Del acceso a la escuela al aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida

Rosa María Torres

 

acceso - terminación - aprendizaje - aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida

Declaración Universal de los Derechos Humanos (1948), Artículo 26

1. Toda persona tiene derecho a la educación. La educación debe ser gratuita, al menos en lo concerniente a la educación elemental y fundamental. La educación elemental será obligatoria. La educación técnica y profesional deberá generalizarse; el acceso a la educación superior será igual para todos, en base al mérito.

2. La educación se orientará al pleno desarrollo de la personalidad humana y al fortalecimiento del respeto a los derechos humanos y a las libertades fundamentales; promoverá la comprensión, la tolerancia y la amistad entre todas las naciones, todos los grupos étnicos o religiosos, y promoverá el desarrollo de las actividades de las Naciones Unidas para el mantenimiento de la paz.

3. Los padres tienen derecho preferente a escoger el tipo de educación que habrá de darse a sus hijos.

El derecho a la educación viene afirmándose, ampliándose y afinándose desde la promulgación de la Declaración Universal de los Derechos Humanos en 1948. Avanzamos, poco a poco, del acceso al aprendizaje, y del sistema escolar al aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida.

Acceso / matrícula

El derecho a la educación surgió fundamentalmente como derecho a acceder a la escuela y centrado en la infancia. Las nociones de Educación Primaria Universal (EPU) o de Universalización de la educación en general han seguido atadas a las nociones de acceso y matrícula. De hecho, gobiernos y agencias internacionales continúan refiriéndose a universalización como matrícula. Así consta también en los glosarios de muchos organismos en la actualidad.

Terminación

El reconocimiento de que no basta con acceso y matrícula, y de que es esencial lograr la terminación de un determinado nivel escolar (primaria, básica, media, etc.), fue a la par del reconocimiento de los altos niveles de deserción que caracterizan a muchos sistemas escolares en el mundo. Cada vez más, la terminación ha venido incluyéndose en los indicadores, políticas, planes y metas educativas. Por ejemplo:

Proyecto Principal de Educación para América Latina y el Caribe (1980)
Meta 1. Alcanzar la escolarización básica a los niños en edad escolar y ofrecerles una educación general mínima de 8 a 10 años de duración;

Educación para Todos (Conferencia Mundial sobre Educación para Todos, Jomtien, 1990)
Meta 2: Acceso universal a la educación primaria (o a cualquier nivel más alto considerado básico) y terminación de la misma, para el año 2000.

Educación para Todos (Foro Mundial de Educación, Dakar, 2000)

2. Asegurar que, para el 2015, todos los niños, y especialmente las niñas y los niños en circunstancias difíciles, tengan acceso y completen una educación primaria gratuita, obligatoria y de buena calidad.

Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio (2000-2015)
Meta 2.A: Asegurar que en 2015 los niños y niñas de todo el mundo puedan terminar un ciclo completo de enseñanza primaria.
(En 2015 el acceso a la escuela primaria llegó al 90%, pero 25% de niños y niñas no completó el ciclo).

           Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (2015-2030) 

Objetivo 4. Garantizar una educación inclusiva, equitativa y de calidad y promover oportunidades de aprendizaje durante toda la vida para todos.

Que todas las niñas y los niños tengan una enseñanza primaria y secundaria completa, gratuita, equitativa y de calidad que produzca resultados de aprendizaje pertinentes y efectivos. Se pretende también reducir drásticamente el analfabetismo y mejorar las competencias de la población adulta para acceder a un empleo decente.

1. Para 2030, velar por que todas las niñas y todos los niños tengan una enseñanza primaria y secundaria completa, gratuita, equitativa y de calidad que produzca resultados de aprendizaje pertinentes y efectivos.

2. Para 2030, velar por que todas las niñas y todos los niños tengan acceso a servicios de calidad en materia de atención y desarrollo en la primera infancia y enseñanza preescolar, a fin de que estén preparados para la enseñanza primaria.

3. Para 2030, asegurar el acceso en condiciones de igualdad para todos los hombres y las mujeres a formación técnica, profesional y superior de calidad, incluida la enseñanza universitaria

Para 2030, aumentar en un [x]%* el número de jóvenes y adultos que tienen las competencias necesarias, en particular técnicas y profesionales, para acceder al empleo, el trabajo decente y el emprendimiento.

4. Para 2030, eliminar las disparidades de género en la educación y garantizar el acceso en condiciones de igualdad de las personas vulnerables, incluidas las personas con discapacidad, los pueblos indígenas y los niños en situaciones de vulnerabilidad, a todos los niveles de la enseñanza y la formación profesional.

5. Para 2030, garantizar que todos los jóvenes y al menos el [x]%* de los adultos, tanto hombres como mujeres, tengan competencias de lectura, escritura y aritmética.

6. Para 2030, garantizar que todos los estudiantes adquieran los conocimientos teóricos y prácticos necesarios para promover el desarrollo sostenible, en particular mediante la educación para el desarrollo sostenible y la adopción de estilos de vida sostenibles, los derechos humanos, la igualdad entre los géneros, la promoción de una cultura de paz y no violencia, la ciudadanía mundial y la valoración de la diversidad cultural y de la contribución de la cultura al desarrollo sostenible, entre otros medios.

¿Cómo?

1. Construir y adecuar instalaciones escolares que respondan a las necesidades de los niños y las personas discapacitadas y tengan en cuenta las cuestiones de género, y que ofrezcan entornos de aprendizaje seguros, no violentos, inclusivos y eficaces para todos
2. Para 2020, aumentar en un [x]%* a nivel mundial el número de becas disponibles para países en desarrollo, en particular los países menos adelantados, los pequeños Estados insulares en desarrollo y los países de África, para matriculación en instituciones de enseñanza superior, incluidos programas de formación profesional y programas técnicos, científicos, de ingeniería y de tecnología de la información y las comunicaciones, en países desarrollados y otros países en desarrollo.

Aprendizaje

Tampoco basta ya con matrícula y terminación; lo que importa es que los alumnos aprendan. El aprendizaje ha sido un objetivo esquivo en políticas, planes y metas para la educación. En pocas ocasiones se ha entendido que el derecho a la educación implica el derecho no solo a acceder y completar un nivel de estudios sino, fundamentalmente, a aprender.

Los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio no incorporaron el aprendizaje. Sí lo hizo la Educación para Todos, tanto en 1990 (Jomtien) como en 2000 (Dakar). 

Jomtien, 1990
3. Mejoramiento de los resultados del aprendizaje de modo que un porcentaje convenido de una muestra de edad determinada (ej. 80% de los mayores de 14 años) alcance o sobrepase un nivel dado de logros de aprendizaje considerados necesarios.

Dakar, 2000
3. Asegurar la satisfacción de las necesidades de aprendizaje de jóvenes y adultos a través del acceso equitativo a programas apropiados de aprendizaje de habilidades para la vida y para la ciudadanía.6. Mejorar todos los aspectos de la calidad de la educación y asegurar la excelencia de todos, de modo que todos logren resultados de aprendizaje reconocidos y medibles, especialmente en torno a la alfabetización, el cálculo y las habilidades esenciales para la vida.

La llamada «crisis global de aprendizaje» ha hecho que esta vez se insista en agregar el aprendizaje como resultado esencial de cualquier esfuerzo educativo.

Aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida

Tampoco bastan ya el acceso, la permanencia y el aprendizaje. El aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida se ha planteado como el paradigma para la educación y el conocimiento en el siglo 21. Este 1) extiende la escolaridad obligatoria más allá de la educación primaria o básica, atendiendo a la educación media y superior, y 2) va más allá del sistema escolar, se inicia con el nacimiento y termina con la muerte, e incluye todas las fuentes y mecanismos de aprendizaje, incluida la educación formal, la educación no-formal y los aprendizajes informales que tienen lugar en la vida cotidiana de las personas.

Ni los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio ni la Educación para Todos incorporaron el aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida. Los ODM se refirieron solo a la educación primaria (4 años de escolaridad). La EPT se refirió a una visión ampliada de la educación básica. Los ODS adoptan el aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida, niños, jóvenes y adultos, dentro y fuera del sistema escolar.

Hoy, el derecho a la educación implica no solo derecho al aprendizaje sino derecho al aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida.

* Basado en: 

- Rosa María Torres, El derecho a la educación es mucho más que acceso de niños y niñas a la escuela, Buenos Aires, 2006.

- "Ciudades educadoras y derecho al aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida" (entrevista)

«Lifelong Learning» does not refer only to adults

 Rosa María Torres

Sharon Nowlan

«Aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida» no se refiere solo a adultos

«Lifelong Learning» (LLL) has been proposed by UNESCO since the 1970s as a new paradigm for education and learning in the 21st century. LLL means learning "throughout life", "from birth to death", "from cradle to grave", in and out of the school system, through formal, non-formal and informal learning. LLL includes all ages: children, adolescentes, youth, and adults. However, LLL continues to be associated mainly with adults and adult education, and is generally illustrated (photos, drawings, caricatures) with adults. 

Three examples of the use of LLL as equivalent to adults: 

1. Most «Lifelong Learning policies and strategies» collected by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) refer to youth and adults. 

2. Most national qualifications frameworks developed at international level associate LLL with adults. 

3. The article What We Learned From Reading 1,000 Articles On Lifelong Learning, written by Steve Rayson, student at the London School of Economics, was circulated in social networks in May 2018. I checked the list of 1.000 articles, coming from many countries in the world, and found that most of them referred to adults. 

UNESCO-UIL

Why the strong association between LLL and adults? Among others:

1. Lack of information, definitions and public debate on LLL at all levels: local, national, regional, and global. LLL is used and understood in most diverse ways throughout the world. 

2. Inconsistent use of the terms lifelong education and lifelong learning in key international reports such as the Faure Report (1973) and the Delors Report (1986).

3. UIL's mandate is adult education and non-formal education. It was created in 1952 as UNESCO Institute of Education (UIE) and was renamed as UNESCO Institute of Lifelong Learning (UIL) in 2006. 

4. UNESCO has traditionally focused LLL on adults. The  Global education monitoring report 2016. Education for people and planet: Creating sustainable futures for all, the first one linked to the 2030 Agenda, referred to LLL as adult education (p. 431). 

5. Sustainable Development Objective 4 (SDG4), focused on education, is confusing: "Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education, and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all". "Lifelong learning opportunities for all" appears as an addition to "inclusive and equitable education" rather than as an embracing concept. SDG4 refers to LLL as youth and adult education.  

6. Translation problems: LLL is regularly translated into Spanish as continuing education or permanent education, terms associated with adult education.  

The fact is that LLL has no attracted the interest of the professional community linked to children's education. They also associate LLL with adults. Children's education and learning specialists often highlight the weak conceptual status and development of LLL. 

To learn more

 - UNESCO, Global education monitoring reports
https://es.unesco.org/gem-report/allreports
- UIL/UNESCO, Políticas y estrategias de aprendizaje a lo largo de toda la vida
https://uil.unesco.org/es/aprendizaje-largo-de-vida
- CEDEFOP/ETF/UNESCO/UIL, Inventario Mundial de Marcos Regionales y Nacionales de Cualificaciones 2017, Volumen I.
https://uil.unesco.org/es/aprendizaje-lo-largo-vida/marcos-cualificaciones/inventario-mundial-marcos-regionales-y-nacionales

- SDG 4 Data Digest. Data to Nurture Learning, UIS, 2018

http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/sdg4-data-digest-data-nurture-learning-2018-en.pdf
- Torres, Rosa María, The Lifelong Learning approach: Implications for education policies in Latin America and the Caribbean, UNESCO, París, 2020
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000373632_spa  

- Torres, Rosa María, De educación a aprendizaje: De Lifelong Education a Lifelong Learning, Blog 

OTRAƎDUCACION, 2017.

 https://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2017/11/educacion-lo-largo-de-la-vida-y-ALV.html

From Lifelong Education to Lifelong Learning

Rosa María Torres

Lifelong Education and Lifelong Learning are related but different concepts. Many people use them as equivalent.To a great extent, this is due to the fact that most people do not distinguish between education and learning. There are also many translation problems.

A few examples:

» Paul Lengrand's book An Introduction to Lifelong Education was published by UNESCO in 1970, International Education Year. Lifelong Education was selected by the General
Conference of UNESCO as one of twelve major themes proposed to Member States in connection with the international year. The book was translated into Spanish as Una introducción al Aprendizaje a lo Largo de la Vida o Una introducción al Aprendizaje Permanente.

» The Faure Report (Report to UNESCO by the International Commission on the Development of Education, Learning to be: Education in the Future, 1972) proposed two basic concepts: lifelong education and learning society. In the report in Spanish they were translated respectively as permanent education and educative society.

» The Delors Report (Report to UNESCO by the International Commission on Education for the 21st Century, 1996) was published in French as L'Education: Un trésor est caché dedans, in English as Learning, the treasure within, and in Spanish as La educación encierra un tesoro.

» 1996 was proclaimed European Year of Lifelong Learning (translated into Spanish as Año Europeo de la Educación a lo Largo de la Vida o Año Europeo de la Educación Permanente).

» Sustainable Development Objective 4 (SDG4) within the Agenda 2030 aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” Many translate «lifelong learning opportunities» as «oportunidades educativas».

■ The Faure Report (1972) and the Delors Report (1996) referred to lifelong education and to lifelong learning. The Faure Report proposed “lifelong education as the master concept for educational policies in the years to come for both developed and developing countries.” At the same time, the main concepts proposed by the Faure Commission were learning, learning to learn, and learning society. The title of the report - Learning to Be - indicates its main concern and orientation.

The report is based on four basic assumptions: 1) the existence of an international community, moving towards the same destiny, 2) the belief in democracy, each man's right to realize his own potential and to share in the building of his own future, 3) the aim of development as the complete fulfilment of man, in all the richness of his personality, 4) the need for an overall, lifelong education, able to produce «the complete man». We should no longer assiduously acquire knowledge once and for all, but learn how to build up a continually evolving body of knowledge all through life.

The report began with a critical assessment of the educational situation in 1972 and some of its «dead ends». It aimed at having a practical nature, that is, leading to action, in the twenty-three countries that were visited by the Commission members.

“The Commission laid stress above all on two fundamental ideas: lifelong education and the learning society (…) If all that has to be learned must be continually re-invented and renewed, then teaching becomes education and, more and more, learning. If learning involves all of one's life, in the sense of both time-span and diversity, and all of society, including its social and economic as well as its educational resources, then we must go even further than the necessary overhaul of 'educational systems' until we reach the stage of a learning society. For these are the true proportions of the challenge education will be facing in the future" (Preamble, Learning to Be, 1972, page xxxv).

“The aim of education in relation to employment and economic progress should be not so much to prepare young people and adults for specific, life-time vocation, but to ‘optimize' mobility among the professions and afford a permanent stimulus to the desire to learn and to train onself” (Preamble, Learning to Be, 1972, pages xxxiii-xxxiv). (1)

■ The Delors Report, Learning: The Treasure Within (1996), proposed four pillars for education: «learning to be», «learning to do», «learning to know» and «learning to be together». Learning throughout life was translated as lifelong education. Learning society was translated into Spanish as educative society and as cognitive society (sociedad cognitiva).

■ The Report of the International Commission on the Futures of Education, created by UNESCO in 2019 (Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education, UNESCO, 2021) refers to lifelong education. It does not mention lifelong learning. It defends "the right to quality education throughout life".

From the right to education to the right to learning

Many countries acknowledge in their constitutions and education laws the right to education throughout life, including all ages: childhood, adolescence, youth and adulthood. However, few acknowledge the right to lifelong learning, which implies ensuring effective learning in education systems and learning opportunities beyond classrooms.

» Education implies a teaching-learning relationship, whether it is formal education (organized education taking place in education systems at the various levels) or non-formal education (organized but more flexible education taking place on the margins of the formal system).

» Learning occurs with or without teaching. Informal learning takes place everyday, in daily life, without the intervention of a teacher or an educator. Children learn while playing; play is their main learning resource; they learn to speak without anyone teaching them to speak. Most of what we learn in life is informal learning through observing, listening, talking, working, reading, watching TV, interacting with nature, navigating in the Internet, etc.

Speaking of lifelong education implies speaking of educational institutions and opportunities, that is, instances mediated by teaching acts or processes.

Speaking of lifelong learning implies incorporating the vast world of informal learning, learning thtat is mostly invisible for the conventional world of education. (The majority of people do not acknowledge, for example, that students learned during the COVID-19 confinement, while schools were closed. For most people, learning is associated with classrooms and teachers).

It is worth noting that the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) refers to formal education, non-formal education and informal learning. There is no informal education: informal learning is mostly autonomous learning, self-learning, without teaching involved.

Lifelong Education and Lifelong Learning

Lifelong Education (LE) is a concept developed in the late 1960s. Its origin is attributed to Paul Lengrand, Chief of the Continuing Education Section at UNESCO's Department for the Advancement of Education, and author of An Introduction to Lifelong Education (UNESCO, Paris, 1970). Lengrand referred to «lifelong education» as an education covering all ages, and conceived it as a world movement to reorganize and overhaul education, not only to expand it. However, LE - translated into Spanish as educación permanente - has been associated to adult education. ”We by no means identify lifelong education with adult education, as, to our regret, is so often done” (Lengrand, 1975: 20).

After the publication of the Faure Report (1972), Lifelong Education became the focus of the UNESCO Institute for Education (UIE), in Hamburg. 

Lifelong Learning (LLL) is a concept introduced in the 1970s. LLL refers to learning throughout life, from birth to death, in formal, non-formal and informal environments. LLL is often translated into Spanish as aprendizaje permanente. 

LLL has been proposed by UNESCO as the paradigm for education and learning in the 21st century. "A new vision of education" necessary to achieve the Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goal 4. 

The UNESCO Institute for Education (UIE), focused on adult and continuing education, literacy and non-formal basic education, changed its name to UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) in 2006.

Lifelong Education	Lifelong Learning
- The concept emerged in the 1960s. - Paul Lengrand, An Introduction to Lifelong Education, UNESCO, 1970. - After the publication of the Faure Report (1972), Lifelong Education became the focus of the UNESCO Institute for Education (UIE), in Hamburg.	- The concept developed in the 1970s. - The European Union adopted the concept in the 1990s. - The UNESCO Institute for Education (UIE), in Hamburg, focused on adult and non-formal education, changed its name to UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) in 2006.
Focus on education.	Focus on learning.
Speaks of educating society.	Speaks of learning society.
	Lifelong and lifewide learning. Learnng as a continuum, from birth to death, everywhere, in and out of classrooms.
Formal and non-formal education, out-of-school education.	Learning in formal, non-formal and informal environments, with or without teaching.
Mentioned by the Faure Report (1972) and the Delors Report (1996). The Faure Report proposed two main concepts: lifelong education and learning society for both developed and developing countries.	Mentioned by the Faure Report (1972) and the Delors Report (1996). Also mentioned in the Jomtien Declaration (1990, Education for All) and in the Incheon Declaration (2015, Sustainable Development Goals).
“A new concept of education that takes into consideration constant and universal needs of human beings to educate themselves and to progress": Lengrand.	Proposed by UNESCO as the paradigm for education and learning in the 21st century.  "A new vision of education" necessary to achieve the Agenda 2030 and Sustaiable Development Goal 4.
Elaboration: Rosa María Torres

Notes

(1) Given the usual translation problems, I decided to translate the English texts myself. In the case of the Faure report there are numerous inconsistencies between the text in English and its Spanish translation https://www.berrigasteiz.com/monografikoak/inklusibitatea/pubs/unesco_aprender%20a%20ser.pdf  

References

» Comunidades Europeas: Un memorándum sobre el aprendizaje a lo largo de toda la vida, publicado en 2000
https://uil.unesco.org/es/documento/comunidades-europeas-memorandum-sobre-aprendizaje-lo-largo-toda-vida-publicado-2000

» Delors, Jacques, Learning: the treasure within. Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century, UNESCO, Paris, 1996.
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000109590 

» Delors, Jacques, La Educación encierra un tesoro. Informe a la UNESCO de la Comisión Internacional sobre la Educación para el Siglo XXI (compendio), UNESCO, París, 1996.
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000109590_spa

» Faure, Edgar, Learning to Be. The World of Education Today and Tomorrow. Report of the International Commission on the Development of Education, UNESCO, Paris, 1972.
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000001801

» Faure, Edgar, Aprender a ser. La educación del futuro. Comisión Internacional para el Desarrollo de la Educación, Alianza Editorial/UNESCO, Milán y Madrid, 1973. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000132984

» International Commission on the Futures of Education, Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education, UNESCO, Paris, 2021.
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000379707.locale=en

» Lengrand, Paul, An Introduction to Lifelong Education, UNESCO, Paris, 1970.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220612.1972.10671918

» Lengrand, Paul, An Introduction to Lifelong Education, UNESCO, Paris, 1975. (Enlarged edition).
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED118876

» Parkyn, George W, Towards a conceptual model of life-long education, UNESCO, Paris, 1973
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000005902

» Soler Roca, Miguel, “El concepto de educación permanente”, en: Educación, resistencia y esperanza. Antología Esencial, CLACSO, Buenos Aires, 2014.
http://biblioteca.clacso.edu.ar/clacso/se/20140718012935/SolerRoca.pdf

» Torres, Rosa María, Lifelong Learning in the South: Critical Issues and Opportunities for Adult Education, SIDA Studies 11, Stockholm, 2004.
https://cdn.sida.se/publications/files/sida4303en-lifelong-learning-in-the-south-critical-issues-and-opportunities-for-adult-education.pdf 

» Torres, Rosa María, Lifelong Learning, Sida Studies, Stckholm, 2003
https://cdn.sida.se/publications/files/sida2726en-lifelong-learning.pdf

 

¿21st century education?

Rosa María Torres
 
(updated: 27 June, 2021)

 Texto en español: ¿Cuál 'educación del siglo 21'?

Everyone talks about 'Education in the 21st Century':

- 21st century skills
- 21st century students
- 21st century educators
- 21st century schools
- 21st century classrooms

Strictly speaking, however, there is no 'Education in the 21st Century'.

▸ What 21st century?

- About 1 in 4 people live in multidimensional poverty or are vulnerable to it.
- More than 40% of the global population does not have any social protection.
- 840 million people live without electricity.

- Over one thousand million people has no drinking water and 2 in 5 people have no facilities for hand-washing. 
- 43% of schools have no facilities to wash hands with water and soap (UNICEF, 2019)
- 6.5 billion people – 85.5% of the global population – don’t have access to reliable broadband internet.
Source: UN/UNDP 2020

The 21st century is not the same for everyone.

Millions of people do not enjoy the benefits of modernity and comfort, do not have running water, toilets, electricity, decent work and housing, reading and writing, good education opportunities, basic services and basic citizenship rights.

Inequalities - within each country, between countries, between the global North and the global South - become structural: extreme poverty and extreme wealth, hyper-consumption and misery, overinformation for some and zero information for others, the illiterate and the overqualified, the connected and the disconnected.

Home-based virtual education, recommended while schools were closed because of the covit-19 pandemic and confinement, remains out of reach for half of the world's population who lack access to the Internet.

Evidently, life in the 21st century is very different for those living with less than 1 or 2 dollars a day (those living in extreme poverty) and for those participating fully in the Information Society, the Knowledge Society, the Learning Society, the Digital Society.

▸ What education?

There is no education in singular, as a universal fact and as a homogeneous experience for all. There are educations, in plural, diverse in nature, purposes and qualities, because realities, cultures, ideologies, aspirations and needs of concrete social groups are diverse. And because education is not confined to the education system; there is education in the family, in the community, at the workplace, through the media, the arts, participation, social service, etc.

Education and learning needs and experiences are shaped by specific economic, social and cultural contexts and conditions. Community, family and school education models developed historically by indigenous populations, many of which are alive in many countries, coexisting with the dominant Western models, are not only different education models; they are alternative knowledge systems.

▸ Education in the 21st century? 

Education in the 21st century is diverse, placed historically in this century and geographically in each specific context, and does not necessarily correspond to the '21st century' vision coming from the 'developed world'.

Millions of children, youth and adults have never used a computer and don't know what can be found behind a screen. Millions of children and youth don't know where food comes from, how to grow a potato, a lemmon, a tomato. Different types of ignorance.

▸ 21st century skills?

Skills needed are different or have different priorities for different people in different places, cultures and circumstances. Lists of "21st century skills" circulated by international organizations are generally conceived and proposed from the North, mainly for urban realities. Several skills grouped today as "21st century skills" were previously presented as "20th century skills".

Children, young people and adults living in poverty - the majority of the world population - develop skills than enable them to survive in very difficult circumstances and to become resilient at an early age. They learn to take care of themselves and their families, to cooperate with others, to solve practical problems, and to learn in all circumstances.

There are several lists of "21st century skills" proposed by international actors such as the European Commission (key competences for lifelong learning in European schools), the World Economic Forum (job skills for the future), OECD (learning for life), UNICEF (transferable skills), and the InterAmerican Development Bank (skills for life).

The pandemic revealed the real magnitude of economic, social, educational and digital inequalities throughout the world and in each particular country, and the need to radically rethink education and learning systems and practices: what, where, when and how do children, young people and adults, families and communities need to learn if we are to ensure the right to education, that is, the right to educational inclusion, equity and quality for all.

Related texts in this blog (English)
» Basic Learning Needs: Different Frameworks

 

«Towards a new vision of education»: From Jomtien (1990) to Incheon (2015)

Rosa María Torres

Hacia una nueva visión de la educación: De la Declaración de Jomtien (1990) a la Declaración de Incheon (2015)

In 1990, the World Declaration on Education for All approved at the World Conference on Education for All (Jomtien-Thailand, 5-9 March 1990) proposed an «expanded vision of basic education» focused on the satisfaction of basic learning needs of all, children, young people and adults, in and out of the school system. Basic education was seen as the foundation of lifelong learning.

In 2015, the Incheon Declaration: Education 2030 approved at the World Education Forum (Incheon, South Korea, 21 May 2015) proposed a «new vision of education» at the heart of which is the adoption of a «lifelong learning approach», that is, an approach that views learning as a continuum, from birth to death, in and out of the education system (formal, non-formal and informal learning).

Jomtien's «expanded vision of basic education» did not materialize in reality. The implementation of Education for All (EFA) and its six goals ended up focusing on formal education and on primary education for children, leaving aside the goals related to early childhood and to adulthood. This happened again in the extension of EFA until the year 2015 decided at the World Education Forum (Dakar, Senegal, 2000). The year 2015 found the world with an unfinished EFA agenda.

Will the «new vision of education» and the adoption of a «lifelong learning approach» proposed at Incheon be able to become a reality and meet the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) and its 10 targets until 2030?

Below are the texts of both Declarations. 

■ World Declaration on Education for All. Meeting Basic Learning Needs (World Conference on Education for All, Jomtien-Thailand, 5-9 March 1990)

1. Every person - child, youth and adult - shall be able to benefit from educational opportunities designed to meet their basic learning needs. These needs comprise both essential learning tools (such as literacy, oral expression, numeracy, and problem solving) and the basic learning content (such as knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes) required by human beings to be able to survive, to develop their full capacities, to live and work in dignity, to participate fully in development, to improve the quality of their lives, to make informed decisions, and to continue learning. The scope of basic learning needs and how they should be met varies with individual countries and cultures, and inevitably, changes with the passage of time.

2. The satisfaction of these needs empowers individuals in any society and confers upon them a responsibility to respect and build upon their collective cultural, linguistic and spiritual heritage, to promote the education of others, to further the cause of social justice, to achieve environmental protection, to be tolerant towards social, political and religious systems which differ from their own, ensuring that commonly accepted humanistic values and human rights are upheld, and to work for international peace and solidarity in an interdependent world.

3. Another and no less fundamental aim of educational development is the transmission and enrichment of common cultural and moral values. It is in these values that the individual and society find their identity and worth.

4. Basic education is more than an end in itself. It is the foundation for lifelong learning and human development on which countries may build, systematically, further levels and types of education and training.

5. To serve the basic learning needs of all requires more than a recommitment to basic education  as it now exists. What is needed is an “expanded vision” that surpasses present resource levels, institutional structures, curricula, and conventional delivery systems while building on the best in current practices.

New possibilities exist today which result from the convergence of the increase in information and the unprecedented capacity to communicate. We must seize them with creativity and a determination for increased effectiveness.

The «expanded vision» encompasses:
- Universalizing access and promoting equity;
- Focusing on learning;
- Broadening the means and scope of basic education;
- Enhancing the environment for learning;
- Strengthening partnerships."

The full text of the Declaration can be found here.

■ Incheon Declaration - Education 2030 . Towards inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all(World Education Forum, Incheon, South Korea, 21 May, 2015)

Preamble

1. We, Ministers, heads and members of delegations, heads of agencies and officials of multilateral and bilateral organizations, and representatives of civil society, the teaching profession, youth and the private sector, have gathered in May 2015 at the invitation of the Director-General of UNESCO in Incheon, Republic of Korea, for the World Education Forum 2015 (WEF 2015). We thank the Government and the people of the Republic of Korea for having hosted this important event as well as UNICEF, the World Bank, UNFPA, UNDP, UN Women and UNHCR, as the co-convenors of this meeting, for their contributions.

We express our sincere appreciation to UNESCO for having initiated and led the convening of this milestone event for Education 2030.

2. On this historic occasion, we reaffirm the vision of the worldwide movement for Education for All initiated in Jomtien in 1990 and reiterated in Dakar in 2000 — the most important commitment to education in recent decades and which has helped drive significant progress in education. We also reaffirm the vision and political will reflected in numerous international and regional human rights
treaties that stipulate the right to education and its interrelation with other human rights. We acknowledge the efforts made; however, we recognize with great concern that we are far from having reached education for all.

3. We recall the Muscat Agreement developed through broad consultations and adopted at the Global Education for All (EFA) Meeting 2014, and which successfully informed the proposed education targets of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We further recall the
outcomes of the regional ministerial conferences on education post-2015 and take note of the findings of the 2015 EFA Global Monitoring Report and the Regional EFA Synthesis Reports. We recognize the important contribution of the Global Education First Initiative as well as the role of governments and regional, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations in galvanizing political
commitment for education.

4. Having taken stock of progress made towards the EFA goals since 2000 and the education-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as well as the lessons learned, and having examined the remaining challenges and deliberated on the proposed 2030 education agenda and the Framework for Action as well as on future priorities and strategies for its achievement, we adopt this Declaration.

Towards 2030: a new vision for education

5. Our vision is to transform lives through education, recognizing the important role of education as a main driver of development and in achieving the other proposed SDGs. We commit with a sense of urgency to a single, renewed education agenda that is holistic, ambitious and aspirational, leaving no one behind. This new vision is fully captured by the proposed SDG 4 “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all ” and its corresponding targets. It is transformative and universal, attends to the «unfinished business» of the EFA agenda and the education-related MDGs, and addresses global and national education challenges. It is inspired by a humanistic vision of education and development based on human rights and dignity; social justice; inclusion; protection; cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversity; and shared responsibility and accountability. We reaffirm that education is a public good, a fundamental human right and a basis for guaranteeing the realization of other rights. It is essential for peace, tolerance, human fulfilment and sustainable development. We recognize education as key to achieving full employment and poverty eradication. We will focus our efforts on access, equity and inclusion, quality and learning outcomes, within a lifelong learning approach."

The full text of the Declaration can be found here.

Related texts in this blog
- The six Education for All goals
- ¿Qué es el Aprendizaje a lo Largo de la Vida (ALV)?

Literacy: From «all» to «a substantial proportion of adults»

Rosa María Torres

Between 1980 and 2015 the goal referred to youth and adult literacy went from «eradicating illiteracy» (Major Project of Education for Latin America and the Caribbean, 1980-2000) to «all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy» (Sustainable Development Goals, 2015-2030).

In other words: current SDGs propose universal literacy for youth (15 to 24 year-olds) and an undefined goal for people beyond 25 years of age. This contradicts the Lifelong Learning rhetoric as well as SDG 4: "Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all and promote lifelong learning."

Texto en español: Alfabetización: De «todos» a «una proporción sustancial de los adultos»

Major Project of Education (1980-2000) | UNESCO-OREALC

In 1980, the Major Project of Education for Latin America and the Caribbean - MPE (1980-2000) was approved in Mexico. MPE was coordinated by UNESCO's Regional Office in Santiago, Chile. MPE proposed to achieve three goals by the year 2000. One of them was «eradicating illiteracy». The final evaluation of the project, in 2000, revealed that the goals were not met. 
 

1. Eight to ten years' minimum schooling for all children of school age.
2. Eradication of illiteracy and expansion of educational facilities for adults.
3. Improving the quality and efficiency of educational systems and education in general, through the implementation of necessary reforms and effective systems designed for measuring learning.

Education for All (1990-2000) | UNESCO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank

The Education for All (EFA) world initiative was approved in1990 at the World Conference on Education for All held in Jomtien-Thailand. EFA proposed six basic education goals that covered children, youth and adults, in and out of school. One of those goals (goal 4) was reducing the adult illiteracy rate by half. EFA's evaluation, presented in 2000 at the World Education Forum in Dakar, concluded that the goals were not met. The decision was to postpone the goals for another 15 years. 
 

1. Expansion of early childhood care and development activities, including family and community interventions, especially for poor, disadvantaged and disabled children.
2. Universal access to, and completion of, primary education (or whatever higher
level  of education is considered «basic») by 2000.
3. Improvement in learning achievement such that an agreed percentage of an appropriate age cohort (e.g. 80% of 14 year-olds) attains or surpasses a defined level of necessary learning achievement.
4. Reduction in the adult illiteracy rate (the appropriate age cohort to be determined in each country) to, say, one-half its 1990 level by the year 2000, with sufficient emphasis on female literacy to significantly reduce the current disparity between the male and female illiteracy rates.
5. Expansion of provision of basic education and training in other essential skills required by youth and adults, with programme effectiveness assessed in terms of behavioural changes and impacts on health, employment and productivity.
6. Increased acquisition by individuals and families of the knowledge, skills and values required for better living and sound and sustainable development, made available through all educational channels including the mass media, other forms of modern and traditional communication, and social action, with effectiveness assessed in terms of behavioural change.

Education for All (2000-2015) | UNESCO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank

In 2000, at the World Education Forum held in Dakar-Senegal, the six EFA goals were ratified, with some modifications. The goal referred to literacy (goal 4) remained as "achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy". EFA's final evaluation in 2015 confirmed that the goals were not met. EFA remained as an "unfinished agenda".

1. Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
2.  Ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality.
3. Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes.
4. Achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults.
5. Eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality.
6. Improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence for all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.

Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015) | United Nations 

In 2000 the United Nations launched the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), a global multisectoral agenda with eight goals to be achieved by 2015. The goal referred to education - Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education- focused on children (completing four years of schooling). It was not met. The MDGs did not include a goal for adult literacy. 

Sustainable Development Goals - SDG (2015-2030) | United Nations

In 2015, both EFA and MDG goals reached their deadline, and the Sustainable Development Goals (2015-2030) were approved. The Agenda 2030 was organized around 17 goals. SDG 4 refers to education: 

SDG 4 encompasses 10 targets summarized as follows:
4.1 Universal primary and secondary education
4.2 Early childhood development and universal pre-primary education
4.3 Equal access to technical/vocational and higher education
4.4 Relevant skills for decent work
4.5 Gender equality and inclusion
4.6 Universal youth and adult literacy
4.7 Education for sustainable development and global citizenship
4.a Effective learning environments
4.b Expand the number of scholarships available to developing countries
4.c Increase the supply of qualified teachers.

The target related to literacy (target 4.6) reads "by 2030, ensure all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy.“

According to UNESCO (2016 data, projected to 2017), in 2017 there were 260 million children who could not read and write, and 750 million adults in the same condition. Women continued to be two thirds of the adult illiterates. 102 million were young people between 15 and 24 years of age. Globally, between 2000 and 2015, the youth and adult literacy rate increased only 4%.

In terms of age, literacy rates are organized as follows:
- 86%: 15+
- 91%: 15 to 24
- 86%: 15 to 64 
- 78%: 65+

In most countries, literacy/illiteracy data continue to be collected through census and house surveys where people respond Yes or No to the question of whether they are illiterate. 

Lifelong Learning opportunities for all?

With regards to youth and adult literacy goals, between 1980 and 2015 we moved from «eradicating illiteracy" to ensuring universal literacy for youth and reaching «a substantial proportion of adults».

UNESCO document Unpacking Sustainable Development Goal 4: Education 2030 (2017) clarifies that target 4.6 understands «youth» as 15 to 25 years of age.

The document also explains that (p. 13):

"The principles, strategies and actions for this target are underpinned by the contemporary understanding of literacy as a continuum of proficiency levels in a given context. It goes beyond the understanding of a simple dichotomy of ‘literate’ versus ‘illiterate’. Therefore, action for this target aims at ensuring that by 2030, all young people and adults across the world should have achieved relevant and recognized proficiency levels in functional literacy and numeracy skills that are equivalent to levels achieved at successful completion of basic
education."

However, target 4.6 indicates that it is not all young people and adults who will be made literate. Moreover, a summary of the global goals indicates that only young people will be taken into account (p. 16).

In the 1970s and 1980s we criticized the «eradication of illiteracy» rhetoric for its grotesque and simplified vision of illiteracy and literacy.

Today, the SDG Agenda proposes universal literacy for youth and reaching «a substantial proportion of adults». Once again, we must expect adult literacy to have no priority.

This happens at a time when Lifelong Learning is proposed by UNESCO as the educational paradigm for the 21st century and in the framework of an education goal that promises to «Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all».

 
To know more
» UNESCO Institute for Statistics - Literacy

Related texts in this blog
» Los erradicadores del analfabetismo
» ¿Renuncia a un mundo alfabetizado? | Giving up to a literate world?
» Alfabetización de adultos en América Latina y el Caribe: planes y metas 1980-2015 
» Seis metas de Educación para Todos | Six Education for All goals
» Carta Abierta a la UNESCO por parte del GLEACE en 2007
» Ecuador: El fiasco de la alfabetización | Ecuador's literacy fiasco

» International Initiatives for Education | Iniciativas internacionales para la educación