CANADIAN GLOBAL CAMPAIGN FOR EDUCATION

Why focus on basic education?

Despite increased promises in aid to education since the 1990 Education for All conference in Jomtien, Thailand, the dire reality is that 104 million children have never been to school and more than 800 million adults remain functionally illiterate in developing countries. About 75% of out-of-school children live in sub-Saharan Africa (40% of children out of school) and South and West Asia (35% of children out of school). What is worse is that another 150 million children are at risk of dropping out of school before they finish primary school!

EDUCATION FOR ALL GOALS:
1. To expand the improve early childhood care and education
2. To ensure all children have access to free and compulsory education of good quality by 2015, with a particular emphasis on girls, ethnic minorities, and children in difficult circumstances
3. To ensure equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes for all youth and adults
4. To improve adult literacy rates by 50%, especially for women, through equitable access to basic and continuing education by 2015
5. To eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005 and to achieve gender equality by 2015
6. To improve all aspects of the quality of education

There are many reasons why children (and adults) around the world are not in school and continue to be deprived of their fundamental human right to learn. Here are a few of the more obvious reasons:

Financial Resources: The simple fact of the matter is that many countries can not afford to provide free universal primary education of good quality to all citizens. Doing so would require major investments in infrastructure (building schools and libraries, producing textbooks) and in teacher recruitment and training. In Bangladesh, 90% of the education budget goes towards paying teacher salaries. In many countries in Africa teachers are falling ill and dying from HIV/AIDS faster than the government can recruit more teachers. Many countries also spend a significant amount of resources on other issues, such as military expenditures and making debt payments. These are resources which, if redirected towards education, could make a huge impact. Finally, rich industrialized countries need to do their part as well. We must hold our governments accountable to their commitments to education and poverty reduction, and demand that these commitments are increased.

FACT: In 1969 the United Nations set a target for all industrialized nations to increase their aid to 0.7% of their gross domestic product (GDP). Canada currently only commits 0.33% of GDP to development assistance, ranking 19th out of the 22 richest countries.

FACT: 250 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 (1 out of every 6 in the world) are working. Half work full time and 2 out of 3 work in hazardous conditions.

School Fees: In many poor countries, it can cost a month's wages or more to send one child to a government primary school. Enrollments doubled or tripled in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi after these countries abolished school fees. In addition to formal school fees, families often have to pay additional costs associated with buying uniforms, textbooks and examination fees. In Bangladesh, despite universal free primary education, 90% of parents report paying unauthorized fees equaling 2% of the annual household income.

FACT: At least 101 countries are still charging fees for primary education, according to the UNESCO Global Monitoring Report on Education for All (2003).

Violent Conflict: It is not surprising that conflict is a major obstacle to achieving universal primary education. Due to chronic conflict, access to education in parts of Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and southern Sudan is minimal. In Somalia, only 21% of boys and 13% of girls are in school. Of those who do attend primary school only 1 out of 5 reach fifth grade. Approximately one in four children in the world live in dangerous, unstable situations. Approximately 300, 000 children (girls and boys) under the age of 18 are currently involved in war activities. Many of these children are kidnapped or coerced into military servitude, and female soldiers are particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse.

FACT: School buildings and compounds are common targets in conflict zones. Some military forces destroy them, others turn schools into bases.