Attaining quality education for all: A UNESCO perspective

1. Fifth EDEN Research Workshop20-22 October 2008, UNESCO, Paris Attaining quality education for all: A UNESCO perspective Mariana Patru Division of Higher Education UNESCO

2. Preamble “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” “Knowledge is the most democratic source of power.” Alvin Toffler, American writer and futurist

3. UNESCO’s functions • laboratory of ideas, including foresight: try out new approaches and innovative ways • standard-setter: determine what is good practice; spread that practice around the world • clearing house: inform ourselves about new things going on and share that knowledge as a help to innovation • capacity builder in the fields of competence: help countries develop the capacities to train human resources • catalyst for international cooperation

4. UNESCO’s global lead responsibilities • Lead UN agency for a number of UN decades such as the UN Literacy Decade (2003-2012) and the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014) • Lead role for Education for All (EFA) and its Global Action Plan • Shared responsibility for the follow-up to the World Summit for the Information Society (WSIS) - assists countries to build knowledge societies by offering a platform for access to and the use, dissemination and sharing of knowledge

5. Global landscape and challenges • Globalization, largely driven by ICTs - coincides with a fundamental transformation to knowledge-based societies. • Education is increasingly crossing borders – national, sectoral and institutional. • New training demands and new competitive challenges bring about profound changes in terms of governance, organizational structure and modes of operation.

6. Global landscape and challenges (cont’d) • Exponential growth in knowledge and technology that is transforming all aspects of global society and economy. • Lifelong learning has become critical for sustainable economic development. • New challenges for countries to develop strategies, policies, and resources to prepare and retain the teachers necessary to meet the educational demands of the 21st century society.

7. Global landscape and challenges (cont’d) • Increasing shortage of qualified teachers in both developing and developed nations • Challenges of updating the knowledge and skills of the existing teaching force (new content; new pedagogies and technology tools for learning).

8. Not everyone in the driver's seat • Global progress has been made in literacy rates, from 871 million (1985-1994) to 774 million adults (2000-2006); more than 75% of the 774 million live in only 15 countries • Over 100 million children are estimated being out of school • Some 18 million more teachers needed to achieve the goal of universal primary education by 2015; an additional 3.8 million teachers for Africa alone

9. Teacher training is key to quality education

10. 2008 e-readiness by regions (EIU, 2008)

11. Bridging the digital divide… • Digital exclusion is part of a broader divide contributing to social and economic exclusion of people. • Multiple aspects: economic, geographic, languages, gender, etc.

12. and the knowledge divide • The digital divide helps widen an even more alarming divide - the knowledge divide. • Closing the digital divide will not suffice to close the knowledge divide for access to useful, culturally relevant knowledge is more than a matter of technology access. • Growing concern over the commoditization of knowledge (knowledge for sale).

13. Good practice at internationaland national level • Education policies and strategies informed by good practice in using new technologies to achieve inclusive and equitable education for all • Improving access, equity and quality of teaching and learning Major actors….

14. European Commission The Lifelong Learning Programme (2007-2013): • Four sectoral sub-programmes (schools; higher education; vocational education and training; adult education) • Four transversal programmes (policy cooperation in education and training; languages and language learning; development of ICT-based content and services; dissemination and exploitation of results)

15. OECD • Places a high priority on forecasting emerging issues and identifying policies shaping education • Conducts strategic analyses to identify good practices and make policy recommendations at national level • Relevant studies that inform policy making: e-learning in tertiary education; Open Educational Resources; tertiary education for the knowledge society

16. The Commonwealth of Learning • The world’s only intergovernmental organisation dedicated to promoting distance education and open learning • Encourages the development and sharing of open learning/distance education knowledge, resources and technologies • Helps developing nations improve access to quality education and training

17. EDEN • International educational association open to institutions and individuals dealing with e-learning, open and distance education • Promotes policy and practice in e-learning and distance education across Europe and beyond • Fosters networking, cooperation and professional development in the open, distance, flexible and e-learning sector

18. France: Internet pour Tous: Micro-Portable Etudiant A large-scale public-private initiative, launched in 2004 : • free Internet access offered in all universities with Wi-Fi connection • from 8% of students with laptops in 2004 to 52 % in 2007 • access to quality educational resources and student-support services

19. 21st century Learning – Recommendations for Policy Makers • Core subjects • Learning skills • 21st century tools • 21st century context • 21st century content • 21st century assessments (Source: Partnership for 21st Century Skills)

20. UK: Home Access to Technology • A £300 million project to provide computers and broadband internet access to families so that children can enhance their learning at home • An initiative intended to bridge the digital divide: more than 1 million children still do not have a computer at home and 35% of the families have no access to the internet • To be piloted in early 2009, with universal home access attained by 2011

21. UNESCO’s global strategy in the use of ICTs The strategy focuses on the following main tasks: • to ensure wider access to, increased equity and equal opportunities for, quality education for all at all levels • to harness the potential of ICTs for building sustainable,equitable and inclusive knowledge societies and for reducing the digital divide

22. World Summit on the Information Society Main Lines of Action: • Enhancing capacities for e-learning in education • Communication and learning tools • E-learning policies and strategies • Digital content within learning and education • Legal and institutional frameworks • Multi-stakeholders partnerships • Research and development in e-learning

23. Examples of UNESCO initiatives Kronberg Declaration on the Future of Knowledge Acquisition and Sharing (Kronberg, Germany, 22-23 June 2007) • The role of knowledge acquisition and sharing in social and economic development • The contribution of ICTs to this process • The evolution of knowledge acquisition and sharing over the next three decades • Political and institutional changes needed

24. UNESCO ICT Competency Standards for Teachers • To improve teachers’ practice through ICTs • Developed in partnership with Intel, Cisco, Microsoft, International Society for Technology in Education, and Virginia Tech • Three booklets: policy framework; competency standards modules; implementation guidelines

25. Curriculum framework

26. The 2008 Education Leaders Forum, Paris,6-7 July 2008 • Success and Sustainability: Tertiary Education’s Global Challenge; in cooperation with Microsoft • Provided important inputs to two UNESCO major Conferences: the World Conference on Higher Education (Paris, 6-8 July 2009) and the second World Conference on Science (Budapest, November 2009) • Explored issues, shared insights, long-standing experience and proposed solutions to the challenges of higher education in the 21st century

27. UNESCO King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Prize for the Use of ICTs in Education • Set up in 2005, following a generous donation made by the Kingdom of Bahrain • Rewards innovative and creative use of ICTs to enhance teaching, learning and overall educational performance • Prizewinners: 2006 KERIS (Korea); Kemi-Tornio Polytechnic (Finland); 2007: Claroline Consortium (Belgium), Curriki (USA)

28. ICT resources for policy makersand teachers

29. THANK YOU MERCI contact: m.patru@unesco.org