Education for all: Making the right to part of every child’s reality

The 2011 High-Level Segment of the UN Economic and Social Council Annual Ministerial Review provides a crucial opportunity for states to address shortcomings in education worldwide and renew commitments to pave the way to 2015, when the international community will be accountable for what it has done to secure the of all girls and boys.

With four years to go until the 2015 deadline to achieve universal , there is a lot to celebrate. Out- of- numbers have been dropping and progress has been made towards the Education for All goals. This brief highlights areas in need of greater attention and key recommendations to address challenges in ensuring all children are in school by 2015.

Every child has the right to education Education for All means education for all children . Every child has the right to a good-quality education. This is enshrined in frameworks that encompass commitments from states to achieve universal primary education under the Millennium Development Goals, as well as the Education for All goals agreed by 164 countries in Dakar in 2000.1

Failing to meet these goals will have a serious impact upon children – and on all our futures. When children do not have access to adequate education, societies suffer and a country’s development is impeded. Children who miss out on education will not have the chance to develop the skills they need to become better citizens, parents and community members nationally and globally.

As part of their international human rights obligations, states must be accountable for securing equal rights to education. The further we are from achieving the right to education, the slower our overall progress will be towards realising other fundamental rights, development goals and the overarching UN goal of dignity for all people.

Good-quality education for all is possible. But to realise this goal, global leaders, donor countries and states must remain committed to upholding children’s rights and governments must implement policies that make this a reality for all.

Save the Children calls on the international community – including governments in developing countries – to act now for all children who have been denied a good-quality education.

Millions miss out For all our successes, the world is still not on track to meet the 2015 target. Considered action is essential to ensure the millions of the hardest-to-reach children who are out of school have the opportunity to enjoy a good-quality education.

Save the Children renews its call2 for the international community to ensure particular attention is given to:  67 million primary-school-age children who are currently out of school – more than half of them are girls; one- third are children living with disabilities  28 million out-of-school children who live in conflict-affected countries  130 million illiterate youth (aged 15–24 years) who are excluded from relevant educational opportunities and decent employment3  More than 200 million children under-five who are not reaching their developmental potential due to the absence of early childhood interventions.4

1 Making the right to education part of every child’s reality

Additionally, we call on the international community to act now for:  children who miss out on school due to sudden-onset emergencies.  children who are currently in school but likely to drop out before completing their primary education. 5

Getting these children into school is possible. Education systems that are equitable and reflect an inclusive education enable all children to access education free from discrimination. Barriers that prevent children from poorer households from going to school must be addressed, including the progressive removal of school fees, implementing school health and nutrition programmes, social protection and livelihoods programmes, and multilingual education that reflects language diversity. Governments must strengthen the key role played by civil society and community-based mechanisms that monitor children’s access to school.

Conflicts and emergencies: the hidden education crisis Despite the importance and benefits of education, and the fact that education is often what children, their families and communities want and prioritise in times of crisis, there is a failure to deliver education when children need it most. In conflicts or rapid onset emergencies a child has less chance of getting a decent education. In conflict affected countries, one in four children are out of school compared to one in eleven in other low- and lower-middle-income countries; girls are continually disadvantaged; and children are less likely to be able to read.6

The 2011 Global Monitoring Report (GMR) shows that the crisis in education in conflict-affected countries is a global challenge that demands a concerted international response. Throughout the world, children’s daily lives are disrupted by emerging or forgotten armed conflicts. As a result many are forced to flee with their families, and hundreds of thousands are surrounded by violence in urban settings. Reaching children in these contexts must be an urgent priority.

Making it happen At the tenth meeting of the High-Level Group on Education for All in Jomtien, Thailand, in 2011 ministers’ restated their commitments to increase their efforts to achieve the Education for All goals.7 Save the Children endorses the recommendations from this meeting.

We particularly call on governments to take the following steps to address crucial areas in need of immediate attention.

Reflect commitment to education in national budgets In defining national education budgets, countries should consider the lost opportunities associated with not investing enough in education and the impact this will have on poverty, unemployment and marginalisation.8 Allocating a fair and adequate percentage of the national budget – one that reflects the scale and educational needs of children – should consider work conditions of teachers, investment in quality teaching, and the development of safe infrastructure. Governments should develop legislative frameworks and implement comprehensive national policies that support teachers through training, professional development and improving working conditions. Incentives for teachers in rural settings and harder-to-reach areas should also be included.

The GMR estimates that if countries devoting more resources to their military budgets than to primary education were to cut military expenditure by 10%, they could put a total of 9.5 million additional children in school.9 Countries affected by conflict should commit to allocating at least 20% of their national budgets to education, and work with civil society to remove all financial, cultural and social barriers that prevent the most marginalised children from going to school.

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Secure essential funding for education in emergencies Funding education in emergencies is essential to delivering education for all. In short, if children in emergencies do not have access to education, MDG 2 will not be fulfilled. Enabling education systems to support a child’s right to education is fundamental to give children and youth an opportunity in life. Concentrating on creating greater education opportunities builds peace and national stability. Governments affected by emergencies must make every effort to garner support for the right to education in these contexts and donors must see their crucial role in supporting this effort. Donors must secure essential funding to education in countries suffering from protracted crisis and fragility and maintain and increase investment in educational systems in these countries.

States, humanitarian agencies and donors must uphold the right to education in humanitarian contexts as a matter of policy and practice. There is an urgent need to change the humanitarian and donor mindset, and recognise the vital role of education during any emergency that requires a humanitarian response. Education, a life-saving, life-sustaining and protective intervention needs to be acknowledged and fully accepted as a key intervention. By integrating education into humanitarian response, children will also be better prepared to deal with future natural disasters and outbreaks of violence. The GMR recommends increasing financing for humanitarian pooled funds to US$2 billion to cover shortfalls in education financing.10

Protect education and reinforce its contributions to peacebuilding are increasingly targets of attack, with teachers and children frequently killed or injured. Such attacks have damaging consequences for societies.11 Greater international and national action is needed in order to protect children, teachers and educational institutions from targeted violence and to stop the use and occupation of schools for military purposes.

Implementing the key recommendations of the ground-breaking General Assembly Resolution on the right to education in emergency situations12 will enable many children to go to school and teachers to teach in a protective environment, free from attacks. These key recommendations require states to adhere to applicable obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law that protect education.13 Steps must be taken to implement key legislation that criminalises attacks on education and guarantees that those who threaten, injure and kill children and their teachers, as well as those who destroy essential education infrastructure, are held accountable.

Additionally, education systems and donors must champion and strengthen the links between education and peace- building efforts. Children should be seen as agents of peace in their communities and schools as zones of peace - places for imparting vital skills that will teach children tolerance, mutual respect and the ability to live peacefully.14 In emergencies, education systems must also ensure that policies are in place to provide equal opportunities for all children to access school. Every effort must be made to remove barriers to education that have the potential to discriminate against children from ethnic or minority groups or children from displaced or migrant families.

Provide a better start for children As the Dakar framework15 underlines, the most marginalised children have little chance of enjoying an education if essential aspects of their basic development needs remain unmet. In developing countries, 195 million children under five - one in three - experience malnutrition, causing irreparable damage to their cognitive development and their educational prospects. 16

In conflict-affected countries, the average mortality rate for children under five is more than double the rate in other countries.17 In these settings, we need cross-cutting interventions – for example, effective early childhood care and development programmes that bring together activities to improve mothers’ and health, and increase the chances of their children’s survival, as well as measures to strengthen a child’s intellectual ability from the early years.

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Education systems should ensure children are ready to learn by investing in early learning opportunities that incorporate health and nutrition needs, including early childhood care and development interventions.

Provide a better prospect for youth Demographic trends indicate that more than 50% of the populations in developing countries will be aged 14­–24 by 2025, creating the largest ever generation of young people in the developing world. This constitutes a significant opportunity for positive change if young people are provided with the skills they need through meaningful training and active participation in civic life. But it also represents a very serious risk if these young people are not given a decent education and opportunities for work. More than 60% of the population in many conflict-affected and fragile countries are aged 25 and under. Providing them with hope for a better future through education and training could prevent future conflicts and help to rebuild fractured societies. Responding now to their needs and demands is essential to secure progress for all countries.

Governments should extend formal and non-formal programs for youth literacy and skills development. These skills are vital for young people to become economic, social and political actors, and to make better life decisions. States should guarantee that young people are protected from all forms of hazardous work.

Prepare children better for disasters As we have seen in recent years, children are now more vulnerable than ever to the effects of natural disasters and climate change. The world has witnessed terrible events in Haiti, Pakistan and Japan, but many other tragedies have gone unnoticed. The effects of disasters can be minimised. From lessons learnt at school, children can take a leading role in preparing their peers and their communities for disasters.18 Governments must ensure disaster risk reduction programmes are incorporated into education curricula and preparedness plans are in place to build children’s resilience.

Support creativity and innovation The education needs that remain unmet are the most challenging. Yet educators have proved that schooling can be delivered in the hardest contexts. Conventional solutions have not always met children’s needs and in some cases further prevented children from ever entering school or dropping out soon after starting. Governments must support the implementation of flexible and innovative solutions through their education systems, and strengthen partnerships with local and national NGOs, local communities and other relevant actors. Children themselves must be brought into discussions on what type of schooling will benefit them most.

1. Education for All: The Dakar Framework for Action (2000) 2. Making it Count: providing education with equity and quality in the run-up to 2015, Save the Children, 2010 3. 2011 Education for All Global Monitoring Report, Table 2A adult and youth literacy, http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ images/0019/001907/190743e.pdf 4. The Lancet, Volume 369, Issue 9555, 6 January 2007, pp60-70 5. The 2011 Global Monitoring report estimates that in sub-Saharan Africa alone, 10 million children drop out of primary school every year. 6. 2011 Education For All Global Monitoring Report (2011 GMR), summary, p 22-23 http://unesdoc.unesco.org/i mages/0019/001911/191186e.pdf 7. Jomtien Statement, Tenth Meeting of the High-Level Group on Education for All, 22-24 March 2011, Jomtien, Thailand 8. The Hidden Crisis: education and armed conflict, Save the Children, 2011 9. 2011 GMR, summary, p6 10. 2011 GMR, summary, p7 11. Education Under Attack 2010, UNESCO; Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ images/0018/001868/186809e.pdf 12. General Assembly Resolution on The Right to Education in Emergency Situations, A/64/L.58, 2010 , http://www.ineesite.org/uploads/documents/store/ UN_Resolution_Education_in_Emergencies.pdf 13. Among others, 1907 Hague Regulations, 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the protection of civilian persons in time of war, customary international humanitarian law and the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Attacks against buildings dedicated to education constitute a war crime under art. 8(2)(b)(ix) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, , 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court 14. 2011 GMR, summary, p7 15. Education for All: The Dakar Framework for Action (2000) 16. 2011 GMR, summary, p5 17. Ibid, pp5-6 18. See Global Children’s Charter on Disaster Risk Reduction, May 2011, http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/en/54_15507.htm

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