05.06.2015 – UNESCO Office in Ramallah
UNESCO Ramallah Office launches Education For All Global Monitoring Report (GMR).
Ramallah, 3 June 2015. The UNESCO Ramallah Office launched the 2015 EFA Global Monitoring Report entitled “Education for All 2000-2015: Achievements and Challenges. This year’s Global Monitoring Report is special: 2015 is the deadline for the six Education for All goals agreed by governments in Dakar, Senegal, in 2000. The 2015 Report is the twelfth and perhaps the most important one in the GMR series. It tracks the achievements and challenges of the EFA goals at both global and country levels: on early childhood education, on primary education, on youth and skills, on adult literacy, on gender equality, and on the quality of education.
Along with the Global Monitoring Report, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education of Palestine has also launched the National Assesment Report on Education for All (2000-2015), which tracks progress made in Palestine since 2000 towards achieving Education For All (EFA) and which also coincides with the 2015 deadline of the Dakar EFA Goals.
The event, which took place at the Palestinian Red Crescent, was opened by Dr. Basri Saleh, Assistant Deputy for Planning and Development, Ministry of Education and Higher Education and Mr. Lodovico Folin Calabi, Head of UNESCO Ramallah Office. Thereafter UNESCO and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education presented the findings of both reports. Time was also dedicated to discuss the outcome of the recent World Education Forum in Incheon, Korea (19-22 May 2015) as presented by Mr. Ref’at Sabbah, Director General of the Teacher Creativity Center. He explained and elaborated on the renewed commitments governments made in Korea to continue the fight until 2030.
As Mr. Folin Calabi said “It takes 15 years to educate a child! Thus education is one of the longest and most difficult things that we, as governments, as international community and as civil society are likely to ever be involved in. It is not just a one-off intervention, with a quick fix and a measurable outcome. It takes a long time. We measure in decades, not in years! “
The Ministry of Education and Higher Education emphasized that there are still many challenges ahead, however Palestine has made significant steps forward despite the continued occupation. A national strategy for early childhood has been developed and progress has been achieved in the elementary and secundary education sectors. AsH.E. Prof. Khawla Shaksheer, Minister of Education and Higher Education highlights in the National Assesment Report “We have achieved a lot and we are proud of the achievements of the education of adults as their level of literacy has improved significantly in the past years and reached 95.9% in 2012. With that, Palestine is among the countries that accomplished the international target of 95% according to Dakar convention”.
Mr. Folin Calabi complemented that Palestine is a really interesting case “because it is a country with a very young population, and because it is a country with very special political challenges, with a very high standard of educational achievement, as well as a great deal of technical support and collaboration with the international community, like UNESCO. “
Globally, just one third of countries have achieved all of the EFA goals set in 2000. Only half of all countries have achieved the goal of unversal primary education. Political commitment, extra money and effort is needed on top of already ambitious government contributions to ensure we achieve the new education targets now being set for the year 2030.
For more information, please contact Sarah El Attar, Education Officer of the UNESCO Ramallah Office at s.el-attar(at)unesco.org.
Further information, please contact Majd Beltaji, Public Information Officer of the UNESCO Office in Ramallah at m.beltaji(at)unesco.org
Document Sources: United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Subject: Assistance, Education and culture
Publication Date: 05/06/2015