Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Statement of Problem
Our internationally agreed development goals are a complex tapestry, and education is the indispensable thread that is hanging loose. Secondary education is vital for children to live a healthy, sustainable lifestyle. Educated families are less vulnerable to extreme poverty and hunger, and nations with high secondary education rates are likely to enjoy vibrant economies, political stability and respect for human rights. The coming decades pose the challenge of increasing the access to secondary education, as we did with primary education. The quality of secondary education has to be upgraded and standardized, and furthermore, global secondary education has to be made relevant to todays societies demands and characteristics. This is a far larger and nuanced challenge than the bolstering of primary education; the success of our future generations is largely dependent on the effectiveness of todays solutions. There are three major areas we need to tackle: access, quality and relevance. Access: The rst step to ameliorating the pressing issues that face secondary education is to get every child into school by increasing access. !Today, some 71 million adolescents in low income countries alone are not receiving secondary education. The primary school completion gap between rich and poor countries has diminished; however, the gap between rich and poor receiving secondary education has widened in the past 40 years. Poverty and high costs of secondary education are a major problem hindering access to secondary schooling. Even in areas where free education is provided, poor families cannot afford to pay the uniform prices, additional book prices and the other additional costs, not provided for by the school. Financing the escalating demand for secondary education increases the pressure on national budgets in an already constrained nancial environment in LEDCs.!Signicantly increasing access to secondary education requires new nancial resources. Nations must nd new ways of increasing funding for secondary education through public, private, or community sources, and at the same time, maximizing efciency and effectiveness in resource allocation and utilization, to increase access to education. Gender inequality: In at least 63 countries, signicantly fewer females receive secondary education than males; this is often due to cultural restraints - girls have a unique set of barriers to education, such as child marriage, early pregnancy, and expectations related to domestic labour, as well as perceived unsafe travel to schools
Comprehensive Assessment: effective assessment should measure the full range of student ability -- social, emotional, and academic achievement. Through various measures, including portfolios, presentations, and tests, multiple learning styles are supported. Integrated Studies: combines curriculum from two or more disciplines, allowing students to see how ideas are connected. Teaching in such a contextual manner promotes collaboration, critical thinking, and knowledge retention. Project-Based Learning: is a dynamic approach to teaching in which students explore real-world problems and challenges. With this type of active and engaged learning, students are inspired to obtain a deeper knowledge of the subjects they're studying. Social & Emotional Learning: when students work together on project teams, they learn to collaborate, communicate, and resolve conicts. Cooperative learning and character development supports the social and emotional development of students and prepares them for success in the modern workplace. Teacher Development: Just as professionals in medicine, architecture, and law have opportunities to learn through participating in internships and learning best practices, exemplary teacher-preparation programs allow teacher candidates the time to spend in classrooms with experienced mentors. Technology Integration: effective technology integration is achieved when its use supports curricular goals. It must support four key components of learning: active engagement, participation in groups, frequent interaction and feedback, and connection to real-world experts.
Past UN Actions
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is based on the principles of the United Nations Charter. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights lays out all the privileges every person has the right to - it is the groundwork for modern civilization and is the ultimate goal for mankind to achieve. It acts as a fuel for the United Nations to undertake initiatives to help the under-privileged. Education is one of the main topics discussed in the Declaration, which emphasizes that: Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. However this is not the case in many under-developed countries. Most of these countries do not list education as the highest priority as they are stricken by poverty, corruption and many other problems. Furthermore, education in these countries suffers and continues to decline as the population rises and much of the nancial support and focus of their governments is directed elsewhere. Since less developed countries lack proper infrastructure and funds to provide secondary education, the United Nations steps in. Already, many projects have been launched by various specialised agencies and organisations under the UN and goals have been nalised to help enforce the Declaration of Human Rights, including the provision of education to all. These goals are called the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The UN adopted the Millennium Development Goals amid great fanfare in 2000, setting out its commitment to halving world poverty, improving health and education and regenerating the environment in the world's poorest countries. Countries have repeatedly committed themselves to achieving goals such as universal primary education and eliminating gender disparities at all levels of education by 2015. The MDGs have been adopted by all major donor countries and agencies - including the World Bank - and by the governments of many developing countries as the backbone for their anti-poverty efforts. These goals hold a sense of urgency and moral sway with the international community of nations, although they are not legal in nature. One of the major breakthroughs in confronting the issue of education is the Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring reports founded by the UNESCO. The EFA Global Monitoring Reports are the prime instrument to assess global progress towards achieving the EFA 'Dakar' goals, to which over 160 countries committed themselves in 2000. (The Dakar framework is a plan created to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals as well as the Education for All goals). The reports track progress, and identify effective policy reforms and best practices in all areas relating to EFA; they draw attention to emerging challenges and seek to promote international cooperation in support of education. The EFA Global Monitoring Reports examine how skill development programmes can be improved to boost young peoples opportunities for decent jobs and better lives. The publications are targeted at decision-makers at the national and international level, and more broadly, at all those engaged in promoting the right to quality education teachers, civil society groups, NGOs, researchers and the international community.
primary schools, enabling more children to access education. Currently due to the UNDPs innovative work, Bangladesh is on track to achieve 100 % primary school enrollment by 2015, one component of Millennium Development Goal 2. Bangladesh is one of many successes of the UNDP, and so if the UNDP becomes the core agency to carry out the actual eldwork in improving education supported by all the research gathered and work done by the Global Monitoring Reports, the world might achieve the Millennium Development Goals (focused on education) faster than anticipated and signicantly develop our world.
Proposed Solutions
One of the main issues stopping the progress of a country and affecting its society is education. Developing countries lack resources for education, so many young bright children cannot fulll their potential. A multi-sector approach involving government ministries, NGOs, local communities and industries etc, is essential for successful implementation of secondary education. These proposed solutions focus on access, quality, and relevance, and are aimed towards developed and developing countries. For many students, accessibility and affordability are colossal problems, which stop them from receiving quality education. Today, many educational projects have been set up to aid these students, and eradicate certain obstacles. The elimination of school fees has often proven to be an effective way to increase school enrollment. However, while eliminating school fees is necessary to reach the poorest, it is not enough by itself. Governments also need to lower indirect costs associated with uniforms, textbooks and informal fees. Financial income programs for identiably marginalized groups can lower household costs and provide incentives for education. There are 800 million unemployed adults in the world; and yet, the number of working children is estimated to be at over 300 million. Replacing these working children with their mostly unemployed parents would result in higher family incomes (since adults are generally paid better). To decrease the number of children working and increase the number of children in schools, UNDP must eliminate abusive, exploitative and otherwise intolerable forms of child labour through legislation and enforcement; and provide free schools for poor children. In many developing countries, where women are expected to live their lives inside their homes, providing access to educational framework becomes a problem. Two-thirds of the worlds 799 million illiterate adults (ages 15 and over) are women. In Afghanistan, home-based schooling for girls has now grown into a government accepted strategy for educating girls in remote areas. What started as a clandestine innovation during Taliban rule has now grown into one of the main approaches for ensuring girls access to school. In African countries, such as Nigeria, interventions can be introduced, to help parents/guardians understand the purpose and importance of education in the 21st century. Building schools closer to marginalized communities is vital, especially for gender parity. School construction programmes should prioritize remote rural areas, urban slums and conictaffected areas, and take into account the needs of learners with disabilities.
10
According to CCA consulting, nearly 50% of secondary education institutions currently engage in some type of online learning. Every student has a unique learning style. Some students are visual learners; some learn better when they "learn by doing." Web-based learning environments permit the instructor to build one course, yet implement a variety of resources, so students can utilize materials in whichever way works best for them. Moreover online education programs often charge less than traditional schools. Some online education programs connect students with top-notch professors and guest lecturers from around the world. To meet the demands of an advanced professional world, secondary education must become more vocational, by offering more subjects and elds to pursue. AlKhidmat is an example of a charitable organization that provides vocational, as well as formal educational assistance and facilities for children regardless of age, gender, or location. Al-Khidmat gives many poor students in Pakistan, especially girls, a chance to complete their secondary education. It has also undertaken various educational programs in Pakistans prisons.
11
In the United States, half of the teachers leave in the rst ve Clarity: Clarity about expectations, formats, and other aspects of years because of lack of support or other frustrations. The direction-giving has a positive impact on the achievement level of National Commission on Teaching and America's Future found that teacher turnover costs their nation $7.34 billion each year. the students doing the homework, participating in the classroom questioning session, etc.
12
When utilized properly, technology is a very useful resource in secondary schools. Using computers in schools enhances learning drastically. Internet access allows students to get different educational resources from all over the world, thus making the world like a classroom of learning. It enables students to access different ideas as well as learn knowledge coming from abroad. The use of computer technology in education allows students to learn modern tools and knowledge that will make them ready for the high tech world we live in, and anticipate technological changes of the future. Computers for African Schools is a charity based in the United Kingdom which aims to give children in developing African countries the opportunity to gain experience with and understanding of computers and IT. At the end of 2011, CFAS had sent 30,000 computer systems to ve main CFAS programme countries: Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zanzibar. Also smaller quantities have also donated to partner NGO's in Kenya, Mozambique, etc. More than 1500 schools have computer labs set up through the scheme. Every state and mission secondary school in Zambia has been provided with at least 10 computers through the scheme. The computers are donated free to the schools and two teachers from each recipient school are trained to teach IT as a subject. The programmes in the CFAS scheme recipient countries are administered by local administering NGOs. These are just some of the key points that must be debated at the conference. For further consolidation of essential proposals for the working papers and nal resolution, please review the appendix (created by Year 11 and 12) in detail.
13
14
Bloc Positions
A countrys bloc position is based on geographic location or economic status or political ideology...
Lack of secondary education is a pressing problem in the world today. Lack of nances and resources are the core reasons for the lack of universal quality secondary education in LEDCs. These countries look to the MEDCs for support and aid. A countrys bloc position is based on geographic or economic status. Bloc positions are important when negotiating and caucusing. They are also important because blocs add power to the opinions of states. The following bloc positions will be based on geographic locations: BLOC A NORTH AMERICA AND WESTERN EUROPE This bloc includes countries in North America and Western Europe -Canada, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States among others. Virtually every country in this region has close to universal secondary education. The Gross enrollment ratio (GER) is the total enrollment in a specic level of education, regardless of age and is expressed as a percentage of the population in the ofcial age group corresponding to this level of education. The GER can exceed 100% due to late entry and/or repetition. The GER of the average Bloc A country stands at a staggering 107.6%, as opposed to the 63.7% in the rest of the world. These gures are courtesy of a result of compulsory schooling, widely enforced for a century, the long-term democratization of education systems, economic growth and social transformation in recent decades, which have opened new vistas and opportunities and boosted demand for higher education. Other blocs are encouraged to follow the example set by this one. A core problem stunting the growth of many countries in the world today is that not enough nancial aid is given to LEDCs to bolster their efforts to provide secondary education to their youth, and this is where Bloc A countries need to step up. Bloc A countries are recommended to lend money to countries in Blocs E and F. BLOC B CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE This next bloc includes countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, Croatia, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine among others.
15
These countries have been regaining their independence in the early 1990s and many of them in this region have faced profound political, socio-economic and demographic disruptions that have affected their education systems. However, this region has stepped up its investment in education, and has been rewarded by an increase in enrollment in the last third of the decade. This regions secondary GER has increased by 1% since 1999, to reach 88% in 2008. However, nearly 1.7 million adolescents were still outside the education system in 2008. Participation levels remained relatively low in some countries in CEE, with GERs at or below 85% in the Russian Federation, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey. In sharp contrast, Central Asia saw rapid expansion in secondary education, with the regional GER increasing from 86% in 1999 to 97% in 2008. Progress was most marked in Mongolia, where the secondary GER rose from 61% in 1999 to 95% in 2008. Yet major challenges remain. Some countries are registering an increasing number of children not enrolled in school and this is one area where countries in Bloc B need to step up. A solution is that rather than borrowing money from countries in Bloc A, Bloc B countries need to set up partnerships between each other, for example, due to their similarity in culture, similar location and alike nancial statuses, etc, to make universal quality secondary education a reality in their countries. Belarus and Ukraine, for instance, could produce a solid
partnership, which could perhaps even see the duo promoted to Bloc A. BLOC C ARAB STATES This region as a whole has made signicant progress over the last decade in terms of school access and retention. In contrast to Bloc A and Bloc B, in which all of the countries are MEDCs, Bloc C is a region in which there are MEDCs and LEDCs. Massive educational deprivation and large gender disparities still characterize some countries in this Bloc. The region records some of the worlds largest gender disparities, particularly in primary education and adult literacy. The dual challenge of improving quality and equitably expanding access to secondary education requires sustained investment from the countries concerned. It has been argued that governments should invest at least 6% of GNP in education, though this does not in itself guarantee quality. Globally, participation in lower secondary education is on the rise. The gross enrollment ratio (GER) for this level increased from 72% to 80% between 1999 and 2009. In the Arab States, the gross enrollment ratio rose from 72% to 87%, which was one of the most notable increases in the world. Urgent action is needed in countries where the gender gap is still large in primary and secondary education. An overriding priority is to tackle poverty constraints by reducing the direct and indirect cost of schooling to families and addressing the incidence of child labour. Eliminating gender
disparities and inequality while achieving all the other EFA goals is costly. Some countries will need to allocate more of their own resources towards secondary education and use these resources more effectively. This region is able to fund other countries, such as those in Bloc D, and in order to eliminate gender disparities and child labour, poorer countries in this region require aid from MEDCs in the region, as well as some help from countries in Blocs A and B. BLOC D ASIA AND THE PACIFIC Since the early 1990s, countries in central Asia have gone through profound political, socio-economic and demographic disruptions, which have affected their education systems. Setbacks in enrollment rates were recorded over the decade at almost all levels of education. South and West Asia is characterized by massive educational deprivation. East Asia and the Pacic is composed of vastly different countries, from small island states in the Pacic to population giants like China and Indonesia. This bloc consists of countries with very different economic status, such as China and Pakistan - China is an MEDC, whereas Pakistan is an LEDC. Some countries within this bloc have gone from being LEDCs to becoming MEDCs. An example of this is the Republic of Korea, which went from being a poor country to a wealthy one in just 30 years thanks in large part to its investment in skills development of young people.
16
Bloc Positions (continued) Blocs are important because they create cohesion between particular States on issues and facilitates the negotiation process. They add power to the opinions of States.
region like Latin America. This Bloc can provide some assistance to the poorest countries in Bloc F.
BLOC F SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA This bloc in general has made some signicant advances across the board but progress remains uneven and this region generally lags behind others in achieving education for all. Some major issues are poor education quality and insufcient attention towards youth and adult learning needs. Literacy rates are steadily rising with increasing gender parity in much of the region. In Burkina External aid for education is an important source of nance for Faso, Burundi and Malawi, female literacy rates more or less EFA in most countries in South and West Asia. Countries in doubled and have increased twice as fast as male rates. the region received an annual average of US$1.9 billion in aid However, female adult literacy rates are still below the for education during 2004 and 2005, of which US$1.3 billion 1985-1994 average for male literacy. Gender disparity is was allocated to the basic education levels. The Pacic is also common amongst marginalized groups, for example white different from other countries in Asia as there is close to no youth and white adult women have near-universal literacy gender disparity there. Many LEDCs in this region require aid levels, compared with just 70% among black women. The from MEDCs in order for secondary education to prevail there. general quality of secondary education is poor and is reected The richer countries in this region, such as Australia and by illiteracy rates amongst adults who spent several years in China, can help LEDCs in this bloc. school. Children with poor socio-economic backgrounds receive a lower quality education than their privileged counterparts; slums are focal points for educational BLOC E LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN deprivation, partly because many governments fail to recognize This bloc as a whole is the closest of the developing regions to the entitlement of slum dwellers to basic services. Sub-Saharan achieving education for all but is held back by countries Africa displays the most linguistic diversity of any region in the making limited progress on some specic goals. Issues of world and this leads to extreme disparity for children who are retention and completion as well as the standard of education taught in a language other than their mother tongue. In remain a major concern for some of these countries. These Nigeria, the education attainment gap between the highest and countries have poorly funded vocational training programs and lowest performing language groups is six years; in governments in Latin America and the Caribbean have to Mozambique, youth who speak Jaua average one year of strike a delicate balance between general and vocational education, compared with ve years for Portuguese speakers. A education to prepare their students to cope in the global feasible solution is needed to address internal disparities economy. Deep spending cuts in the region during the 1980s between different ethnic groups and in countries with high and 1990s further compromised quality in vocational cultural diversities such as South Africa. While primary education. Countries like Brazil and seven Caribbean countries education remains a top priority in the region, a framework to maintain a perfect GER while other countries like El Salvador ease the transition from primary education to secondary and Guatemala have a GER less than 70%. While these education is essential to achieve quality education for all. This countries have made signicant progress in increasing their transition can be achieved over the next years if this region GERs, they still need to address how they will keep these receives aid from countries in Bloc A and B. children in school. A lack of home language instruction is often part of wider processes of cultural subordination and social In conclusion all these blocs want the development of discrimination, reinforced by curricula that are insensitive to secondary education in their countries, but some are incapable cultural diversity and programs that address these issues are of doing this on their own. With the help of UNDP and other either of poor quality or receive limited coverage. A feasible MEDCS, the move towards better and more universal solution that addresses the need to integrate children from education is possible. different ethnicities should be a priority in a culturally diverse
17
18
19
20
Concluding Remarks
We would suggest that you visit the UNDP website: www.undp.org/ as well as the Education First PDF: www.globaleducationrst.org/les/ EdFirst_G29383UNOPS_lr.pdf -- for further information and ideas for this years MUN topic. Creating Tomorrows Schools Today by Richard Gerver is a book which explores the importance of education in a wider aspect. You do not have to buy these books you can view the reviews on websites such as Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Creating-TomorrowsSchools-Today-Education/dp/1855393948 These are a few suggestions we thought may help you to understand the importance of this years BOS MUN. There are many more examples on the internet which will greatly contribute to your understanding of this topic. This study guide should act as a framework to guide your deliberation and policy papers. We hope you nd the study guide useful in contributing to your knowledge of this years topic. We welcome you to BOS MUN 2013.
21
22
23
24