite countries’ pledges to achieve gender parity in education, girls’ education continues to lag behind that of boys. In 2008, there were 96 girls for every 100 boys enrolled in primary school, and 95 girls for every 100 boys in secondary school in developing regions. However, this is a drastic improvement over the past decade. According to the 2011 Global Education Digest, in 2009, 702 million children were enrolled worldwide in primary education, compared to 646 million in 1999. This marked improvement in access to primary education represents an increase of 9% worldwide. For girls, enrolment increased by 66% in sub-Saharan Africa alone. 

According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, girls and boys have equal chances of graduating from primary education in 91 countries (56% of the 162 countries presented). However, significant disparities persist within countries across all of the regions. While there are countries where girls are more likely to complete primary education than boys, the majority of cases indicate a gender imbalance against girls.

Globally, girls’ participation in lower secondary education has been steadily increasing since 1999, from a Gross Enrolment Ratio of 69% to 79% in 2009. The most substantial increases in female participation were observed in East Asia and the Pacific, from 75% to 91%, and in South and West Asia, from 53% to 69%. During the same period, girls’ enrolment rates in the Arab States rose from 67% to 82% and from 25% to 39% in sub-Saharan Africa.

Many United Nations agencies promote and aim to improve girls’ education. Among these is the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI). This Initiative was launched in 2000 by the UN Secretary-General to assist governments to fulfill their responsibilities towards ensuring the right to education and gender equality for all children, girls and boys alike.

UNGEI works to improve the quality and availability of girls’ education in support of the gender-related Education for All goals, the second Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to achieve universal primary education, and MDG 3 to promote gender equality and empower women. For example, the UNGEI partnership works to remove barriers to learning, such as school fees and other education costs and violence in and around schools, and to support the continuation of education in emergency situations such as areas affected by armed conflict, natural disasters or external shocks, as well as in post-crisis and fragility contexts.

Other United Nations agencies, such as UNESCO, support teacher training and the development of learning materials that promote gender equality. Through the UN Girls’ Education Initiative, UNESCO also develops legal tools to reduce gender-based violence in schools and supports innovative methods to bring education to hard to reach women, such as through mobile phones.

What has worked? For example, providing secondary school stipends for girls in Bangladesh. The Female Secondary School Stipend programme in Bangladesh has provided money directly to girls and their families to cover tuition and other costs, on the condition that they enrol in secondary school and remain unmarried until the age of 18. By 2005, girls accounted for 56 per cent of secondary school enrolment in the areas covered by the programme, compared with 33 per cent in 1991.

To read more success stories that promote girls’ education, check out the following links:

• A primary school becomes a model for increasing girls’ enrolment

• Education for All: Zambia’s Stunning Success

• Ellen gets a second chance to go back to school in Zimbabwe

• Zimbabwe launches ground-breaking national girls’ education strategic plan
• Girls’ Education in Africa: What do we know about strategies that work?

Was gender equality promoted in your school? What do you think are some of the key issues your country should address to improve education? Share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments.

Explaining the Education for All (EFA) goals and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG)

Source: Peter Morgan

As I was about to write a post about how realistic the EFA goals and the MDGs are (to follow), I had to pause and ask myself – how exactly are these goals related? Not in terms of content, but in terms of their origins and impact on one another. I realised that a post on what these goals are and their origins was in order, so the following provides a background of the EFA goals and MDGs.

Education for All Goals:
The Education for All movement is a global commitment to provide quality basic education for all children, youth and adults. The movement was launched at the World Conference on Education for All in 1990 by UNESCO, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and the World Bank. Participants endorsed an ‘expanded vision of learning’ and pledged to universalize primary education and massively reduce illiteracy by the end of the decade. UNESCO is the lead agency, and as such, has been mandated to coordinate the international efforts to reach Education for All.

Ten years later, with many countries far from having reached this goal, the international community met again at the World Education Forum held in Dakar, Senegal, in April 2000. 164 countries agreed on six EFA goals to be achieved by 2015, which would dramatically improve learning opportunities for children, youth, and adults.

Goal 1: Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
Goal 2: Ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to, and complete, free and compulsory primary education of good quality.
Goal 3: Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programmes.
Goal 4: Achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults.
Goal 5: Eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieving gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality.
Goal 6: Improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.

Key documents and websites:

• Dakar Framework for Action, Education for All: Meeting Our Collective Commitments
• UNESCO – Education for All
• EFA Global Monitoring Report

Millennium Development Goals

In September 2000, building upon a decade of major United Nations conferences and summits, world leaders came together at United Nations Headquarters in New York to adopt the United Nations Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets – with a deadline of 2015 – that have become known as the Millennium Development Goals.

There are eight goals with 21 targets, and a series of measurable indicators for each target.
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality rates
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the most broadly supported, comprehensive and specific development goals the world has ever agreed upon. These eight time-bound goals provide concrete, numerical benchmarks for tackling extreme poverty in its many dimensions. They include goals and targets on income poverty, hunger, maternal and child mortality, disease, inadequate shelter, gender inequality, environmental degradation and the Global Partnership for Development.

The MDGs are both global and local, tailored by each country to suit specific development needs. They provide a framework for the entire international community to work together towards a common end – making sure that human development reaches everyone, everywhere. If these goals are achieved, world poverty will be cut by half, tens of millions of lives will be saved, and billions more people will have the opportunity to benefit from the global economy.

Key documents and websites:

• United Nations – MDGs official website
• Millennium Development Goals Indicators

In conclusion, the EFA goals contribute to the global pursuit of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Two MDGs relate specifically to education but none of the eight MDGs can be achieved without sustained investment in education. Education gives the skills and knowledge to improve health, livelihoods and promote sound environmental practices.

World AIDS Day – the importance of HIV/AIDS education

December 1st celebrates World AIDS day. The aim is to bring people together, raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and demonstrate international solidarity in the face of this pandemic. Between 2011-2015, World AIDS Days will have the theme of “Getting to zero: zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS related deaths”. The campaign’s focus on “Zero AIDS related deaths” signifies a push towards greater access to treatment for all and a call for governments to act now.

The AIDS epidemic has been around for 30 years, and education remains one of the main ways to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Nelson Mandela once said: “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world. It is also a weapon that the world cannot do without in the fight against AIDS. Education saves lives.” The effectiveness of education as an HIV prevention strategy, which the World Bank calls the “window of hope”, rests upon two key components:

1. greater access to schooling; and
2. using schools as a natural place to reach young people with AIDS education and life skills training – practical tools that help them stay safe.

UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, claims that if every child received a complete primary education, at least 7 million new cases of HIV could be prevented in a decade. Recognising the vital role of the education sector in the national response to AIDS, the UNAIDS Committee of Cosponsoring Organizations launched EDUCAIDS in March 2004. It seeks to promote, develop and support comprehensive education sector responses to HIV and AIDS.

EDUCAIDS has two primary goals: to prevent the spread of HIV through education; and to protect the core functions of the education system from the worst effects of the epidemic. EDUCAIDS has also been designated by UNESCO’s Executive Board as one of three core UNESCO initiatives to achieve Education for All (EFA).

What has worked? The most successful strategy for increasing access to education and lowering HIV vulnerability, particularly for girls, has been the elimination of school fees, which otherwise put education out of reach for many families. In Tanzania, the removal of school fees more than doubled primary school enrollment. Kenya saw enrollment jump by 22% in the first week alone with their abolition. In Uganda, girls’ school enrollment leapt by over 30% when school fees were dropped, including a near doubling for the poorest economic fifth of girls.

Many useful tools exist to incorporate HIV/AIDS education into school curricula. For example, UNESCO-IBE has developed a manual with the goal to improve teaching and learning on HIV & AIDS in official basic education curricula. It provides a set of tools to support the development and adaptation of quality teaching and learning material for HIV & AIDS education, as well as teacher training. UNAIDS also promotes the need to mainstream HIV and AIDS in the education sector to ensure that addressing HIV and AIDS is not an add-on or a separate activity but an integral part of education sector policies, strategies and actions – but this remains a challenge in many countries.

To learn more about HIV/AIDS education and how education can help in the battle against HIV/AIDS, visit the following links:

• UNAIDS website
• About EDUCAIDS
• UNESCO: HIV and AIDS Education (points of interest: tools and good practices)
• UNESCO-IBE: Programme for HIV & AIDS education
• UNAIDS publication: Educate Girls – Fight AIDS

Did your school provide any HIV/AIDS education? Who do you think has the primary responsibility for educating people about HIV/AIDS? Thanks for sharing your thoughts in the comments!

Happy World AIDS day and remember – education saves lives!