The build-up to the 2015 end date for reaching the MDGs
and the Education for all goals in education has been characterised by the
realisation that many countries will not be able to achieve the aspirations set
out by governments and development agencies 12 years ago.
This
is not surprising, given that the goals assumed the same finishing line for all
countries, regardless of their starting point.
Planning
for the post 2015 development scenario has already begun and is cognisant of a
changed world – shaped by the development success and failures of the past
decade and the expectations of the upcoming decades. Any new goals will need to
be fit for a different purpose.
Critically,
the new framework will be operating in a vastly more complex funding
environment.
How
will this impact education in countries where policy and provision have been
largely driven by these development goals?
Does
the role and function of education need to change? Are skills more important
than knowledge acquisition? Is education a right or a commodity? Should there
be country specific targets?
Added
to this melting pot is the unprecedented rate of technological change and
increasing digitisation of media. Yet many countries still do not have the
infrastructure – both in terms of skills and resources – to harness the
benefits of this technology. Education models based on digital skills and
access risk exacerbating the digital divide.
It
is argued too that education must also incorporate behaviour change if the new
challenges of climate change and resource depletion are to be overcome.
Fresh
thinking around education and development points to a multi-sector approach to
replace its current stand-alone status.
On
the final day of the 18th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers, these
issues will be discussed under the theme: ‘Future Education Cooperation in the
Commonwealth’, specifically addressing the Commonwealth dimension in role of
education in the post 2015 development framework.
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