2Towards basic<str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g> for all
26World <str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g> reportTHERE HAS BEEN A CHANGE in the world’s percepti<strong>on</strong>of the <str<strong>on</strong>g>right</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g> over thepast few decades. Whereas the Universal Declarati<strong>on</strong>of Human Rights proclaims that ‘Every<strong>on</strong>ehas the <str<strong>on</strong>g>right</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>’, that elementary <strong>and</strong>fundamental <str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g> shall be ‘free’ <strong>and</strong> that‘Elementary <str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g> shall be compulsory’, theDeclarati<strong>on</strong> adopted by the World C<strong>on</strong>ference <strong>on</strong>Educati<strong>on</strong> for All proclaims that ‘Every pers<strong>on</strong>– child, youth <strong>and</strong> adult – shall be able <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> benefitfrom <str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>al opportunities designed <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> meettheir basic learning needs’. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> Universal Declarati<strong>on</strong>of Human Rights does not menti<strong>on</strong> ‘learners’or ‘learning needs’, <strong>and</strong> the World Declarati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong>Educati<strong>on</strong> for All does not menti<strong>on</strong> ‘elementary’,‘fundamental’, ‘free’ or ‘compulsory’ <str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>.<str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> twin noti<strong>on</strong>s of ‘elementary <strong>and</strong> fundamental<str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>’ have been overtaken by thenoti<strong>on</strong> of ‘basic <str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>’, while at the same timethere has been a shift of emphasis from ‘<str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>’<str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> ‘learning’: from what society should supply,so <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> speak, i.e. <str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g> that is ‘free’, ‘compulsory’<strong>and</strong> ‘directed <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g>wards’, <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> what membersof society are said <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> dem<strong>and</strong> (‘<str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>al opportunitiesdesigned <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> meet their basic learningneeds’).This chapter c<strong>on</strong>siders how these changescame about <strong>and</strong> their implicati<strong>on</strong>s for the implementati<strong>on</strong>of the <str<strong>on</strong>g>right</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> parallelshift of emphasis in respect <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> post-compulsory<str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>, from ‘lifel<strong>on</strong>g <str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>’ <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> ‘lifel<strong>on</strong>glearning’, is c<strong>on</strong>sidered in Chapter 3.His<str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g>rically, the changes occurred in threephases or stages. In the first phase, lasting fromthe late 1940s up until the early 1960s, internati<strong>on</strong>alc<strong>on</strong>cern over the provisi<strong>on</strong> of ‘fundamental<str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>’ came <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> focus particularly <strong>on</strong>the eradicati<strong>on</strong> of illiteracy, while at the same timepressures built up for the expansi<strong>on</strong> of elementary<str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>, especially in the newly independentdeveloping countries. In the sec<strong>on</strong>d phase, lastingfrom the mid-1960s up until the late 1970s, thefocus <strong>on</strong> illiteracy broadened <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> encompass ‘functi<strong>on</strong>alilliteracy’, while at the same time a vastexpansi<strong>on</strong> of elementary <str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g> got underway. In the third phase, lasting from the early1980s up until the present, ‘functi<strong>on</strong>al literacy’came <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> be regarded as a particular aspect of‘learning needs’, while at the same time ‘elementary<str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>’ came <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> be regarded as formingpart of ‘basic <str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>’ designed <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> meet ‘basiclearning needs’.<str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> chapter has three main secti<strong>on</strong>s. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> firsttwo c<strong>on</strong>sider global trends <strong>and</strong> developments in<str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>and</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>al policies relating <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> theshift from ‘fundamental <str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>’ <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g>wards ‘functi<strong>on</strong>alliteracy’ <strong>and</strong> ‘learning needs’. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> thirdfocuses <strong>on</strong> trends <strong>and</strong> developments relating <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g>the shift from ‘elementary’ <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> ‘basic’ <str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>.‘Fundamental <str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>’<str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> term ‘fundamental <str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>’ has largelyg<strong>on</strong>e out of use <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g>day, at least in internati<strong>on</strong>aldebate <strong>and</strong> discussi<strong>on</strong> about <str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>, but at thetime when the Universal Declarati<strong>on</strong> of HumanRights was drawn up, it was more in vogue. It wasincluded in the Declarati<strong>on</strong> specifically in order <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g>recognize the <str<strong>on</strong>g>right</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g> for illiterate adults<strong>and</strong> others who had not had the opportunitywhen they were young <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> receive a full elementary<str<strong>on</strong>g>educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g> (see Appendix I, pages 97–99).<str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> questi<strong>on</strong> of interpretati<strong>on</strong><str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> term first came in<str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> use internati<strong>on</strong>ally whenit was adopted by the Prepara<str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g>ry Commissi<strong>on</strong> ofUNESCO in 1946. This Commissi<strong>on</strong>, composedof representatives from the various countriesinvolved in establishing UNESCO, was chargedwith drawing up a proposed plan of work for theOrganizati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> be submitted <str<strong>on</strong>g>to</str<strong>on</strong>g> UNESCO’s firstGeneral C<strong>on</strong>ference in November-December 1946.Am<strong>on</strong>g other things, the Commissi<strong>on</strong>’s proposalsincluded provisi<strong>on</strong> for work in the field of ‘FundamentalEducati<strong>on</strong>’, which was put forward as<strong>on</strong>e of UNESCO’s primary fields of interest. In the