Partnerships for providing better access to basic education Richard Maclure Faculty of Education University of Ottawa rmaclure@uottawa.ca 11/19/2018

Part 1: BASIC EDUCATION & HEALTH: EVIDENCE OF THE CONNECTION. Source: L. H. Summers (1994). “Investing in All the People: Educating Women in Developing Countries”. EDI Seminar Paper No. 45, The World Bank, pp. 9 – 13. 11/19/2018

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Part 2: TRENDS IN BASIC EDUCATION: CURRENT DISCOURSE Dakar Framework for Action MDGs Partnerships State/Civil society relations Paris Declaration: The role of international donors Child rights approaches to education 11/19/2018

Dakar Framework for Action A re-affirmation of Jomtien EFA (1990) early childhood education; free primary education; appropriate learning and life-skills programmes; significant advances in adult literacy; eliminating gender disparities by 2005, & achieving gender equality in education by 2015; good quality education & measurable learning outcomes. 11/19/2018

Commitments to the Dakar goals governments to prepare national action plans; involvement of civil society; no country to be thwarted by lack of resources / global mobilisation of resources; annual monitoring report. 11/19/2018

The Millennium Development Goals Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary education Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015 11/19/2018

Partnerships A. State / Civil society relations Reasons underlying CSO participation in basic education: limited government capacity to expand & sustain basic education; trends towards decentralization, democratization, & community participation in social services; 11/19/2018

improved economies of scale better quality and performance outcomes international support for civil society capacity building & state/CSO collaboration 11/19/2018

B. The Paris Declaration: The role of international donors Key indicators of donor agency partnership: ownership alignment harmonization managing for results transparency & accountability 11/19/2018

Child rights approaches to education curricular reforms structural reforms – e.g., healthy schools, violence-free schools, feeding/nutrition programs, etc. constructivist, child-centred pedagogies (e.g., child-to-child strategies) 11/19/2018

Part 2: FALLACIES, LIMITATIONS, & CONTRADICTIONS EFA or MDGs ? – dilemmas arising from shifting & competing agendas of different international protocols International & national target setting: flaws & fallacies 11/19/2018

Contradictions: Education for . . . . development of human resources vs. uncertain “use” of human resources social equity & mobility vs. social selection & reproduction progressive change vs. reinforcement of the status quo 11/19/2018

“success” vs. the fostering of failure critical thinking vs. rote memorization & indoctrination peace & safety vs. sites of violence 11/19/2018

Diverse participant agendas: healthy individual cognitive & social growth employment & family security human resource (capital) development & economic growth citizenship and socio-political democatization 11/19/2018

Diverse nature & effects of participation Civil society participation: democratic action or elitist co-optation? Private sector participation: revitalization of education OR rollback of the state & “marketization” of a public good? Participation as democratization or de-politicization? 11/19/2018

Part 3: Ways Forward Increased attention & support for local schools and “out-of-school” education linked to local needs / job creation / community health Greater curricular & pedagogical emphasis on schools as havens of safety and as forums for health education 11/19/2018

Greater attention to children’s participation and child-centred pedagogy as foundations of appropriate good quality education Increased attention to the viability of children as participants in educational policy-making, planning, delivery, and evaluation Acknowledgment of the limits of education, & corresponding attention to context – to capacity building, transparency in governance, economic investment, & job creation 11/19/2018

Unflagging attention to the nexus between gender equity in education and increased community health Emphasis on inter-disciplinary evaluation & applied research that engages the partnership among health & education researchers, in conjunction with health & education policy-makers & practitioners. 11/19/2018