mobilizingfor

progressSecond E-9 ministerial

review meeting, Islamabad, Pakistan14-16 september 1997

B a n g l a d e s h

B r a z i l

C h i n a

E g y p t

I n d i a

I n d o n e s i a

M e x i c o

N i g e r i a

P a k i s t a n

mobilizingfor

progressSecond E-9 ministerial

review meeting, Islamabad, Pakistan14-16 september 1997

B a n g l a d e s h

B r a z i l

C h i n a

E g y p t

I n d i a

I n d o n e s i a

M e x i c o

N i g e r i a

P a k i s t a n

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

The E-9 initiative: Four years on . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

The Experts’ meeting:

Political and social mobilization . . . . . . . . . 10

I - general considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

II - Country Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

III - Key Strategies Identified in

the Experts’ Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

concluding remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

The ministers’ meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

key messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

the joint communiqué . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

list of participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Contents

4

❛❛ if we invest ineducation, we willmake democracy lessvulnerable andprovide citizens withmore security. Whencitizens are educated,they are in a positionto enhance andinfluence thedemocratic process.❜❜federico mayor,Director-general, unesco

F or an initiative to grow, mature and yield results, an ongoing exchange of ideasand experience is required. It is a process of learning and listening, of drawingcomparisons and re-evaluating actions. The Second E-9 Ministerial Review

Meeting, held in Islamabad from 14 to 16 September, 1997, was precisely an opportuni-ty for representatives of the world’s nine most populous countries, along with UnitedNations agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to sit around the sametable and chart progress, address shortcomings, present strategies and express concerns.Despite their vast ethnic, cultural, geographical and social differences, these nine coun-tries share the same resolve: to provide universal primary education for all and drastical-ly reduce adult illiteracy by 2000. All abide to the principles of the World Declaration onEducation for All, signed at Jomtien, Thailand in 1990.

The Jomtien Conference is likely to remain a reference for policy-makers and education-ists for more than a decade. It called for an expanded vision of education in order to meetthe basic learning needs of all children, youth and adults. Such a vision requires a radi-cal shift in traditional perceptions of education. It requires making education a nationalpriority, designing innovative approaches to reach the excluded, especially girls andwomen, and overcoming poverty. Most importantly, it requires that education become theresponsibility of all society: political leaders, members of parliament, the media, the pri-vate sector, local associations and parents.

This is why political and social mobilization was the main theme of this SecondMinisterial Review Meeting. As this report shows, progress — in some cases impressiveprogress – is underway in all the E-9 countries. This progress is inseparable from politi-cal will at the highest level and mobilization in favour of education from the society atlarge. When these two forces are present, education can become the foundation of a veri-tably democratic process in the context of equitable social and economic development.

The E-9 countries agreed, in a Joint Communiqué attached to this report, to increase theirpolitical, social and financial investment for EFA. They also committed themselves to payspecial attention to several key areas in which wide-sweeping action is required: educa-tion of girls and women; literacy and adult education; teacher training; street and work-ing children. The Joint Communiqué will serve a triple purpose: to guide the nine countriesin developing or implementing their national policies; to keep the exchange of experiencesbetween countries focused on a selected list of items and, finally, to guide the agencies,banks and donors in their endeavour to collaborate closely with the E-9 countries. j

5

Introduction

6

❛❛ Continuedprogress requireseven more forcefuland concertedaction, based ongood information,sound researchand carefulanalysis aimed atachieving clearlyspecified results.❜❜Sartaj Aziz, Minister of Finance, Pakistan

7

Upon opening the Experts’ Meeting on 14September 1997, the Federal Minister forEducation recalled its specific objective,

namely “to ensure political and social mobilizationfor EFA, with the ultimate objective of achievingfull access to basic education for all members ofsociety, to eliminate disparities and imbalances andto improve the quality and relevance of education.”The four UN agencies present at the meeting — UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF and UNDP — made inter-ventions underlining the importance of mobiliza-tion and suggesting angles for discussing the sub-ject. Each of the nine countries summarized thecontents of their papers on Social and PoliticalMobilization, highlighting the most importantcommitments and initiatives taken to raise the pro-file of education, expand access and improve qual-ity. One key element for conceiving and launchingEFA campaigns is the availability of reliable data. In this spirit, Jim Irvine, UNICEF’s RegionalEducational Adviser for South Asia, presented athought-provoking paper entitled: “MonitoringProgress Towards Education for All: Reflections onData Issues in South Asia.”

On the morning of 15 September, the main conclu-sions of the Experts’ Meeting were presented. SeniorOfficers from UNESCO, UNICEF, UNFPA and UNDPmade brief statements about the future of the E-9Initiative and the role of the Agencies. In the after-noon, Dr Mahbub ul Haq, President of the HumanDevelopment Centre, made a forceful interventionentitled: “Education Challenge for South Asia”.

Following a brief discussion, UNESCO’s Director-General Federico Mayor reported on the major E-9initiatives since the First Ministerial Meeting heldin Bali in September 1995. He called for improvednational coordination among UN agencies at thenational level, the theme of UNDP’s H.C. vonSponeck’s intervention entitled: “The UN SystemSupport Programme to India in Primary Education.”At the end of the day, the Joint Communiqué wasfurther improved.

The Ministerial Meeting (16 September) was offi-cially opened by the Finance Minister of Pakistan,representing the Prime Minister. Following officialstatements by the four UN agencies, each of thenine countries reported on progress and ongoingchallenges. The Joint Communiqué was finalizedand adopted, with an additional clause on streetand working children put forward by Mr. Mayor.Brazil offered to become the host country of thenext Ministerial Review Meeting, which is expect-ed to be held in two years. Following brief remarksby UN agencies, President Farooq Ahmad KhanLeghari of Pakistan gave the concluding speech, inwhich he recognized his country's “flawed policies”in achieving EFA. The Ministers for Education ofPakistan and India, the other ministerial represen-tatives and UNESCO’s Director-General then at-tended a press conference to present the JointCommuniqué and answer questions. It should benoted that although no representative attendedthe Second Ministerial Review Meeting from China,a country paper was provided. j

Proceedings

8

❛❛ With better education,women are equipped to bebetter mothers, and theirfamilies are likely to be bothsmaller and healthier. Inaddition, better educationequips a woman for lifebeyond the family. Itbroadens her mind and herhorizons, and helps her tomake her full contributionto society. And yet, in many of the E-9 countries, thereremains a huge gap betweenthe access of girls and boysto basic education. Everycountry’s progress towardsthe goals of EFA depends uponremoving this discrepancyand strengthening theseaspects of women’s lives.❜❜Dr Nafis Sadik, Executive Director, UNFPA

9

The E-9 Initiative:

Four Years On

T he Jomtien Conference launched a world-wide mobilization in favour of education.Since this landmark event, donors have

reoriented their policies in favour of basic education.United Nations agencies have started to coordinatetheir actions more effectively. The majority of coun-tries drew up national plans of action through awide process of consultation. Most now have consti-tutional, legal or policy commitments making prima-ry education free, compulsory and universal.

While Jomtien basic education needs as a centralpriority on the global agenda, it became the first ina succession of major UNconferences which have allreaffirmed education’s rolein achieving the goals ofjustice, equality, develop-ment and peace.

The E-9 initiative representsa visible and targeted coop-erative effort between sev-eral of the world’s largestcountries, governments andmultilateral organizations.The leaders of the nine high-population countriescame together in New Delhi in December 1993where they reaffirmed their commitment to pursuethe goals set in Jomtien and at the World Summit for Children.

In forming the E-9, leaders of the nine high-popula-tion countries recognized their collective weight andresponsibility in improving the world’s educationalrecord. Together, these countries are home to half

the world’s population and two-thirds of the world’sadult illiterates, of whom sixty per cent are women.They all recognize education’s strategic role in fur-thering national development and reducing popula-tion growth. All have ratified the Convention on theRights of the Child, making education a fundamen-tal human right.

When the Ministers of Education met in Indonesia inSeptember 1995 for the first Review Meeting sincethe Delhi Summit, they reiterated the need to imple-ment long-term strategies that mobilize all sectorsof society for the goals of EFA. The Ministers also

agreed to direct their effortsto the quality of learningand requested that thesponsoring agencies andbanks improve their cooper-ation at national level.

Acting on these recommen-dations, UNESCO completeda study in the nine countrieson external assistance toEFA. Figures revealed thatdespite an impressive vol-

ume of funds, donors currently provide dispropor-tionate funding in favour of primary education,much to the detriment of adult education and liter-acy. In the realm of learning quality, UNDP and UNESCO implemented a year-long project to explorecurrent in-service teacher training practices and toidentify promising programmes. Finally, there hasbeen an intensive and continued exchange at thehighest political level between the nine countriessince the Delhi Summit. j

In forming the E-9,leaders of the nine

high-populationcountries

recognized theircollective weight

and responsibility inimproving the

world’s educationalrecord.

I - GENERAL

CONSIDERATIONS

In opening the 14 September Experts’ Meeting,Mr Safdar Mahmood, Secretary of Education(Pakistan), presented a conceptual framework

for reflecting on political and social mobilization.

“In the past, the indifference of masses towards theexpansion and provision of basic education has ab-solved politicians from showing any major concern

for education. Therefore,within our society, we haveto build up an irresistiblepressure for according toppriority to basic education,whatever the obstacles.” Inideal circumstances, politicaland social development actas complementary forces:“On the one hand, the deci-sion-makers and the politicalparties can create a culturefor education sensitive tothe responsibilities of soci-

ety. On the other hand, social mobilization can facilitate social development,” said Mr Mahmood.

The need to make education a societal responsibili-ty came out of a growing realization that the sheerscale of achieving education for all entailed an en-tirely different way of conceiving and managing

learning, away from a top-heavy, centralised modeltoward a more decentralised, democratic one. “It’s clear that you will not have effective educa-tional programmes if you rely on central govern-ment alone. We have to look at what happens at thestate, provincial and district levels and mobilizeeach one of these,” said Colin Power, UNESCO’sAssistant Director-General for Education.

All participants reiterated the importance of politi-cal will being expressed at the highest level in orderto promote an overall vision and guide social mobi-lization. But to guarantee continuity, they insistedthat this commitment had to be shared by all polit-ical parties. When education is enshrined in theconstitution as a fundamental human right, whenthe president of a country is personally engaged indefining education as a national priority, when allsectors of society are made to feel responsible forcontributing to educational advancement, a solidframework is established to forge strong and fruit-ful partnerships. When structures of governance be-come more flexible and responsive to local needs,opportunities arise for people to participate throughorganised and systematic actions.

“First, we need to get the basics right,” stated KulGautam, UNICEF’s representative in India. “Curriculamust be relevant; teachers must have a minimum oftraining and motivation; students must find learninga joyful experience and governments must allocateadequate budgetary resources to education. Theseare the bedrock essentials.”

10

The Experts’Meeting:

Political andSocial

Mobilization

❛❛ within oursociety, we have

to build up anirresistible

pressure foraccording top

priority to basiceducation,

whatever theobstacles.❜❜Safdar Mahmood,

Secretary of Education,pakistan

But even when these basics are in place, Mr Gautamnoted that progress is sometimes frustratingly slow.He outlined three basic convictions that provide athrust to mobilization:x the power of national laws and international

conventions to demand action by legislators, pol-icy makers and programme managers;

x the knowledge that investment in basic educa-tion yields one of the highest rates of return;

x the fact that motivating parents and children is the sine qua non for universalizing primary education.

Mobilizing parents in favour of education can beginbefore a child’s birth. “The first opportunity general-ly comes when couples seeking prenatal care comein contact with health systems,” said UNFPA’s repre-sentative O.J. Sikes. “The next opportunities ariseimmediately after birth. Seizing these opportunitiesto help parents become better educators of their

children means en-couraging both educa-tors and healthcareproviders to think interms of life cycles.”

Mr Power insisted onthe importance ofmonitoring the effec-tiveness of mobiliza-tion campaigns andkeeping in mind theirend goal: “The objec-

tive is learning. We must ensure that learners receive the necessary knowledge and skills to maketheir way through life.”

II - COUNTRY

HIGHLIGHTS

T he E-9 country studies present an impres-sive array of measures taken over the pastseven years to put education on top of the

national agenda, expand access and reach the ex-cluded. These summaries attempt to single out themost characteristic features of each presentation.

BANGLADESH

The sharp increase in primary school enrolments inBangladesh has relied on massive social mobiliza-tion. A national social mobilization plan for educa-tion was drawn up. It is designed to generate andsustain awareness and commitment to EFA at alllevels, promote motivation among teachers, parentsand communities, and improve access, quality,achievement and completion of primary education.Communities are actively involved in local planningand more than 200 NGOs receive subsidies for deliv-ering non-formal primary education.

Social mobilization activities in favour of primaryeducation have included strengthening SchoolManagement Committees (SMCs) and Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs), organizing mothers’rallies, meetings, home visits and exchange visits forteachers and SMC members.

Special measures to encourage girls’ education relyon community mobilization and participation. Some1,260 satellite schools targeted at young children,especially girls, have been established. TheGovernment plans to open 20,000 satellite schoolsin the next five years. Free education for girls in rural areas has been extended from Grade 8 to 12and sixty per cent of recruited teachers must bewomen. Under the school attractiveness programme,poor students, especially girls, receive free uniforms,books and other supplies.

11

❛❛ The objective islearning. We must

ensure thatlearners receive

the necessaryknowledge and

skills to maketheir way

through life.❜❜Colin Power, unesco

“Awaken Brazil.

L aunched by the President himself, thismobilization campaign was the firstappeal of the Fernando Henrique

Cardoso administration to Brazilian society in defense of education. The programme’s aim is to mobilize Brazilian society towardsimproving public schools and promotingeducation as a national priority.

To this end, the Ministry of Education andSport adopted a strategy involving theintense use of instruments of socialcommunications. Close and effective tieswere developed with the press andadvertising agencies were contracted todevelop campaign materials.

The campaign operates on several levels:

Internal mobilization through sharing the new focus on education throughout the Ministry itself.

Lecture cycles: Regional management units organize lecture cycles for mayors,educational authorities, community leaders and business executives to spread and discuss the new philosophy in the field of social and politicalmobilization.

Stimulating the participation of StateGovernments: these initiatives includeextension courses, such as teacher trainingprogrammes and the recycling anddecentralization of textbook distribution.

The “Speak Brazil" toll free service allowsanyone to request information and sharetheir views on the Government’seducational actions. Monitoring andanalyzing these calls has providedimportant feedback on the Ministry’sprogrammes and social mobilization efforts.

Database on Educational Action: inpartnership with the University of Brasilia,thousands of innovative initiatives in thefield of education are being catalogued and are now available over the Internet.

The “Awaken Brazil Bulletin" is a bi-monthlypublication on the latest developments inthe mobilization process.

Since the campaign’s launch in 1995, 130partnerships have been established. Besidesintangible gains, these add up to more thanR$20 million in teaching materials, mediaadvertising time, equipment, teacher-training and other services rendered.

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

It’s Time for School!”

Advocacy and Media Support

Education is also enjoying higher national visibilitythrough advocacy work and the media. A national logo for EFA features a young girl and boy readingthe same book while stickers carrying the message“Education is not a privilege given to citizens, but a right” are illustrated with eye-catching, colourfulpictures. Television and radio broadcasts also raiseawareness about gender discrepancy in education.

Adult Literacy: The Total Literacy Movement

Extensive mass mobilization activities are organizedin areas covered by the Total Literacy Movement, including processions, rallies and cultural shows.

The government has set up close to 1,000 rural li-braries in 69 project areas staffed by a librarian.Other than helping neo-literates to select appropriatereading materials, each librarian has an additional re-sponsibility to make ten people literate every year.

BRAZIL

Brazil has recently been the stage for an unprece-dented mobilization in favour of education. At thebeginning of his term of office in 1995, PresidentFernando Henrique Cardoso affirmed that the questfor quality in elementary schools and the guaranteeof universal access to education would be his toppriority. This has gone hand in hand with the designof a country-wide campaign to:

12

x keep society informed about Federal Governmentactions in the educational field

x mobilize the population in order to make themagents of change in Brazilian education

x cultivate a new social outlook with respect topublic education and stimulate a sense of partic-ipation and responsibility among citizens.

The “Awaken Brazil” campaign (see box) is one of themain instruments for fostering this mobilization atall levels of society. The President and Minister ofEducation are both on weekly radio talk shows topresent government strategies and answer ques-tions. Several television shows are devoted to edu-cational issues. Press releases are sent out daily totelevision, radio and newspapers, and education cov-erage has significantly increased over the past year.

This communications effort requires high-level tech-nical staff able to think in terms of social marketingtechniques, from the planning stage to evaluatingthe outcome of campaigns. A relationship of trustmust be established between education and commu-nications experts. Above all, constant vigilance is re-quired in order to correct campaigns during theircourse and improve the effectiveness of educationalactions. According to the Brazilian delegation, “theidea that without education there can be no growth,either individually or for the country as a whole, hasbecome a consensus among the population.”

CHINA

The 1995 Education Law engages the state “to en-courage enterprises, institutions, public organiza-tions, other social groups as well as individual citi-zens to operate schools or other types of education-al institutions.”

Several projects aimed at helping disadvantaged children in poverty-stricken areas have received donations, gifts and other forms of support from enterprises, institutions and social organizations. The Hope Project for example, run by the ChinaChildren and Youth Development Fund, has led to the construction of at least one “hope primaryschool” in nearly 600 poverty-stricken counties.

Village councils are authorized to mobilize local resources in the form of donated building materialsor voluntary labour.

In the field of adult literacy, half a million collegestudents and one million secondary school studentsare mobilized every year to provide in-service train-ing to 200,000 rural literacy teachers and workers.This should enable four million or so adults to re-ceive literacy education and training in scientificand technical skills. Also, prizes are given to coun-ties, schools and individuals which have done out-standing work in literacy. Funds for literacy awardsare raised through donations.

EGYPT

President Hosni Mubarak regards education as amatter of national security and the strongest pillarof peace. Over the past six years, efforts have fo-cused on strengthening the demand for educationand improving the quality of learning.

Creating a Literate Environment:The Reading for All Festival

For the fourth consecutive year, the “Reading for All”festival was organized throughout the country thissummer. Sponsored by several ministries, it aims tosupport and encourage reading at all ages by provid-ing access to reading materials and organizing com-petitions. Spearheaded by the First Lady SuzanneMubarak, the programme set out to establish a net-work of school libraries and a fleet of mobile units toreach remote districts and hamlets. Books were pur-chased and collected through charity campaigns.From a modest beginning of 500 libraries at the endof 1991, the programme grew steadily in scope to thecurrent 8,753 libraries. To encourage reading, the libraries stay open during the school vacation.

Involving the Business Sector

On-the-job educational programmes are provided to workers, thus connecting literacy and vocationaltraining. Setting reading and writing as a prerequi-site for obtaining a driver’s license or qualifying for

13

a government job has strengthened enrolment in literacy classes. University graduates are paidthrough a Social Fund to work as teachers in litera-cy programmes.

INDIA

The Elementary Education system in India is one ofthe world’s largest with 151 million children in the 6 to 14 year age group enrolled in 1995-1996. But the country is also home to the largest numberof illiterates and out-of-school children in theworld: 37 per cent of the world’s illiterates and 21.8per cent of out-of-school children. Due to themagnitude of the problem, there has been a growingrealization that education had to be conceived as asocietal responsibility requiring alternate structuresto facilitate participation.

The Total Literacy Campaign

Since its inception in 1989, the Total LiteracyCampaign (TLC) has extended to 430 of India’s 520districts. The campaign’s most innovative aspect isthe emphasis on creating a favourable environmentfor literacy. This phase involves mobilizing publicopinion and encouraging the more educated sec-tions of the community to come forward as litera-cy volunteers. Conventional and traditional folkmedia forms are all used with great effect. Politicalsupport from all parties is ensured by involving political leaders in organizational structures andevents.

To date, an estimated 90 million learners have beenenrolled in the programme and 64 million have beenmade literate. The strong emphasis on social mobi-lization has given women a sanction to participatein the campaigns without hindrance from their hus-bands and in-laws. The campaigns have not onlymade them feel a sense of empowerment, allowingthem to voice grievances before district administra-tions and to denounce various social evils. They havealso had a positive impact on the demand for prima-ry education, with enrolment and retention levels increasing after a TLC. Each campaign is followed by a two-year post-literacy programme.

The Lok Jumbish Project

The core strategy of Lok Jumbish (LJ), which trans-lates as a movement of the people, is to mobilize thevillage community to take responsibility for qualityeducation. The Village Education Committees (VECs),Core Teams and Women’s Groups are trained and in-volved in school-mapping, micro-planning and alleducational activities of the village school (repairs,maintenance, school calendar, etc.). Significant out-comes of the project include:x a 10 per cent annual increase in girls’ enrolment,

7 per cent for boysx an effective programme of non-formal education

has been implemented offering equivalency withformal education

x a tremendous gain in learning achievement: 7 percent annually in language and 9 per cent in math-ematics.

The District Primary Education Programme (DPEP)

DPEP is India’s most ambitious primary educationprogramme. Launched in 1994, it covers 122 dis-tricts in thirteen states. DPEP emphasizes decentral-ized management, community mobilization and dis-trict specific planning. Structures have been createdat the grassroots level to encourage participation.Women and disadvantaged groups must be repre-sented on Village Education Committees. The latterare increasingly mobilizing communities, motivatingparents to send their children to school and raisingvoluntary contributions from the people.

INDONESIA

The President of Indonesia takes a personal stake ineducation, delivering messages on NationalEducation Day and International Literacy Day thathave an impact on mobilizing funds to reach targetsset by the central government. Reflecting its broadvision of education, Indonesia refers to CompulsoryEducation as a movement involving several min-istries and a range of private partners. Mobilizationinitiatives are also supported by an entrenchedIndonesian value, the spirit of “gotong royong,” orthe mutual assistance social system.

14

Statistics

Reaching the Unreached

To enable children who cannot afford to continueschooling in the formal system, the Government hasdeveloped equivalency programmes known as PacketA (for those leaving primary school before Grade 4)and Packet B (for those who cannot continue theirLower Secondary schooling).

The National Foster Parent Movement collects dona-tions that are distributed to children from poor fam-ilies. This has enabled some 600,000 students of pri-mary and lower secondary schools to continue theireducation.

Partnerships to Eradicate Illiteracy:Working with the Armed Forces

Four ministries are directly involved in this pro-gramme, formed upon a Presidential appeal in 1994to eradicate illiteracy by 2000: the Ministry ofInternal Affairs, the Ministry of Education andCulture, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and theArmed Forces Ministry. Learners are identified by Armed Forces personnel, in co-operation with development project officials. When tutors from thesame background as the learners cannot be found,Armed Forces personnel are recruited. Training em-phasizes their role as tutors and agents of change.

15

S tating that “international pressures to’show progress’ have led to an over-reliance on estimates and too little

attention to data quality and verificationat all levels," Jim Irvine, UNICEF RegionalAdviser for Education, explained thedangers of using aggregated estimates.These tend to mask substantial variabilitywithin countries, give no direction forplanning or resource allocation and canlead to erroneous comparisons betweenand within countries.

c For allocation of resources and targetingof special initiatives, it is important toobtain, verify, map and analyzedisaggregated data which highlightvariability within a country.

c For purposes of comparisons amongdistricts, states, countries or regions, andfor comparing trends over time, it isimportant to have agreed and consistentdefinitions of indicators, and agreementamong countries concerning criteria ofcompetence to be applied. This isparticularly important in the case ofadult literacy, where different definitionsor criteria lead to data that cannot bemeaningfully compared.

c Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) dataanomalies suggest the need toenumerate all children, and not justthose who can be easily reached. Inascertaining ’NER’, it is essential tolocate all children of the relevant agegroup in a given administrative area andthen enumerate and verify those who areenrolled in any form of basic education,no matter through what channel.

c The use of Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER)as an indicator of schooling participationlevels can lead to confusion because ofthe compounding of age-appropriateenrolment and the presence of under-ageand over-age enrolments.

c Children, teachers, parents andcommunity groups can be morecomprehensively involved in the processof data collection and verification.

c The issue of monitoring learningachievements in regular and systematicways must receive more urgent attention.

c As societies seek new visions foreducation, it is essential to develop anduse indicators for monitoringcomponents of education systems relatedto sustainability, quality and relevance.

on Trial

Improving Agency Coordination:

16

Learners had input into the development of learningmaterials and literacy teaching has been integratedwith income-generating activities. The programmeteaches skills to improve learners’ living standardsand enable them to participate more effectively intheir community. Post-literacy materials have alsobeen developed and small rural libraries establishedto reinforce acquired reading habits.

Mobilizing Women: the Family WelfareMovement

Winner of several awards, including theInternational Literacy Prize in 1995, the FamilyWelfare Movement (PKK) is a national movementaimed at raising women’s quality of life. Eradicatingilliteracy is one of its priority actions. By organizinghouseholds into small units, development pro-grammes have been better able to reach disadvan-taged women and their families. Teaching methodsmake use of song, dance and other cultural tradi-tions, and income-generating programmes are inte-grated into literacy classes.

O ver the past eighteen months, UNagencies represented in India havedeveloped a support programme for

Community-Based Primary Education.

The programme aims to enhance capacity forcommunity participation in school management,improve the performance of teachers working inmultigrade classrooms and address social factorsthat adversely affect attendance andperformance. By involving UNICEF, UNDP, ILO,UNESCO and UNFPA, the programme takes anintegrated approach to learning. All agenciesrecognize the importance of lifelong education,of parents’ participation and of providing aneducation relevant to the local environment.Joining forces has enabled agencies to interactat the highest political levels, namely with theSecretary of Education and the Minister ofHuman Resource Development. Besides strivingfor community-oriented school management,the programme will aim to transform schoolsinto centres for community learning, or “lok

shalas” — people’s schools. “We are targetingchildren, adolescents and parents,” said Mr vonSponeck, the UN Resident Coordinator in India.“The real innovation is to link development towhat is relevant in the development context atthe community level.”

UN agencies will contribute $20 million to theprogramme, with an additional $2 million fromNorway. “The UN wants to concentrate as asystem on community-based primary educationand help to foster an enjoyable teaching andlearning environment,” said Mr von Sponeck.“The UN system must work very hard toharmonize its defused, cumbersome financialand administrative regulatory set-ups tofacilitate joint initiatives of this kind.”

The programme is slated to become operationalin eight states: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar,Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh from 1998.Careful monitoring and assessing impact is anintegral part of the approach.

The UN focuses on primaryeducation in india

MEXICO

Co-responsibility is a hallmark of Mexico’s educationdevelopment programme. Extreme poverty and socialmarginalization can only be alleviated through inte-grated strategies supplying basic services and pro-moting participation in activities that increase pro-ductivity and income. In this context, several inter-sectoral initiatives were cited:

x Launched in 1997, the Programme for Nourishment,Health and Education (PROGRESA) involves thesectors of Health, Social Development and PublicEducation. It aims to improve conditions in themost needy communities and works closely withmothers, encouraging them to send their childrento school by providing financial resources, foodand basic health attention. The programme has an in-built supervisory process involving localgovernment and communities.

x In the region of Oaxaca, the Secretary of PublicEducation is working closely with Indian repre-sentatives from the Mixe people to systematizetheir experiences and design an educational model respecting their culture and responding totheir needs.

x Every year, 230,000 young men have the chance tocomplete their primary or secondary educationthrough a joint programme run by the Ministry ofPublic Education and the Ministry of Defence. Threehours a week, they are tutored by other recruitswho have finished their schooling. The NationalInstitute for Adult Education supplies the method-ological resources for training the recruits as tutors.

The Media: Education for Society

The Ministry of Public Education is working with NGOexperts and filmmakers to develop television pro-grammes on such themes as education for democra-cy, health and sex education. A National Institute forEducational Technology will soon be set up to in-crease the transmission of educational programmesto primary and secondary schools, teacher colleges,higher education institutions and public libraries.

NIGERIA

At the institutional level, Nigeria has set up specialnational commissions to achieve the country’s EFAgoals. The Master Plan on Basic Education (1993)was published following a broad sensitization drivein the mass media.

Government is encouraging the mobilization of civilsociety to support educational goals and expandeducational provision. The setting up of a NationalParent Teacher Association marked a major step ininvolving parents more closely in the running of pri-mary and secondary schools. PTAs provide academicsupport to children, supplement a teacher’s incomeor build classrooms. Representatives attend govern-ment meetings at state and national level, allowingfor an input on children’s welfare and academic performance.

The National Commission for Nomadic Education (NC-NE) aims to provide the country’s six million pastoralnomads and migrant fishermen with the opportunityfor functional literacy and numeracy. Communityleaders, chiefs and other important actors are in-volved in awareness campaigns directed at promotingeducation among this group. Although the end goal isto sedentarize these populations by teaching them alternative skills and improving their living standard,collapsible classrooms were designed in order to fol-low the community’s movements.

Advocacy Drives

The National Primary Education Commission and theNational Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult andNon-Formal Education have embarked on a numberof public awareness campaigns. A CommunityTheatre approach has been used to sensitize thegrassroots to the importance of mass literacy. Some35,000 university graduates have participated inmass literacy campaigns and primers and teachers’guides in over eleven indigenous languages havebeen produced. The Nigeria Book DevelopmentFoundation launched a national campaign to pro-mote reading for all. The UNDP is supportingNigeria’s efforts towards eradicating illiteracy.

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A Tale of Two Asias

18

T he leaders of South Asia often dream ofconverting their countries into East Asianindustrial tigers. But they must confront the

upleasant truth that no illiterate society has everbecome an industrial tiger of any stripe or colour. In 1960, many South and East Asian countries hadsimilar per capita income. Today, East Asian percapita income is 27 times higher than South Asia’s.What made such a dramatic difference in a periodof less than four decades? Most analysts agree thatthe most critical factor was the huge investment ineducation and technology in East Asia. What is evenmore important than total investment in educationis the strategy that lay behind it. First, East Asiancountries spent most of their education budgets onbasic education — as much as 70 per cent. In starkcontrast, South Asia built aninverse pyramid of education,spending less than 50 per cent onprimary education. Second, EastAsia realized the importance oftechnical skills. As such, around 20 per cent of secondary schoolchildren in East Asia went on totechnical schools, against less than2 per cent in South Asia. Third, EastAsian countries forged allianceswith the private sector, NGOs, civil societyorganizations and many grassroots movements tospread education at a quicker pace and in a morecost-effective manner.

There is simply no doubt that the spread of basiceducation at a rapid pace is the most critical issuefor South Asian development today. Despite thepowerful evidence of the benefits of educationSouth Asian societies are mired in a swamp of massilliteracy. The central question is: is it possible forSouth Asia to move towards universal basiceducation over the next decade and to finance such a rapid transformation of their societies? The arithmetic on resources is fairly manageable. It is estimated that if the goal of universal basiceducation is to be achieved by the year 2010, it

would require an additional investment of about$37 billion, which is around $2.5 billion a year. This is a fairly modest investment and can bemobilized through a variety of initiatives. First, it is time that South Asian countries, particularlyPakistan and India, review the relative priority of investing in people versus investing in arms. If military spending is cut by only 5 per cent a year,it can yield a total peace dividend of $125 billionover the next 15 years. Even a freeze on militaryspending could yield $80 billion.

Second, if South Asian countries are willing to takecourageous steps themselves, it is more than likelythat the global community will support their efforts.Today, South Asia receives only 12 per cent of global

official development assistance(ODA), even though it is home tonearly 50 per cent of the world’sabsolute poor. Third, South Asiancountries can free themselves fromthe burden of expensive domesticdebts by privatizing their publicassets. These domestic debts aretaking away 5 to 6 per cent oftheir GNP.

Fourth, South Asian educationbudgets need a critical scrutiny. Primary educationmust receive 70-80 per cent of the scarce resourcesallocated for education. Incentives and facilitiesmust be provided for at least 20-30 per cent ofsecondary school children to opt for technicaleducation. The recipe for a major educationalbreakthrough is fairly established by now: universalprimary education plus widespread technicaleducation. In addition, South Asian governmentsshould form more partnerships with the non-formalsector so that their limited money can have muchgreater mileage.

South Asia was once the cradle of civilization andeducational progress. It can rediscover its lostheritage once again. For this, investment ineducation will be the key.

A presentation by Mahbub ul Haq, Presidentof the Human Development Centre

THERE IS SIMPLY NO DOUBTTHAT THE SPREAD OF BASICEDUCATION AT A RAPIDPACE IS THE MOST CRITICALISSUE FOR SOUTH ASIANDEVELOPMENT TODAY.

Besides capacity building, staff training and devel-oping teaching materials, resources are being used todesign and produce electronic and print media mate-rials for creating awareness about education. The na-tion-wide programme also includes post-literacycourses in health and nutrition, agriculture, account-ing and other disciplines as well as the setting up ofrural libraries.

PAKISTAN

Faced with an annual 2.8 per cent populationgrowth and continually increasing demand foraccess to basic education, the Government ofPakistan started formulating policies in the late1980s to attract private initiatives and capital.

The Education Policy 1992 took a leap forward in involving society through several measures:

As a first step, Education Foundations were set upin the country’s four provinces to promote basiceducation through non-formal means. TheseFoundations provide grants and loans to privateNGOs and individuals for the establishment of educational institutions on a cost-sharing basis,with special preference for remote rural and under-privileged areas.

Village Education Committees are the secondcomponent of the social mobilization strategy.These committees are responsible for providingland and free labour for constructing schools,sensitizing village women to the importance ofeducation and ensuring the security of the schooland teacher. In Balochistan, these committeeshave played a key role in setting up 380 commu-nity schools.

Partnerships with NGOs to provide basic educationare being forged. The Agha Khan Foundation runs alarge rural development programme in the NorthernAreas with the participation of the Government. Inthe field of adult literacy, the Prime Minister’sLiteracy Commission collaborates with 22 NGOs and280 community-based organizations (CBOs).

The Minister of Education recognized that despite efforts to improve educational access, the situationwas not yet very encouraging: “Most schools are notfunctioning properly, there is a high drop-out rateand managing procedures have to be improved.” A study commissioned by the Ministry of Educationfound that VEC members were not fully aware oftheir role and responsibility. The decentralization thatwas to have taken shape through these committeeshas not occurred because officials at the lower levelscontinue to exercise their statutory powers.

III - KEY STRATEGIES

IDENTIFIED IN THEEXPERTS’ MEETING

d High-Level Commitment

Political and social mobilization must begin at thehighest level. While legislation provides a referencefor demanding and taking action, the personal involvement of the president or prime minister inevents such as International Literacy Day or thelaunching of an educational campaign heightens thevisibility of education on the national agenda andpromotes awareness at all levels, within and outsideministries. Besides this high-level commitment, aconsensus must exist across the ideological spec-trum with regard to the importance of basic educa-tion. This guarantees greater policy continuity andmakes education a national, rather than a govern-ment concern.

d Changing Mind-sets

A social mobilization campaign will be all the moreeffective if actors and agents of change at all levelsare aware of their responsibilities and share thesame vision of education. Orientation programmesare required within education ministries at national,federal, district and local levels to understand EFAissues and learn the rules of working with communi-ties, village education committees, school manage-ment committees and parent-teacher associations.

2

1

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d Defining Targets

Clearly identifying the target population is one ofthe backbones of any mobilization strategy. Peoplemust be reached in their local settings, in their re-spective traditions and cultures. Involving communi-ties in this process of defining the target populationbuilds up a commitment to education before a pro-gramme actually gets off the ground.

d Involving Parents, Listening to Needs

Creating an environment in which parents, especiallymothers, are encouraged to seek knowledge and infor-mation has a significant impact on education, espe-cially on girls’ education. The demand for education isoften a result of a broader process of empowerment.

d Creating a Literate Environment

From producing posters to opening rural librariesand organizing reading festivals, ongoing efforts todevelop an environment in which learning is valuedare essential to creating awareness, interest andmotivation for education.

d Developing Linkages

Education is not only the foundation of sustainablehuman development, it is also one of a constellationof basic social services required to eradicate pover-ty. Education must contribute to alleviate povertythrough integrated programmes or alternative ap-proaches at all levels to address health care, nutri-tion, and social and economic concerns.

d Working with the Media

Using traditional, print and electronic media to geteducational messages across and create a literateenvironment is an essential aspect of mobilization.In many rural areas, dance, drama, songs, story-telling and other folk traditions can be very effectivein carrying educational messages. The print andelectronic media has the power to rally large num-bers to the educational cause.

d Changing the Profile of Education

Marketing is a word that is not pronounced often ineducation ministries. But applying marketing tech-niques to campaigns in favour of education can cre-ate demand and motivate citizens to work towards acommon goal. Such campaigns must be developed inco-operation with education experts and requirecareful monitoring and evaluating.

d Evaluating and Sustaining Programmes

The biggest challenge is how to sustain the commu-nity’s motivation and interest in order for a sense ofownership to be felt. Accountability must be clearlydefined and an efficient system of evaluating andmonitoring developed. Several studies underlinedthe importance of capacity-building at the local lev-el, notably to strengthen village education andschool management committees. Plans for going toscale must be built into project designs.

CONCLUDING

REMARKS

Like any social, political or cultural movement, EFArequires strong mobilization at all levels and ashared vision of education as a transformative act tokeep alive and grow in strength. “We should not takesocial demand for granted,” said John Lawrence ofUNDP. “We should have some form of social radarthat is rountinely scanned and constantly reinter-preted.” Partnerships at all levels must be intensifiedfor education to systematically integrate concernsabout health, nutrition, population, the environmentand sustainable livelihoods. All participants agreedthat the rich experiences of the E-9 countries shouldbe shared more broadly, both at an international andsub-national level. Several delegates called for moreinformal workshops inviting experts from the field tofocus more comprehensively on specific issues: whilethe E-9 initiative requires commitment at the high-est level, it must also reach the grassroots, thosewho are veritably the agents of change in their owncommunities. j

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Welcoming guests to the Ministers’Meeting on 16 September, Syed GhousAli Shah, the Federal Education Minister,

reaffirmed “that investment in human capital bringsthe highest return and has optimal payoff in its myr-iad forms.” The presence of the Minister of Finance,Mr Sartaj Aziz, appeared to symbolize Pakistan’scommitment to addressing social sector develop-ment. “We are all aware that education is the key tochange and progress, and covers the total spectrumof human life,” he said. “Unfortunately, this realityappears to have taken a long time to dawn upon us.”Commenting on achievements made in the last sixyears, the minister warned that there is “no room forcomplacency. Continued progress requires even moreforceful and concerted action, based on good infor-mation, sound research and careful analysis aimed atachieving clearly specified results.”

Referring to limited resources, Mr Aziz urged that“international agencies seriously look at the implica-tions of mounting debts and debt servicing and theimpact these have had on human resource develop-ment in our countries, in the past as well as the pre-sent.” In the context of Pakistan, he called for moreintegration between different ministries concerned

with human development and a “massive mobiliza-tion of communities” to set up formal and non-for-mal schools “to rid the nation of the chronic malaiseof illiteracy, backwardness and economic under-development.”

As the country papers showed, participation rates inalmost all the E-9 countries have increased and thenumber of out-of-school children is slowly begin-ning to decline. The focus on female education hassharpened. All E-9 countries are forming new part-nerships and taking innovative measures to reachthe most deprived, remote communities and disad-vantaged groups, and to improve learning qualityand relevance.

Bangladesh reported impressive progress sincethe passing of the Primary Education CompulsoryAct in 1990. The country has surpassed the mid-decade (1995) target of 82 per cent gross enrolmentas a result of legislative support, physical improve-ment, massive social mobilization and financial in-terventions. Net enrolment is estimated at 78 percent. The drop-out rate has decreased from 60 percent in 1990 to an estimated 37 per cent in 1996.Girls’ participation has increased sharply and 60 percent of primary school teaching posts are reservedfor female candidates. The government has adoptedinnovative approaches and formed partnerships withthe non-formal sector to expand access. Since 1991,3,215 new community schools have been built and1,200 satellite schools with local para-professionalfemale teachers established. Important steps havealso been taken to improve quality, namely a compe-tency-based curriculum and a new series of text-books and teachers’ guides; a broad in-service train-ing programme and better academic supervision.

The Ministers’ Meeting

❛❛ We have come here withoutmodels, without any conditions.

We come here with the essence of Jomtien and the New Delhi

Declaration. We come here to learn and to listen. We want

to assist the E-9 in implementingwhat they consider must be

done to enhance at all levels the education of their people

throughout life.❜❜Federico Mayor

director-general, UNESCO

22

The country is casting its net wide to provide learningopportunities to young children, adolescents andadults who have either not followed primary school-ing or dropped out at an early stage. The adult liter-acy rate has increased from 35.3 per cent in 1991 toan estimated 47.3 per cent in 1995 (25.8 to 38.1 forwomen). Fertility rates have decreased over this pe-riod, from 4.9 per cent in 1990 to 3.3 per cent in1996. One-third of non-formal education pro-grammes were implemented by the Government andtwo-thirds by private organizations, with financialsupport from the Government.

However, public investment in education as a share ofGDP is still very low. Education expenditure represent-ed 15.4 per cent of total government expenditure in FY 1996-97. The Government has proposed to allocate65 percent of total educational resources to the pri-mary and non-formal subsector for the current FifthPlan (1997-2002), up from the previous 50 per cent.

In Brazil, the government of President FernandoHenrique Cardoso has defined education as one of itstop priorities. Public expenditure on education repre-sents 4.6 per cent of GDP. A Constitutional Amend-ment on sharing responsibilities for education among

the three levels of government and aredistribution mechanism to promotemore equality “is the most compre-hensive and innovative policy forbasic education enacted by the present government,” said SôniaMoreira, leader of Brazil’s delegation.

Population growth is decreasing,from an annual 1.93 per cent in1991 to 1.38 per cent in 1996.While net enrolment ratios (7-14age group) rose from 86 to 91 percent between 1991 and 1996, thereare still approximately 2.7 millionout-of-school children in thisgroup. In response, the FederalGovernment has created an emer-gency programme to expand enrol-ment with the slogan: No Child Outof School. To tackle high repetition

rate in Grades One and Five (respectively 44 and 34per cent), the Ministry has created the LearningAcceleration Programme. Illiteracy decreased from20.1 per cent to 15.6 per cent in the 1991-1995 pe-riod but severe regional differences remain. Throughpartnerships with government, companies, universi-ties and popular organizations, the Joint LiteracyProgramme works in disadvantaged rural areas.Different levels of government and society are rally-ing around a common objective of promoting a qual-ity boost in the schooling system.

In China, net enrolment rate of primary school-age children reached 98.81 per cent in 1996. The il-literacy rate dropped from 10 per cent in 1990 to 6per cent in 1996. Special attention is being paid toreaching poor and remote regions. The NationalProject for Supporting the Development ofCompulsory Education in Poor Areas (1995-2000)was jointly initiated by the State EducationCommission and the Ministry of Finance. The quali-fications of teachers have markedly improved, with90.9 per cent of full-time primary teachers meetingthe minimum requirements, up 2 per cent from1995. The Government is also focusing on the grow-ing number of school-age children migrating with

During the E-9 Ministerial Review Meeting, the World HealthOrganization (WHO) appealed to UNESCO, UNICEF, UNFPAand UNDP to join its Global School Health Initiative. The goal

of this initiative is to increase the number of schools that can trulybe called “health-promoting” schools, namely those that areconstantly strengthening their capacity as a healthy setting forliving, learning and working. A “health-promoting school” strives to improve the health of school personnel, families, communitymembers and students; engages health and education officials,parents and community leaders in efforts to make the school ahealthy place; provides school health education and services alongwith various outreach projects and counselling programmes. As Dr.Mohamed Ali Barzgar, WHO’s Head of Mission in Pakistan explained,the premise of this initiative is simple: education influences health,and vice- versa. Mothers with only one year of schooling tend totake better care of their infants and are more likely to seek medicalcare for their children. Within a community, school-basedinterventions can play a vital role in promoting basic health care.

educationHealth and

23

their parents from rural to urban areas, in order toensure that they do not cut short their education.Significant progress has also been made in the fieldof special needs education, with over 50 per cent ofhandicapped children of various categories now at-tending school.

Egypt views education as a matter of national se-curity and as such, a national responsibility sharedby all. Financial resources allocated to pre-universi-ty education represent 5 per cent of GNP. Enrolmentin primary education rose from 75 per cent in1992/93 to 81 per cent in 1996/97. Besides an ex-tensive programme of school construction, Egypt isemphasizing the introduction of technology intoschools. By 1998, over 6,000 schools will beequipped with computers. Advanced science labora-tories have also been set up. Reforms of basic edu-cation curricula has boosted investment in teachertraining programmes. In particular, a videoconfer-ence network enables teachers around the countryto follow training without losing the benefits of in-teraction. Egypt also pays special attention to theeducation of girls and women, a field in which theFirst Lady Suzanne Mubarak takes a personal inter-est. Over 1,500 one-class schools in rural areas havedrawn 24,000 girls. School nutrition programmeshave also been significantly extended.

In India, 95 per cent of the rural population has aprimary school within a walking distance of onekilometre and over 90 per cent of the country’s threemillion teachers — of whom a third are women — arequalified and trained. About 91 per cent (150.74 million) of children in the 6-14 age group are en-rolled in primary school. Retention rates have in-creased from 55.7 per cent in 1990-91 to 60.6 percent in 1995-96. Impressive strides have been madein the field of adult literacy, notably through the To-tal Literacy Campaigns, which aim to reach 100 mil-lion non-literates by 1999. Local bodies in urban andrural areas are playing an increasing role in theplanning, management and supervision of primaryschools and adult education programmes. “And yet,our unfinished task is daunting,” said Shri S.R. Bom-mai, Minister of Human Resource Development. “OurGovernment has taken a historic decision to amend

the Constitution of India to make education for chil-dren from 6 to 14 years of age a Fundamental Right.This imposes a fundamental duty on parents to pro-vide opportunities foreducation to their chil-dren. Ours being a feder-al Government, ourStates and Union Terri-tories would be requiredto enact laws for the en-forcement of free andcompulsory educationwithin a year.” He alsoannounced the initiationof a National Advocacyand Media Campaign forUniversalization of Ele-mentary Education. Thiscampaign would seek toinfluence policy and opinion makers, communityleaders, parents and teachers in favour of EFA.

With a net enrolment rate of about 94.8 per centand an adult literacy rate of 87 per cent,Indonesia is focusing on improving the qualityand relevancy of education, emphasizing children’sability to learn “how to learn”. Through distance education, thousands of teachers have improvedtheir skills and obtained a “Diploma II”, a certificateequivalent to a university-level education. In addi-tion, key emphasis has also been placed on upgrad-ing the quality of pre-service education, with sometraditional teacher training institutions slowly at-taining university status.

Besides increasing the number of textbooks perstudent, the government has launched severalprogrammes to raise the quality and management ofprimary and secondary schools. Measures includerehabilitation of old school buildings, training ofhead teachers and supervisors, improving thenational assessment system and promotingcommunity participation. The LINK and MATCHpolicy is one of the most important initiatives toraise the quality of basic education. “With thispolicy, we are encouraging headmasters andteachers to make education relevant, and to assure

❛❛ OurGovernment hastaken a historicdecision toamend theConstitution ofIndia to makeeducation forchildren from 6to 14 years of age a FundamentalRight.❜❜Shri S.R. BommaiMinister of HumanResource Development,india

that the knowledge and skills of students MATCHEStoday’s societal requirements. This in turn forceseducators to LINK closely with the world outside theclassroom, and to invite community participation onissues such as curriculum content, to a much largerdegree than previously practiced,” explained theMinister’s representative. With regards to populationgrowth, fertility rates have dropped from 2.9 (per1,000 women) in 1993 to 2.6 in 1997.

In Mexico, education reforms have been aimed atfostering quality, equity and relevance. Progress canbe observed in declining drop-out rates. Completionrate of primary and secondary education have in-creased to 83.3 and 79.3 per cent respectively (upfrom 70.3 and 73.9 per cent in 1990-1991). The adultliteracy rate rose from 87.6 per cent in 1990 to 89.4per cent in 1995 (75 to 87.4 per cent for women).Efforts to train teachers, supply learning materials,encourage strategies based on distance communica-tions media, expand pre-school education and pub-lish bilingual-bicultural textbooks are examples ofmeasures that have yielded promising results. Whilegender parity has been achieved in primary educa-tion, a gap persists in rural zones. Through intersec-toral strategies, the country is precisely seeking toreach small, remote villages, street children and indigenous populations. An important effort is alsobeing made to integrate minors with special educa-tion needs into the mainstream school system. Overthe last year, 17,000 disabled youth have been inte-grated into regular schools.

Despite impressive advances, the leader of Mexico’sdelegation reminded the audience that over 35 mil-lion Mexicans do not finish basic education and that1.5 million children in the 6-14 age group do not attend school. “This makes us reflect on the necessi-ties of involving and strengthening participation andcommitment of all the social actors in the task of education”, said the Minister’s representative. Withregard to demographics, the fertility rate has droppedfrom 3.31 in 1990 to 2.73 in 1996.

Nigeria expressed concern over the adverse ef-fects of a depressed economy on education. With anestimated 25 per cent of the population under age

six, the country has strongly encouraged the expan-sion of early childhood education. In the formal sec-tor, basic education is free for nine years, althoughMr A.R. Yunusa, head of Nigeria’s delegation, reported that parents often have to buy books, uniforms and sometimes provide desks and chairs. In 1991, 17.4 millionchildren between 6and 11 were enrolledin school (79 percent), a figure thathas dropped to 15.7million. An estimated50 per cent of thepopulation is illiterate(61 per cent of wom-en). “Our greatestconcern is the de-creasing public pri-mary school net en-rolment ratio in spiteof an increase in en-rolment in PrimaryOne each year,” said Mr Yunusa. “Drop-out rates arealso high and there are considerable regional dispar-ities between urban and rural areas, and gender dif-ferences.” Besides increasing the material costs ofproviding education, the recession is undervaluingthe whole concept of learning.“ And yet, “experiencehas shown that communities are prepared to con-tribute collectively, often substantially and at somesacrifice to themselves, to support and sustainschools for their children.”

Mr Yunusa expressed confidence in the PrimaryEducation Improvement Programme, which hasreceived a new impetus from World Bank loans.These cover the provision of textbooks, schoolrehabilitation and building, and teacher training. Theprogramme also places emphasis on advocacy andmobilization of grassroots communities in therunning and maintenance of local schools. “Nigeria’sgreatest resource is its people but their potentialcannot be fulfilled without education. The nation’sfinancial resources are crippled by a heavy burden ofexternal debts and currency devaluation,” said MrYunusa.

24

❛❛ experience hasshown thatcommunities areprepared tocontributecollectively, oftensubstantially andat some sacrificeto themselves, tosupport andsustain schoolsfor theirchildren.❜❜A.R. Yunusa, head of Nigeria’s delegation

Pakistan is committed to providing basiceducation to all children in the 5-9 age group anddoubling the literacy rate to 70 per cent by 2002.The Minister of Education informed participants thatthe development budget for basic education hadincreased from Rs. 1.24 billion in 1990 to Rs. 8.9billion in 1997. Education spending represents 2.56per cent of GNP. He reported a 44 per cent increasein gross enrolment at the primary level and progressin female participation rates from 48 in 1990 to 63per cent in 1997. Participation rates in primaryschool have increased 10.8 per cent since 1990.

To further encourage female enrolment, anincentive-tied package for rural women has beenlaunched aiming to achieve higher enrolment, betterretention and reduce drop-out. The Social ActionProgramme (SAP) has achieved a modestbreakthrough in the rate of establishing primaryschools (a 32 per cent increase since 1990),encouraged decentralization and fostered a greaterawareness towards “the serious neglect of humandevelopment in the past.” Population growthremains high: an estimated 2.7 per cent in 1996-97,down from 3.1 per cent in 1990-1991. j

I n his closing address, President Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari ofPakistan underlined the link between declining population growthand education. “Today, we the nine nations constitute half of the

world’s population. The entire population of our nine nations isgreater than the world population of 1950. Our nine countriesaccount for over 70 per cent of the world’s illiterates. It is estimatedthat over 70 million children in our nine countries are left out of theprimary education system and that this number would grow to 83million by the end of the century. In most of our nine countries,population growth rate is over 2.5 percent.” Pointing to the positivelinks between education and slower population growth, Mr Leghari

referred to illiteracy as “the root cause and mother ofall social evils... Extremism, terrorism, intolerance,ethnicity and other destructive trends and attitudesemerge from the womb of illiteracy.”

Making reference to his own country’s educationrecord, President Leghari said he felt “ashamed” thatPakistan had “not done what it should have done for itspeople.” “Our leaders are to blame more than anyoneelse for the fact that other countries that were morebackward than Pakistan managed to forge ahead withscarce resources. Not only did we fail to providesufficient resources, but we continue to do so. And the

scant resources we did provide continue to be misused,” he stated.“Our policies have been flawed. We have not concentrated enough onwomen’s education. There has hardly been any participation of thepeople. Policies enforced from the top without participation canhardly achieve results.”

The problem is not one of demand. “Wherever we go, we are delugedby the demand for more schools. The involvement of people does notexist. Our schools do not have managing committees, there is nocheck on teachers, no authentic record of drop-out, fundamentallybecause there is no participation.”

Faces Realities

POLICIESENFORCEDFROM THE TOPWITHOUTPARTICIPATIONCAN HARDLYACHIEVERESULTS.

A President

25

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“We have been enlightened and otherUN agencies now have the impor-tant task to reflect and make

in-depth studies of what you have presented,” said UNESCO’s Director-General Federico Mayor.“We have done a good analysis of what has to bedone. We must come to action, we must come fromwords to deeds. The reporting society is also a post-poning society. We know and we come here to reaf-firm that education is the solution to provide eachindividual with the capacity they have to create, to invent, to think by themselves, to say yes or no, according to their own thought.”

He drew special attention to Egypt’s regard for edu-cation as a matter of national security. “I fully con-sider that this is one aspect that we do not dare todiscuss. We usually have the idea that security be-longs to other facets of government and is not di-rectly related to education. But if we invest in edu-cation, we will make democracy less vulnerable andprovide citizens with more security. When citizensare educated, they are in a position to enhance andinfluence the democratic process.”

Mr Mayor underlined education’s strategic role inforging attitudes and values and drew attention tothe vital triangle formed by democracy, developmentand peace. “We cannot have sustainable peace if wedo not have sustainable development based on bettersharing and better distribution of wealth. The contextof sustainable development is a context of democra-cy so that all citizens can participate.” Parliamentsand the media both have critical roles to play in cre-ating necessity at the popular level: “The media musthelp us to mobilize the popular wing in gaining sup-port for education.” The message is a straightforwardone: “If you care about population, environment,health and nutrition, invest in education.”

UNFPA’s Executive Director Nafis Sadik welcomed aproposal made at the E-9 Ministers’ Meeting in Gene-va last October calling for stronger links between theeducation and health sectors. “Successful schoolingdepends on healthy children and a healthy school en-vironment. Children who areproperly cared for, in infancyand early childhood, aremore likely to do well inschool,” said Dr Sadik.“While health systems willgain from collaborating witheducators to bring know-ledge to parents, educationsystems could be doingmuch more to promotehealth, particularly by educating students about prac-tices that can improve, or undermine, their health,and that of their families, throughout their lives.”

Priority to Women’s Education

As most global conferences have recognized, educa-tion is an essential element of women’s empower-ment. Because with better education, women areequipped to be better mothers and their families arelikely to be both smaller and healthier, there is an in-tricate link between slower population growth andhigher education levels. “Every country’s progresstowards the goals of EFA depends upon removing thehuge gap between the access of girls and boys to ba-sic education and strenghtening these aspects ofwomen’s lives,” said Dr Sadik.

d Education as a Human Right

“Education is fundamental human right. Without edu-cation, we cannot ensure the dignity of all human be-ings. This dignity is our everyday mission, on behalf of

Key Messages

❛❛ Successfulschoolingdepends onhealthychildren and a healthyschoolenvironment.❜❜Nafis Sadik,executive director,unfpa

27

the UN system,” saidMr Mayor. Several par-ticipants underlinedthe significance of edu-cation as a humanright. “We and othershave not merely re-sponsibilities but obli-gations to fulfill thisright,” said UNICEF’srepresentative in Pak-istan Stephen Umemo-to. “In each case, we

must ask: ’Who is withholding this right, not necessar-ily intentionally, but through inaction, inadequate com-mitment and initiative’. Our first obligation is not totechnical education, new curricula or even quality education. Our first obligation is to those childrenwhose right to education is being withheld.”

HIGHLIGHTS OF

THE JOINT COMMUNIQUÉ

The Joint Communiqué was drafted with a high level ofconsensus, resulting in a comprehensive document thatencompasses a broad range of issues. Governments re-solved “to give an added sense of urgency” to nationalefforts towards EFA. They committed themselves to de-veloping effective long-term strategies for sustainablesocial and political mobilization, notably through theinvolvement of the entire political community, contin-ued decentralization and a strong media alliance. Thedocument places emphasis on reaching the unreached,often through non-formal educational approaches tai-lored to specific economic and cultural circumstances.Political measures and financial efforts are required toresolve the issue of street and working children, de-scribed as “a collective shame.” The education of girlsand women remains a top priority, and ministers un-derlined the links between women’s education and im-proved use of micro-credit programmes for increasingfamily income. They also pledged to provide further re-sources to adult literacy and integrated education andcare for young children. The communiqué reiteratesthat education has to address population issues andfoster values and attitudes of tolerance and dignity. Italso draws attention to improving data collection and

analysis and further promoting various media to sup-port distance education.

d Enhancing Cooperation

The need to strengthen coordination among UNagencies, also expressed in the Joint Communiqué,stems from the recognition that education must beconsidered as one of several basic social servicescomposing any poverty alleviation strategy. Dr Sadikinformed the audience about the recently establishedUN Development Group, formed as part of theSecretary-General’s Track 2 reform initiatives. TheGroup’s aim is to facilitate the functioning of the UNFunds and Programme in a more coherent framework,especially at the country level. The joint programmeof support to basic primary education in India, thefirst of its kind, is one example of what is possible.

d Future Directions

Underlining the strength of the Joint Communiqué,Mr Mayor drew attention to the urgency of puttingit into practice. “This communiqué reaffirms thecommitment of all the E-9 countries to provide EFA.Let us provide access to education to all citizensthroughout life. Let us forge attitudes of toleranceand comprehension.”

The E-9 countries pledged to work more closely withsponsoring agencies and donors in a number of key ar-eas, including quality, relevance, and effectiveness ofprimary education; collection and analysis of educa-tional data; teacher training; the fostering of a literateenvironment; health and nutrition of young children;distance education and the role of the media.

The Ministers proposed convening a second E-9summit in 2000 to be held in conjuction with a“Jomtien II” Conference, preceded by a preparatorymeeting in 1999. All participants agreed on the needto share the E-9 experiences more widely, notably bytapping the potential of new communication tech-nologies. But sharing goes beyond learning fromeach other. “We must better share wealth andknowledge,” said Mr Mayor. “This is perhaps the bestrecommendation that we can give in this meeting:we must care and we must dare to share.” j

❛❛ Our firstobligation is not

to technicaleducation, new

curricula or evenquality education.

Our firstobligation is tothose childrenwhose right to

education is beingwithheld.❜❜Stephen Umemoto,

unicef

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the jointcommuniqué

ISLAMABAD, 14-16 SEPTEMBER, 1997

Strengthening the Commitment for EFA

We, the Ministers of Education of the nine coun-tries, have come together in Islamabad to review

the progress and problems encountered in strivingtowards our shared goal of education for all, payingparticular attention to the required political andsocial mobilization. We hereby reconfirm our commit-ment, as expressed in the Delhi Declaration, to pursuewith the utmost zeal and determination the goals setin 1990 by the World Conference on Education for All,the Summit of the Nine High-Population Countries in1993, and the first Ministerial Review Meeting of theE-9 countries in Bali, Indonesia (1995) to meet thebasic learning needs of all our people. We remain con-vinced that Governments play a critically importantrole in the provision of Basic Education, both relevantand of quality to all, and renew our commitment toprovide basic education for all in our countries, mobi-lize resources commesurate with our commitments,and work closely with parents and communities, as well as with the international community. Themarked success achieved in increasing primary schoolenrolments in most E-9 countries since Jomtien pro-vides incontrovertible evidence of both adherence topast commitment and increases the possibility ofactually achieving the Jomtien goals in the nearfuture. We regard basic education as a fundamentalhuman right to which we are all committed, as a cen-tral factor in ensuring sustainable livelihood anderadication of poverty, and apt to break the cycle ofgender inequity, marginalization and exclusion, aswell as the foundation for equitable social and eco-nomic development.

Endorsing the Amman Affirmation

We fully endorse the Amman Affirmation forEFA, adopted at the Mid-Decade Meeting of the

International Consultative Forum on EFA, held inAmman, Jordan, in June 1996, with its emphasis onthe following priorities:

x 2.1. Affirmation of the right to education.

x 2.2. The priority placed on the education of womenand girls.

x 2.3. The emphasis on the training, status, remunera-tion and motivation of teachers.

x 2.4. The role of parents, families and communities inimproving provision of basic education, includ-ing early childhood development.

x 2.5. The need for partnerships which include parlia-ments, voluntary and community groups, thebusiness sector and the media.

x 2.6. The efficient and effective use of resources.

Mobilizing for EFA

We recognize the fact that without the continu-ing mobilization of all segments of society,

the goal of “Education for All” cannot be achieved. We, therefore, commit ourselves to developing effec-tive long-term strategies for sustainable social and political mobilization for EFA. These strategiesshould include:

x 3.1. the effective involvement of political leaders,parliaments and political parties in each coun-try, at all levels of government including themunicipalities; a change of mind-set on the

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part of administrators; enshrining EFA as a last-

ing commitment in national constitutions and

in appropriate legislation; giving EFA a priority

position in national and local budgets; defining

clear and realistic objectives and targeting the

most needy populations;

x 3.2. strengthening our efforts towards decentraliza-

tion in order to better integrate civil society at

the local level and giving an effective role in

EFA programmes to all those who can con-

tribute; the partnerships to be built or strength-

ened should include, in particular, the NGO

community, the private sector, parents and local

communities, as well as the learners themselves

who should be encouraged to clearly articulate

their learning needs;

x 3.3. raising awareness of the value of education and

strengthening local demand for, as well as con-

tributions to, education through social mobi-

lization in ways which will reach both the illiter-

ate and the literate. The media have a critical

role to play in any effort of social and political

mobilization. We, therefore, advocate a strong

media alliance within and across countries,

strengthening media participation in the mobi-

lization process for EFA.

Reaching the Unreached

Our commitment to education for all entails an

obligation to reach those whose learning needs

may not be adequately addressed by conventional

education: the poor in remote rural or semi-urban

areas for whom basic education must be a key to over-

come and eradicate poverty; indigenous populations

for whom education serves as a means to preserve

their identity and dignity; and disabled learners who

require special but inclusive educational arrange-

ments. For many of these, non-formal educational

approaches tailored to specific economic and cultural

circumstances and integrated with other complemen-

tary social services have proved to be relevant and

cost-effective; such approaches provide, at the same

time, valuable opportunities to remove certain rigidi-ties of formal school systems and to create pathwaysbetween learning within and outside the classroom.Intensive skills learning in the mother tongue, in orderto improve conditions of life, is a good premise to fur-ther enhance learning and literacy.

Children Living on the Streets or Working to Support their Families

Street children, children forced to work so as to

support their families, or children who are sexu-ally exploited are a collective shame that cannot beconsidered as an irremediable outcome of economic

development. In order to eliminate it, state pacts with

all political parties, trade unions, NGOs, private and

public sectors, religious organizations, the media etc.

must be achieved, and particular financial efforts

must be made as the solution lies in political measures

and not charitable and humanitarian approaches,

which must be transitional only.

Educating Girls and Women

The Delhi Declaration and the Amman

Affirmation stressed the overall importance of

educating girls and women particularly in view of the

emphasis on basic education as a fundamental human

right and as the foundation for all forms of develop-

ment, including economic development, poverty erad-

ication, and ways to address population issues.

This remains a top priority and efforts must be inten-sified to achieve the stated objectives. Consequently,all E-9 initiatives will need to pay particular attention

to the education of girls and women. Despite some

progress in this area, we resolve, herewith, to acceler-ate our efforts to make education available to all girlsand women, in particular ensuring that girls are able

to complete the full cycle of basic education, and that curricula and teaching-learning materials

include a gender perspective. In the context of effortstowards poverty eradication, we recognize the crucialeconomic role of rural women who must be given

access to education so they may better utilize local

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opportunities such as micro-credit systems which aresuccessfully practised in several E-9 countries. Indeed,we emphasize that providing women equal access toeducation will facilitate improved utilization of micro-credit programmes for increase in the family income.

Integrated Education and Care for Young Children

We acknowledge the fact that integrated childdevelopment programmes, including adequate

health care, nutrition, and psycho-social stimulationfor young children and, at a later age, population edu-cation, environmental education, and education toprevent drug abuse, are basic elements of effectiveeducation for all. The E-9 countries will intensifyaction in these domains and will develop appropriateinitiatives with a view to enlarging the scope of edu-cational policies, particularly as regards early child-hood development, by involving Ministries of Healthand Education, local communities, and those NGOsand private organizations which can play a comple-mentary role and create awareness among families,especially young parents.

Education and Values

Attitudes and values constitute an essentialdimension of basic education. We affirm our

commitment to fostering values through education,including education for peace and democracy educa-tion for sustainable development, education forhuman dignity, education for tolerance and educationfor reproductive health as a way of valuing life andreducing population growth.

Education, Population,and Development

Recognizing that education can be neither relevant nor complete without addressing

population issues, we resolve to take into account the linkages between education, population, and development, as endorsed by all our countries at the International Conference on Population and

Development (Cairo, 1994), in all future ReviewMeetings, country reports, and other relevant E-9activities. Our common goal of Education for Allrequires an integrated, multi-sectoral approach.

Literacy and Continuing Education for Adults

Following the International Conference on AdultEducation, held in Hamburg, Germany (July

1997), and knowing that vast numbers of young peo-

ple and adults are denied access to basic education,

we stress the importance of accelerating progress in

the area of literacy and continuing education for

adults. In this respect we reaffirm our determination

to provide further resources to adult literacy through

formal and non-formal means, with particular refer-

ence to functional literacy programmes, and acknowl-

edge the essential, but not exclusive role of NGOs and

communities as partners in literacy work and adult

education. The E-9 countries need to benefit from a

more active exchange of national experiences, notably

in respect of mass literacy strategies and campaigns.

We also recognize the potential of ‘Reading for All’

campaigns as a means of creating a literate environ-

ment and establishing the habit of reading in commu-

nities where limited access to reading materials is a

major obstacle to EFA.

Effective Planning and Monitoring through Improved Data and Statistics

In recognition of the fact that long-term EFA

policies cannot be effectively planned and mon-

itored without the availability of reliable , timely, andinternationally comparable education data and indi-

cators, we will strengthen our efforts to build the capacity of local and national bodies charged

with collecting and analyzing educational data as a precondition for effective educational planning,

monitoring and evaluation. Such data should not onlybe geared to national policy concerns, but also highlight the considerable variations in quantity and

quality of educational provision within each country.We also request the sponsoring agencies and other

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organizations or NGOs to provide technical inputs andsupport whenever needed, and welcome the establish-ment by UNESCO of a new International Institute ofStatistics.

Using Distance Education

We confirm our commitment to developing theconcept of Learning Without Frontiers further by

promoting new modes of access to learning, in partic-

ular the various media used to support distance edu-

cation. These modes of teaching and learning should

find effective application in all areas of basic educa-

tion, in-service teacher training, adult education and

literacy, and formal and non-formal approaches to

reach out to those yet unreached. Recent joint E-9

studies have shown the existence of promising new

strategies in the field of in-service teacher training.

Not only will we increase attention and support to this

crucial aspect of EFA, but we will also determine its

effectiveness in terms of learning results. We call on

international agencies to join us in this effort, to help

promote cooperation and experience exchange in line

with the Distance Education Initiative adopted at the

E-9 Summit in Delhi, 1993, and contribute to the

funding required.

International Collaboration

We, the E-9 countries, are aware of the role we

must play in the context of the global mobiliza-

tion for EFA. We confirm our willingness to develop,

together with the sponsoring agencies UNESCO,

UNICEF, UNFPA and UNDP and other agencies, such as

the World Bank and regional development banks,

bilateral and multilateral donors and NGOs, intensive

action programmes in each of our countries to accel-

erate the momentum of the E-9 Initiative. We pledge

to work together with emphasis on the following key

areas: quality, relevance, and effectiveness of primary

education as the cutting edge of EFA; collection and

analysis of educational data for improved planning

and monitoring; research concerning the effects on

learning outcomes of better training and working con-

ditions for teachers; reading for all and creating a lit-

erate environment; health and nutrition of young chil-

dren; developing effective strategies of mobilization

for universal, free, and compulsory primary education,

literacy and continuing adult education especially for

women; and reinforcing distance education and the

role of the media. In all these areas, we intend to share

relevant experiences more widely with other coun-

tries, using Internet wherever appropriate, as well as

intensifying the dialogue between centre, states, and

districts within our own countries. We are particularly

looking forward to stronger and better coordinated

programmes of UN agencies and donors at national

level, and we call on them to actively contribute to the

joint E-9 activities as outlined above.

Future E-9 Activities

Four years after the Delhi Summit, and having

achieved visible progress in many areas, we

resolve to give an added sense of urgency to our

national efforts towards the common goal of EFA, in

particular by retaining EFA as a concern of society as

a whole. While looking forward to the results of the

joint activities mentioned above, we propose to con-

vene a second E-9 Summit in the year 2000. This will

be preceded by a preparatory meeting in 1999, in

Brazil, to be held in conjunction with a ‘Jomtien II’

Conference which will be organized by the interna-

tional community. On that historic occasion, we hope

to be able to confirm the present trends of progress for

EFA and report on concrete achievements in every

area of EFA, thus contributing in a significant manner

to the global struggle for EFA. We call on the sponsor-

ing agencies, and particularly on UNESCO, to collabo-

rate with us in the careful preparation of the Summit

Meeting in the year 2000, which will decide on the

future orientations of our joint initiative. j

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List ofPARTICIPANTS

BANGLADESHDr. Saadat HusainSecretaryPrimary & Mass Education Division

Mr. Q.A.M. RahimHigh Commissioner of Bangladesh to Pakistan

Mr. Md Saokat AliDirector GeneralCompulsory Primary EducationImplementation Monitoring UnitPrimary & Mass Education Division

Dr. Delwar HossainDeputy Chief of PlanningPrimary & Mass Education Division

Mr. Syed Mahbur RahmanCounsellorBangladesh High Commission,Islamabad

BRAZILProf. Sonia Maria Riberio MoreiraSpecial Adviser for Basic EducationMinistry of Education and Sport,Brasilia

Mr. Josecler Gomes MoreiraProgram Coordinate Acorda

Ms. Maria Das Gracas RiosPeixoto Da Silveira

EGYPTProf. Ms. Nadia Y.I.G. El-DinDirector, National Centre forEducational Research

Mr. Mohamed R.M. Sharaby1st Under-Secretary, Ministry of Education(Permanent Secretary)

Dr. Mohammad Noman GalalAmbassador of Egypt to Pakistan

Mr. Khalid A.R. HussainThird Secretary, Embassy of Egypt,Pakistan

INDONESIADr. Dodi SutanoAmbassador of Indonesia to Pakistan

Prof. Dr. Soedarso DjojonegoroAmbassador/Permanent Delegate ofIndonesia to UNESCO, Paris

Prof. Zaenal Arifin AchmadyDirector General, Primary & SecondaryEducation, MOEC

Prof. Dr. Soedijarto M.A. Director-General of Out-of-SchoolEducation, MOEC

Prof. Dr. Hidayat SyarifDeputy Chairman for HRD

Dr. Muchlis Dasuki, M.EDHead, Bureau for InternationalCooperation, MOEC

Prof. W.P. NapitupuluChairman, Indonesian NationalCommission for UNESCO, Ministry of Education

Mr. Zakaria AnsharFirst SecretaryIndonesian Embassy in Pakistan

Mr. Chalief AkbarThird SecretaryIndonesian Embassy in Pakistan

INDIAShri S.R. BommaiMinister of Human ResourceDevelopment (HRD)

Shri Ashok S. JivaragiAddl. PS to the Minister, HRD

Shri Champak ChatterjiJoint SecretaryIndian National Commission forCooperation with UNESCO

Dr. (Mrs.) Roopa R. JoshiDirector, District Primary EducationProject, HRD

Shri Abhimanyu SinghJoint SecretaryElementary Education, HRD

Mr. A.R. GhanashyamCounsellor, High Commission of India, Pakistan

Mr. Sharat SabharawalDeputy High Commissioner of India, Pakistan

E-9DELEGATES

33

Mr. ChopraSecond SecretaryIndian High Commission, Pakistan

Mr. Y.K. SinhaCounsellor, Indian High Commission,Pakistan

MEXICOMs. Sofia Leticia Morales,Adviser to the Minister of Education,Mexico

NIGERIAMr. Abdul Razaq YunusaAmbassador of Nigeria to Pakistan

Mr. Olesegun AkinluyiAmbassador/Permanent Delegate ofNigeria to UNESCO, Paris

Mr. I.C.J. AdigweAg. Director, Dept. of FormalEducation, MOE

Mr. Alhaji Umoro AjiExecutive Secretary, MOE

Dr. Karibu IsyakuExecutive Secretary, MOE

Mrs. M.O.A. OlofunmiAg. Director, MOE

Mr. Y.M.O. NwazforSecretary General

Mr. Alhaji Sanni IdrisPersonal Assistant to the Minister,MOE

Dr. J.O. AfolabiMinister, Nigerian High Commission,Pakistan

Mr. Malam Sulaiman HusainPersonal Assistant to the Minister

PAKISTANMr. Syed Ghous Ali ShahFederal Minister for Education

Dr. Safdar MahmoodFederal Education Secretary

Dr. Abdul Aziz KhanJoint Regional Adviser

Mr. Munir AhmadJoint Educational Adviser

Mr. Mirza Muhammad MushirSecretary General, NationalCommission to UNESCO

Mr. M.H. Abassi (RTD)Joint Educational Adviser

Mr. Inayatullah (RTD)Federal Secretary

Mr. Khadim HussainJoint Educational Adviser

Dr. Syed Fayyaz AhmadDeputy Educational Adviser

Dr. Ijaz Hussain BukhariDeputy Educational Adviser

Dr. Afzal HaqManaging DirectorNational Education Foundation

Dr. Muhammad SaleemAssistant Educational Adviser

BANGLADESHMr. Mahbub Husain Khan

BRAZILMr. M. Rodrigo Jose Franca Taves

EGYPTMr. Ragab El-Bana

MEXICOMs. Rosa Elvira Vargas Rodriguez

NIGERIAMrs. Helen I. Osuagwu

INDIAMr. Ashok Tuteja

INDONESIADr. Maryuni Kabul Budiono

UNESCOMr. Federico MayorDirector-GeneralParis, France

Mr. Colin N. PowerAssistant Director-General of EducationParis, France

Mr. Tamazjul HuqSenior Special Adviser to theDirector-General of UNESCO for Asia and the Pacific, Paris, France

Mr. Dieter BerstecherDirector/ED/EFAParis, France

Mr. S. OkajimaDir. BRX/APAParis, France

Mr. Wolfgang VollmannCoordinator, ED/EFA/E-9Paris, France

Mr. Shihab EldinDirector of Office/UNESCO/Cairo,Egypt

Mr. A.A. KhanDirector of Office/UNESCO/Dhaka,Bangladesh

Mr. Jorge WertheinDirector of Office/UNESCO/Brasilia,Brazil

Prof. MoegiadiDirector of Office/UNESCO/New Delhi,India

Mr. E. ApeaDirector of Office/UNESCO/Lagos,Nigeria

Mr. M. Ashraf QureshiDirector of Office, UNESCO Islamabad, Pakistan

Dr. Anjum Riaz ul HaqueProgramme Specialist (SHS)UNESCO/Islamabad, Pakistan

INTERNATIONALAGENCIES

JOURNALISTS FROM

THE E-9 COUNTRIES

34

Dr. S.B. EkanayakeBasic Education Adviser forAfghanistanUNESCO/Islamabad, Pakistan

Mrs. Cynthia GuttmanConsultant, UNESCO/Paris, France

UNFPADr. Nafis SadikExecutive DirectorNew York, USA

Mr. O.J. SikesChiefEducation, Communication and Youth DivisionNew York, USA

Mr. Birhat SimhaResident Representative a.i.Islamabad, Pakistan

Mrs. Tahira AbdullahAssistant Resident RepresentativeIslamabad, Pakistan

UNDPMr. J.K. Robert EnglandUNDP Resident RepresentativeIslamabad, Pakistan

Mr. John Lawrence Chief Technical Adviser, New York, USA

Mr. Hans C. von SponeckResident Representative UNDP/New Delhi, India

UNICEFMr. James IrvineRegional Education AdviserUNICEF/Kathmandu, Nepal

Mr. Kul GautamRepresentative, UNICEF/New Delhi,India

Mr. Stephen UmemotoUNICEF Representative, IslamabadPakistan

Ms. Staneala BeckleyChief Education AdviserUNICEF/Islamabad, Pakistan

WORLD BANKMr. Guilherme SedlacekC/O Resident Office (World Bank),Islamabad, Pakistan

WHOMr. M.A. BarzgarChief of MissionWHO/Islamabad, Pakistan

COMMONWEALTHMs. Selina MohsinChief Education OfficerCommonwealth Sect. London, U.K.

HUMAN RESOURCEDEVELOPMENTCENTRE, PAKISTANDr. Mahbub-ul-HaqPresident Human Development CentreIslamabad, Pakistan

LOCALPARTICIPANTSCh. Muhammad IqbalEducation Minister, Punjab

Mr. Qazi KhalidEducation Minister, Sindh

Mr. Sardar Qamar Zaman KhanEducation Minister, AJK

Mr. Muhammad Sharif BalochEducation Secretary, Karachi

Mr. Mijan KhanEducation Secretary, Quetta

Dr. Muhammad Sarwar ChoudryEducation Secretary, AJK

Prof. Dr. Mira PhailbusPrincipal, Kinnaird College for Women,Lahore

Dr. Mahar Liaquat AliChairman, PMLC, Islamabad

Mr. Qazi M. AslamConsultant,Frontier Education Foundation,Peshawar

Prof. Sultan Mahmood Ahamad NiaziManaging DirectorBalochistan Education Foundation,Quetta

Dr. Rashid BajwaNational Rural Support Programme(NSRP), Islamabad

Dr. Naila AzharIncharge Social SectorNSRP, Islamabad

Mr. Syed Mohammad ArifBalochistan Rural Support Programme(BRSP), Quetta

Prof. Muhammad Ali SheikhPrincipal, Sindh Madarsa tul Islam

Mr. Muhammad Naeem QureshiRead Foundation, Islamabad

35

The designations employed and thepresentation of material in this report do not

imply the expression of any opinionwhatsoever on the part of UNESCO,

concerning the legal status of any country,territory, city or area or of its authorities,

concerning its frontiers or boundaries. Any part of this publication may be freely

reproduced with the appropriateacknowledgement.

For further information please write to: W. Vollmann, UNESCO, ED/EFA/E-9

7, place de Fontenoy75007 Paris

Francetel: (33) 01 45 68 21 29fax: (33) 01 45 68 56 29

Editorial Coordination: Wolfgang VollmannEditorial Consultant: Cynthia Guttman

Editorial Assistant: Harrison BeckGraphic design: Sylvaine Baeyens

Printing: Europrint

© UNESCO 1997Printed in Paris, France

B a n g l a d e s h

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P a k i s t a n

UNFPA UNICEF