Video September 2014

- gathering world leaders from all regions of the world joined together in support of quality education.

The Global Education First Initiative is led by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. It gathers a broad spectrum of world
leaders and advocates who all aspire to use the transformative power of education to build a better future for all.

The Initiative aims to raise the political profile of education, strengthen the global movement to achieve quality education and
generate additional and sufficient funding through sustained advocacy efforts.

The Initiative's basic priorities are to expand access to education, improve the quality of learning, and foster global citizenship.

Education is a great driver of social, economic and political progress. As people learn to read, count and reason critically, their
prospects for health and prosperity expand exponentially. But our advances in education have not benefited everyone equally—
and primary school enrollment rates tell only part of the regrettable story. Millions of children who start primary school are unable
to finish and still more miss out on secondary school. Today, some 69 million adolescents—in low-income countries—are receiving
no post-primary education.

Barriers to school enrolment and completion

Unaffordable costs. Poverty is the greatest barrier to high-quality education. Even when primary school is technically free, additional
charges for uniforms, textbooks, teacher salaries and school maintenance create financial barriers for many families. In surveys from
countries with “free education”, parents consistently say these indirect costs keep them from sending their children to school. While
some governments have withdrawn formal fees for basic education, few have dropped fees for secondary education.

List of Least Developed Countries (LDCs)

Africa

Angola Benin Burkina Faso Burundi

Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros

Congo, Dem. Rep. of the Djibouti Equatorial Guinea Eritrea

Ethiopia Gambia Guinea Guinea-Bissau

Lesotho Liberia Madagascar Malawi

 Mali Mauritania Mozambique Niger

Rwanda Sao Tome and Principe Senegal Sierra Leone

Somalia Sudan Tanzania Togo

Uganda Zambia

Asia

Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan Cambodia

Lao PDR Maldives Myanmar Nepal

Timor-Leste Yemen

Australia and the Pacific

Kiribati Samoa Solomon Islands Tuvalu

Vanuatu

Caribbean

Haiti

A shortage of classrooms. The poorest countries need almost 4 million new classrooms by 2015, largely in rural and marginalized
areas, to accommodate those who are not in school. More classrooms will alleviate overcrowding, cut class sizes and reduce the long
travel distances. Children in rural areas sometimes walk two to three hours to attend school. Dilapidated classrooms also need
refurbishing or upgrading to acceptable minimum standards for learning.

Humanitarian emergencies, especially conflict. The need to fulfill the right to education is greatest in humanitarian crises. More
than 40 per cent of out-of school children live in conflict-affected poor countries, and millions are forced out of school by natural
disasters each year. In emergency situations, education can save and sustain lives. A safe school environment can give children a
sense of normalcy during a crisis. Schools can also aid in post-conflict reconstruction. Yet only 2 per cent of all humanitarian aid goes
into education. Schools should be a higher priority during humanitarian crises, and national education plans should include
contingencies for emergencies.

Gender discrimination. Girls face a unique set of barriers to education, such as child marriage, early pregnancy, and expectations
related to domestic labour, not to mention unsafe travel and a lack of sanitary facilities. Many countries under-value girls’ education,
with the result that fewer girls enroll and those who do are more likely to drop out. Some 34 million adolescent girls are out of
school around the world, and women make up nearly two thirds (almost 500 million) of the world’s illiterate adults. The gender gap
has significantly narrowed in primary education but there has been limited progress at the secondary level.

Child labour. Poverty and vulnerability are pushing far too many young children out of school and into the world of work. Some
children remain in school, but are disadvantaged doubling up studies with work. For households living in poverty, children may be
pulled out of school and into work in the face of external shocks such as natural disasters, rising costs, or a parent’s sickness or
unemployment. By leaving school to enter the labour market prematurely, children miss a chance to lift themselves, their families,
and their communities out of a cycle of poverty. Sometimes children are exposed to the worst forms of labour that is damaging to
their physical, mental and emotional well-being.

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School attendance should open pathways of learning and discovery, but too often it does not. Millions of children go through school
and come out without basic literacy and numeracy skills. Education is ultimately judged by what people learn. Many students around
the world are banking their futures on poorly trained, weakly motivated teachers without enough books and other basics to
facilitate their learning. This is a grave disservice not only to the students themselves but also to the parents who sacrifice to support
them and the countries whose futures depend on them. While we strive to boost school attendance, we must ensure that our
schools are engines of opportunity and not just idle warehouses.
Barriers to quality learning
Shortage of qualified teachers. Education systems are complex and are influenced by numerous actors. But no education system is
better than its teachers. Globally, we need an additional 1.6 million teachers to achieve universal primary education by 2015. The
shortage of teachers, combined with absenteeism and the lack of qualifications, is a major barrier to learning. We need a strong
cohort of both female and male teachers who are paid well and respected in their communities. This is not always the case.
Teachers should also have opportunities for continued professional development and growth.
Lack of learning materials. Outdated and worn-out textbooks are often shared by six or more students in many parts of the
developing world. Workbooks, exercise sheets, readers and other core materials to help students learn their lessons are in short
supply. Teachers also need materials to help prepare their lessons, share with their students, and guide their lessons. The persistent
digital divide and uneven access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) have severe implications for education. ICTs
can transform not only instruction but also the learning process. They empower both teachers and learners.
Weak foundation for early learning. A significant proportion of young children never benefit from early childhood education
programs, compromising their cognitive development and their preparedness for school. Those who do not learn to read or write in
their first few grades carry a handicap as they try to progress to higher levels, where literacy and numeracy become tools for
learning rather than ends in themselves. They struggle in school for many years and some simply quit. Around the world, primary
schools give more attention to later grades, in large part to prepare students for high-stakes examinations. It would be more
effective to deploy the most qualified teachers in the first four years of school when students establish the foundation for success in
later years.
Challenging family environments. Challenging living circumstances affect a child’s learning in many ways. When families lack
electricity at home, particularly in rural areas, children have fewer hours available to study and learn. When their homes lack books
and other reading material, they practice less and forget more during school breaks. And when parents themselves lack literacy and
numeracy skills, they are less able to reinforce what children are learning in school. Other factors, such as a stressful or violent home
environment, can also highly impede a child’s learning.
Mismatch of skills and today’s livelihoods. With more than 1.2 billion young people in the world today, our youth have the
potential to alter our course in history. Yet, in many countries, education systems have not caught up to the 21st century
knowledge-based economy. Teaching by rote curtails creative or divergent thinking. It is rigid and is not tailored to individual needs
or talents. This form of learning is widespread. There is a mismatch between the competencies needed in today’s world and those
acquired through the current education system. Too often technical and vocational education is specific and narrow thus limiting job
opportunities as skills become quickly obsolete in a dynamic and rapidly changing world.
Language barriers. The language of instruction strongly influences the ability of children to comprehend and learn. Yet an estimated
221 million children are being taught in a language other than their mother tongue. Many of them drop out or repeat grades—an
experience that can damage self-esteem and raise the cost that parents must shoulder. Studies suggest that children fare better if
they can acquire basic skills in their home language before trying to master a second one.
Hunger and poor nutrition. The impact of hunger on education systems is gravely underreported. Evidence from Latin America finds
that being stunted at age 6 was equivalent to losing four grades of schooling. Far too many children are reaching school damaged by
malnutrition. Around 171 million children in developing countries are stunted by hunger by the time they reach age 5. When
children are hungry during lessons, they have trouble concentrating. Providing school meals and social protection programs focusing
on the needs of children can insure that no child is hungry at school.
Ineffective systems to evaluate the performance of students. We cannot readily improve students’ progress without measuring it.
Education systems need to closely monitor how well students are learning in order to offer the correct support before it is too late.
Additionally, testing is too often inappropriately used to influence major financing decisions such as closing schools or firing teachers
or eliminating students who cannot progress to the next level rather than as a means to identify ways to help students improve their
learning. We must have better ways to take stock of whether children are learning and use the information to direct support and
resources for effective solutions.
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The world faces global challenges, which require global solutions. These interconnected global challenges call for far-reaching
changes in how we think and act for the dignity of fellow human beings. It is not enough for education to produce individuals who
can read, write and count. Education must be transformative and bring shared values to life. It must cultivate an active care for the
world and for those with whom we share it. Education must also be relevant in answering the big questions of the day.
Technological solutions, political regulation or financial instruments alone cannot achieve sustainable development. It requires
transforming the way people think and act. Education must fully assume its central role in helping people to forge more just,
peaceful, tolerant and inclusive societies. It must give people the understanding, skills and values they need to cooperate in
resolving the interconnected challenges of the 21st century.
Barriers to global citizenship

Legacy of the current education system. Schools have traditionally prepared people to pass exams, proceed to the next level and
graduate into the workplace. We now face the much greater challenge of raising global citizens. Promoting respect and
responsibility across cultures, countries and regions has not been at the centre of education. Global citizenship is just taking root and
changing traditional ways of doing things always brings about resistance. This entails changing the way education is organized—
making content more relevant to contemporary life and global challenges, introducing innovative and participatory teaching and
learning styles. We must rethink the purpose of education and prepare students for life, not exams alone.
Outmoded curricula and learning materials. Reviews from around the world find that today’s curricula and textbooks often
reinforce stereotypes, exacerbate social divisions, and foster fear and resentment of other groups or nationalities. Rarely are
curricula developed through a participatory process that embraces excluded and marginalized groups. But change is possible when
educators adopt a vision of ethical global citizenship. Lessons from India and Ghana, for example, show that explicitly teaching good
citizenship as a subject can have powerful results with more empowered and ethical students emerging. Deeply entrenched beliefs
take time to change. But young people are open to new perspectives, and schools are ideally positioned to convey them.
Lack of teacher capacity. Broad teacher development reforms are needed to ensure the uptake of new citizenship skills. If we want
to transform the way students learn, we must also help teachers expand their own skills and outlooks. Are they comfortable with a
curriculum that dwells explicitly on global citizenship? Can they teach traditional subjects in ways that exemplify non-discrimination
and positive support to the disadvantaged? Many teachers lack the training, confidence and classroom resources to meet these
challenges without support and instruction. We owe it to them, and our children, to provide it.
Teachers must both be comfortable with the content of what they are teaching but also model it in their teaching practice. This
means on-going teacher development and participatory learning techniques are important to ensure teachers feel comfortable
teaching about global citizenship explicitly. Teachers can help build ideas and habits of non-discrimination and positive support to
the disadvantaged through the way they conduct their teaching of literacy, numeracy and other subjects.
Inadequate focus on values. The values of peace, human rights, respect, cultural diversity and justice are often not embodied in the
ethos of schools. Instead of empowering students to learn and thrive, schools often replicate social inequalities and reinforce social
pathologies by tolerating bullying and gender-based violence and subjecting children to physical and psychological punishment.
Young people learn much from schools, but what they learn is not only in their lessons. Teachers and administrators must learn to
model the skills we want students to develop, such as good environmental practices, participatory decision-making, and the control
and prevention of violence through reporting policies and clear codes of conduct.

Lack of leadership on Global Citizenship. To create a generation that values the common good, we must understand how young
people see the world today—and our schools must find ways to foster a broader vision. Goals and targets should be set around 21st
century skills and regularly assessed to measure progress.
Open discussion of tolerance and human rights can be politically sensitive, but it is critical if we want to overcome divisions and
expand the prospects for peace and prosperity. Success will require support from a wide range of stakeholders, including the highest
levels of government.