INTRODUCTION
 

If you are planning for one year,

plant rice;

If you are planning for five years,

plant trees;

if you are planning for the future,

educate your children. "

-Chinese Proverb

BETWEEN December 12 and 16, 1993, the world's nine most populous countries came together to plan for the future. At the end of their meeting, they unanimously adopted the Delhi Declaration and a frame- work for action, pledging to universalize primary education for all and expand learning opportunities for children, youth and adults by the turn of the century.

These nine countries - Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan - are the most important actors in the Education for All movement, born out of the international conference held in Jomtien, Thailand, in March 1990. Together, they account for more than half the world's population and 75 per cent of its illiterates. They are cradles of civilization and founts of spiritual, cultural, and philosophical knowledge which continue to have a profound influence on humanity. But they are also struggling against the high tides of poverty, population growth, environmental depletion, widening economic disparities and mounting debt burdens.

Despite differing cultures and historical legacies, these countries have recognized that education is at the heart of sustainable development. Investing in education, and especially primary education, is the key to shaping the future in an increasingly inter- dependent world. It is not only the fulfillment of a basic human right, but also the bridge toward slower population growth, higher economic productivity and a more peaceful, tolerant and democratic society. In spite of economic hardship, the global environment is propitious to social development: not only are poverty alleviation and human resources the twin pillars of this fourth United Nations Development Decade, but the trend toward democratization offers a historic opportunity to invest in the security of people, ahead of the defense of nations.

It takes careful planning and a long-term commitment to enhance education's place in national development. Education is not only a question of access, but also of the qualitative knowledge that is shared. For a society to develop equitably, education has to enter the lives of girls and women, and reach the most

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isolated and marginalized children and adults. This all-encompassing vision is at the center of the Education for All movement. The Jomtien conference injected an urgent challenge into the educational landscape, and spelt out the movement's principles and strategies. Since then, countries have begun to implement their EFA plans, and the fruits of these efforts are starting to appear.

In New Delhi, leaders reaffirmed their commitment to pursue the goals set in Jomtien and at the World Summit for Children. The challenge today is to ensure, that these efforts are sustained and even accelerated. Common issues have emerged as prerequisites to achieving EFA, giving the movement direction and cohesion. They form the poles around which an exchange of experiences can occur, enriching the move- ment and maintaining it in a top position on the international agenda. In this will to exchange and move forwards, ministers, educationalists, donors and other players in the EFA movement participated in four panel sessions held between December 13 and 15, 1993. During each one, panelists offered lines of inquiry that set the stage for examining experiences in the nine countries and suggesting several valuable lessons.

The theme of the first panel, "Mobilization, People's Participation and Decentralization," organized by UNICEF, echoes the philosophical underpinning of the EFA movement: without participation by all, it will be impossible to achieve education for all. From improving curricula to reaching the broadest number of beneficiaries, EFA calls for a broad alliance between different sectors of society, including students, parents, teachers and the community, along with the media, industry and different levels of government. It also requires enhancing responsibility at the local level for people to feel that education belongs to them. But for this broad alliance to emerge and remain a committed one, participants stressed that education must be perceived as a national priority. Governments have to take the lead in creating the conditions for participation to be energetic and ongoing and lend their support to a varied range of learning approaches. Because it is a longterm commitment, parents have to perceive the benefits of' educating their children, especially their daughters. The discussion underlined the need to give stronger backing to NGOs kind link education with poverty alleviation programmes.

In differing measures, the nine countries have introduced various forms of decentralization or community management of schools. As decentralization gains a firmer holding. It Is imperative that central governments remain the conductor in educational policy, by developing mechanisms to check disparities between rich and poor communities, and setting national standards for quality. Finally, vision is about change and innovation: it is high time that educational systems in the nine most populous countries exploit the formidable potential of new communication technologies to achieve EFA.

These themes were analyzed in a more specific context during the second panel, devoted to "External and Internal Financial Resources for EFA" and organized by the Government of India. Funding education is and will remain a predominantly domestic responsibility. It is determined by a politics of choice that recognizes education as the highest yielding investment for development. It is a choice to make education a national priority by increasing its share as a percentage of the

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state budget and GNP. It is a tough policy choice to reallocate resources from other sectors of the economy. While there was strong consensus among participants on the need to increase investments in basic education, the panel also stressed the importance of making better use of existing resources: numerous studies show that wastage, chiefly measured by dropout rates, is a feature of educational systems in many countries.

In addressing this issue, overriding attention must be devoted to ensuring and improving the quality of teachers, the school and the curriculum. In discussing the mobilization of additional domestic resources, participants underlined the imperative of building partner- ships with industry, the media and NGOs in order for education to become an allencompassing nationwide cause. In the field of external assistance, the importance of capacity building and sustaining the recent shifts in favour of basic education were, highlighted. Several participants urged that measures be adopted for structural adjustment policies not to cut into the educational sector, hence acting as a brake on long-term growth.

The education and empowerment of girls and women, viewed as the single most important element for achieving EFA, was the theme of the third panel, organized by UNFPA. Educating girls and women is not only a matter of human dignity, but also the most effective channel for reducing fertility rates, improving health and increasing economic productivity. Over the last decade, the nine Summit countries have implemented policies to increase the enrolment of girls. The panel urged that these efforts be reinforced by ensuring that educational policies be gendersensitive at all costs. This means making curricula relevant to the lives of girls, bringing schools closer to them in some areas, allowing for flexible timetables, training teachers to be more responsive to girls' needs, and encouraging access to traditionally male fields of employment, such as science and tech- nology. But women must also participate in this genesis of change. Their empowerment through education is a slow process of gaining awareness.

But in this process, it is just as vital for society to change its attitude towards women and overcome deep-rooted social and cultural traditions that prevent the shaping of a more equitable relationship between the sexes. Communication campaigns can play a powerful role in changing the image of women and promoting their advancement in economic, social and political spheres. Such a change starts at birth by providing the same physical and emotional care to sons as to daughters, and by ensuring their equal access to education. It continues throughout the educational system, crucial years when attitudes and values are shaped. It is why panelists highlighted the value of courses that teach youth, both boys and girls, to adopt responsible attitudes toward one another, toward sexuality, the family and the environment.

Finally, education for all cannot be discussed in a cultural, social, scientific or political vacuum. Because education is about shaping lives, it is imperative to reflect upon the nature of tomorrow's society. A united vision and voice was the most striking feature to arise out of a fourth panel, "Education anti Society," organized by UNESCO. In a world characterized by interdependency and globality, paving the way for a culture of peace must be embraced as the foremost mission of

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education. Peace-building, rather than peacekeeping, must be fostered by imparting values based on non-violence, social justice and equity. Striking a balance between local cultures, national priorities and global imperatives, namely a society increasingly based on individual responsibility and technological proficiency, calls for a longterm commitment to education as the most vital factor in the development equation.

All the nine Summit countries have success stories to build upon in achieving EFA. One is India's District Primary Education Programme, that is discussed in this volume. Launched in 1993, it is a concrete application of an education for all strategy, which touches upon the themes of the four panels and illustrates the checks, balances and provisions required to make a programme successful and sustainable.

It is hoped that this companion volume to the Education for AR Summit Report will offer valuable insights to policy-makers and educationalists worldwide. A genuine spirit of consensus emerged from the presentations and discussions which this volume is based upon, reflecting a strongly-felt awareness among the world's nine most populous nations that a large part of tomorrow's world rested in their hands. This concern was echoed in a concluding remark by UNESCO's Director-General: "It has been said that what matters is the world we leave to our children. I disagree. I think that what matters is the children we leave to our world."