[font='Times New Roman', serif]By Julia Tofan[/font]
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The Education for All (EFA) Movement is an international effort pioneered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), supported by 164 countries. The movement started in 1990 at the United Nations World Conference on Education for All, setting a goal of ensuring that all had access to primary school and gained literacy, but unfortunately, ten years later the goals were not met, leading to a second meeting and six, specific goals to meet by 2015. Here are the goals and how Givology, and you, can make a difference:
[b]Goal 1[/b] is to expand quality early childhood education to all children. Successes include "a drop in child mortality rates of nearly 50%," improved child nutrition, and "an increase of nearly two-thirds since 1999" in pre-primary school enrollment. There are still obstacles in reaching this goal, as relatively few resources are directed to early childhood education. Givology recently [url=https://www.givology.org/~givologystaff/blog/143433/]blogged[/url] about the importance of early childhood education and action being taken by international leaders.
[url=https://www.givology.org/~tlgirl/]The Last Girl[/url] is increasing access to child care and education for children of prostituted women in red light districts of New Delhi, India. Many of the children roam the streets, as mothers often work late hours and can't afford schools and child care, making the children vulnerable to sexual trafficking, getting into an accident, and getting sick from unsanitary conditions.
[b]Goal 2[/b] is to universalize quality primary education. However, as of 2012, 12% of primary and early secondary aged children are not in school. By 2015, "one in six children in low and middle income countries...will not have completed primary school."
[url=https://www.givology.org/~fohpschool/] Fountain of Hope Primary School[/url] is currently promoting access to primary education for children in Nairobi, Kenya, helping families who otherwise couldn't afford education keep children in school, and addressing not only academic needs, but also emotional needs to develop the whole child.
[b]Goal 3[/b] is to meet young adult and adult needs through programs that include education in traditional and life skills topics. The 2015 EFA Report claims "lower secondary gross enrolment ratio increased from 71% in 1999 to 85% in 2012," showing increased access to secondary education, but inequality in access persists in many countries and some countries still have fees for secondary education, meaning many low income families cannot afford secondary education.
[url=https://www.givology.org/~ehpasgroup/]Emotional Health Project and Support Group[/url], in Sri Lanka, focuses on helping young adults cope with an environment of high rates of alcoholism and domestic violence to reduce deliberate self harm and suicide and promote proactive responses to emotional health issues.
[b]Goal 4[/b] is to achieve "a 50% improvement in levels of adult literacy" and promote adult education. The illiteracy rate in 2000 was 18%, and in 2015 it is estimated to be 14%. Gender disparities continue to exist, but progress has been made towards closing the gap between female and male literacy. Illiteracy and gender inequality has decreased, but not enough to meet the goal.
[url=https://www.givology.org/~beprogram/] The Basic English Program[/url] in Sri Lanka is giving adults access to English language skills, helping them learn grammar and spoken English, often as a precursor to further professional development programs.
[b]Goal 5[/b] is "achieving gender equality in education." In primary school, it is believed that 69% of countries will reach equal enrollment rates for females and males, and in secondary school, 48% are expected to reach equal enrollment rates. Once females are enrolled, however, they "are more likely to reach the upper grades." In order to achieve this goal, it is vital to continue to increase girls' access to education.
[url=https://www.givology.org/~tfscholarship/]Abaarso School[/url], in Somaliland, is providing a scholarship to the highest performing female in 6th grade to attend the school, which has graduates attending top ranked schools like MIT, Amherst, and Georgetown with scholarships.
[b]Goal 6[/b] is improving education quality in order to find "measurable learning outcomes" in reading, math, and life skills. Student to teacher ratios have decreased, meaning more attention for individual students, but teacher training continues to be a challenge.
[url=https://www.givology.org/~ceproject/]The Community Education Project[/url] is training young adults in Sri Lanka's rural tea-picking communities to be teachers. The young adults go on to teach younger students. By training teachers, CEP is improving quality of education in remote villages.
In accomplishing these goals, UNESCO serves as a leader by creating key partnerships, mobilizing resources through advocacy, "ensuring effective use of aid," and publishing [url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002322/232205e.pdf]annual reports[/url] on progress. Though we have made significant progress since 2005, the goals have not been fully met and it is important to keep on advocating for education as a fundamental human right.
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cu-tv2rJ-U]Click here[/url][font='Times New Roman', serif] for a video to learn more about the Education for All Movement! [/font]To support Givology in making these goals a reality, consider [url=http://www.givology.org/get-involved/internships/]interning[/url], [url=http://www.givology.org/get-involved/volunteer/]volunteering[/url], [url=http://www.givology.org/get-involved/spread-the-word/]spreading the word[/url], or [url=https://www.givology.org/giv-now/]making a donation[/url]!
Sources
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/education-for-all/
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002322/232205e.pdf
10 JUL 2015