[Icaeaeducationdevp2015] [18] Cecilia "Thea" V. Soriano

[Cecilia Fernández]

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ICAE Virtual Seminar

“Adult Education and Development: Post 2015”

Input by Cecilia "Thea" V. Soriano, ASPBAE Programmes and Operations
Coordinator

 

The year 2015 is a landmark for renewed commitments to Education for All
(EFA) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) coupled with a continuing
review of actions under CONFINTEA 6.

The confluence of the three global platforms as well as the ongoing
education post 2015 processes present both opportunities and challenges in
charting a vision and agenda for quality education and lifelong learning
beyond 2015. Bringing the voices of the marginalized into the public debates
remains a daunting task. Bridging global discourses with the realities in
countries and creating more spaces for dialogues within countries remain to
be seen. Translating rhetoric to concrete goals and targets for lifelong
learning even before 2015 is a key concern for governments and civil society
alike. There is clearly a consensus amongst stakeholders to ensure that
policy development is translated into education programs and commitments
NOW, leading to even more steadfast support for education beyond 2015.

 

A case in point is the Post 2015 education agenda presented by UNESCO in the
last EFA Steering Committee. The overarching goal of “Ensure inclusive,
equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all by 2030” is
definitely an agenda that will make a difference in the lives of children,
youth and adult should it be accompanied with concrete targets and
financing. Not to be overlooked, amidst the discussions around education
beyond 2015, is the urgent support for the “Big Push” to start addressing
the unfinished EFA agenda.

The Asia Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE) believes
that the agenda and the multi-stakeholder processes leading to agenda
setting are equally important. As a regional network of more than 200
organizations in Asia Pacific dedicated to youth and adult education
practice and advocacy for Education for All, it persistently gives
prominence to the voices of the people in education issues, especially the
marginalized children, youth and adults in the region. Its education post
2015 agenda is grounded on the realities and articulation of civil society
in the more than 30 countries where it has a membership base.

 

ASPBAE believes that education is a right. It transformed the meaning of 3Rs
for EFA: 

·         Right of children, youth and adults regardless of age, gender,
ethnicity, geographical location, culture and socio-economic status

·         Responsibility of the government to guarantee and for multilateral
institutions to support education so that no one is left behind

·         Resources adequate to finance quality education and lifelong
learning for all that strategically support formal, non-formal and informal
education as well as other education systems (such as the indigenous
learning system)

 

To move forward with EFA and to ensure that people are able to learn
throughout their lives, it is imperative to have clear, definitive and stand
alone goals for education beyond 2015.

Education is equally an enabling right. For one, it must be integrated into
the SDGs of poverty eradication, inclusive growth and sustainable
development. The SDGs will only be achieved when people are empowered
through education and lifelong learning, when their potentials are harnessed
so they are able to participate with dignity in the economic and social
spheres of their family, work and community life.

 

The Asia-Pacific Contexts

Amidst the promises of strong economy and growth, the Asia-Pacific region
is punctuated by severe inequality. The marginalized is the majority in
Asia-Pacific. Clearly education and lifelong learning will be an equalizer:

·         Of the 774 million adults (15 yrs old and over) illiterate
worldwide, 63.8% are women,

65% or 518 million adult illiterates are in Asia-Pacific (53% in South and
West Asia, 12% in East Asia and Pacific)

·         Asia-Pacific is experiencing a youth bulge, with over 60 percent
of the world’s youth or more than 750 million young women and men aged 15 to
24 years old residing in the region

·         Unfortunately, of the approx. 75 million youth worldwide without
work (2011), 45%  is in Asia Pacific with more women among their ranks
(except in East Asia)

·         It is a region most vulnerable to the effects of climate change as
evidenced by the onslaught of typhoon surge, tsunami, earthquakes and floods
in recent years

·         ASEAN 2015 will signal the free flow of goods, services and labor
within the sub-region. However, the promise of growth will be elusive to
many marginalized people who are not capable of contributing through
expertise and skilled labour. ILO reports that people with more education
are able to migrate and work abroad but those from the marginalized are
either trafficked or exploited in hazardous work outside of their country.

 

Education Post 2015 Agenda in Asia Pacific

Asia-Pacific presents unique education situations with its diversity of
cultures, languages and histories. To ensure access to quality education and
learning throughout life for all, ASPBAE calls on governments, multilateral
institutions and other decision-makers in education to rethink and act
together for EFA, CONFINTEA 6 and SDGs. Towards transformative education
envisaging inclusive growth, active citizenship and sustainable development,
it is imperative for decision makers to act on:

 

·         Expanded Access 

-          Education should go beyond schooling. Following the lifelong
learning rhetoric, governments should invest heavily and side by side with
ECCD, primary and secondary education, in youth and adult education, as part
of the basic education.

-          Expanded access means education for all mediated through formal,
non-formal and informal education. Making these pathways to education work
for the marginalized means expanded structures for education as well, where
government needs to invest in community learning centers (CLCs), museums and
libraries as sites of learning. 

-          Expanded access has implications for support systems that need to
be in place to encourage learning. Day care centers and counselling, for
example are pivotal for women’s participation in empowering literacy
programs.  Education support can also be in the form of transportation, food
subsidies and other social protection measures that hinder marginalized
sectors’ participation in education.

 

·         Quality education and lifelong learning

-          Quality education measured not only in terms of efficiency but
more importantly defined by what matters. Eradicating poverty, ensuring
healthy lives, sustainable economy as targeted under the Social Development
Goals can be a starting point for which quality of education can be anchored
on.

-          Quality education, aside from the core competencies, encompasses
developing knowledge, competencies, and values to achieve the individual’s
full potential; promoting innovation, creativity and critical thinking;  and
contributing to society in promoting peace, democratic citizenship, good
governance, non discrimination, and  in building a just and sustainable
world. 

-          Lifelong learning for children, youth and adults to be accessible
and relevant to all should be provided through formal, non-formal, informal
education and through other education systems such as the indigenous
learning systems.

-          With more than 3,200 languages in Asia-Pacific, multilingual
education plays a major role in realizing access to quality education and
lifelong learning for all

 

·         Government financing of fully-costed youth and adult education and
learning programs

-          National budgets for education and adult learning and education
must be increased drastically from its current average government spending
in Asia which is one per cent (1%) of the education budget to at least three
to six per cent (3-6%) of the national education budget

-          Review policies on privatisation of education and public private
partnership in education as evidences indicate threats to the right to
education and further marginalization of the poor and excluded. 

-          Governments should also invest in the necessary setting up of
education structures that will ensure quality assurance, teacher training
and development, differentiated learning assessments for children, youth and
adults, and realizing multiple pathways to learning.

 

·         Participation of civil society and youth in education governance

Civil society participation has been proven pivotal in realising change in
society, not only acting as watch dog but in realizing needed reforms in
government and governance. In education, there had been leaps in civil
society participation in the last 13 years. In Asia-Pacific, fourteen (14)
coalitions in 14 countries have been formally engaged with government in
different facets of education governance. In countries like in Cambodia, the
Philippines, Nepal, Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea, civil society is part
of the government mechanism for EFA.  

 

ASPBAE believes within the dynamic CSO participation in education in the
region, it is important to highlight the importance of Youth participation
and Learners’ voices in the education sector. At the center of quality
education and lifelong learning are the learners, not only as beneficiaries
of education but as active participants in policy development, defining
quality in education, ensuring quality assurance in provision and in
education governance as a whole. Quality education and lifelong learning
should respect and address the different learning needs and styles of
children, youth and adults.

As governance heavily impacts on delivering efficient and effective
education and lifelong learning, there should be clear goals towards
monitoring governments’ adherence to good governance in the EFA goals. There
should be clear indicators on 1)Transparency, where education policies,
programs and information are disseminated publicly, accessible and clear to
all 2)Accountability, where education resources are managed efficiently and
effectively and delivered by institutions and officials for the common good
3) Participation, where all stakeholders including learners, parents,
teachers and civil society organizations are strategically engaged in policy
development, implementation and monitoring of education and 4) Justice,
where those who were denied education be at the core of the EFA agenda,
where governments reach out to learners who missed out on quality education,
addressing layers of marginalization that impede the people’s access to
quality education and lifelong learning..

 

 



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