UNESCO. General Conference; 30th; Records ... - unesdoc - Unesco

2.10 There was a very strong demand for literacy education, which is nowadays a challenge for all societies,
especially with the appearance of new forms of illiteracy in industrialized societies. This was mentioned by
Austria, Costa Rica and Gambia. The establishment of literate societies underpinned by dynamic educated
environments is a new task which requires a shift in emphasis with respect to goals, greater mobilization and new
investment. Setting up open-learning communities and strengthening the multidisciplinary, flexible integrated
systems devised by the “Learning Without Frontiers” programme are part of this process. We also emphasized
with much interest the urgent quest for new alternatives for meeting the educational demands of underprivileged
groups, particularly victims of AIDS. Other health-related problems, the fight against drugs and the demand for
new types of preventive education also constitute pressing needs.
2.11 The implementation of the Jomtien objectives is still a matter of topical relevance and several speakers
welcomed the evaluation at the end of the current decade and ardently hoped it would generate new approaches
and alternative strategies involving communities and NGOs. Some donor countries suggested that UNESCO
should use the findings of the International Education for All Forum, scheduled to be held in Dakar in April
2000, as a basis for readjusting all its basic education programmes. Others thought a critical analysis of the
findings was needed to correct the lacunae of the first decade now ending, and above all to focus on the
educational needs of the poorest people. NGOs reported on their contribution to this process in the framework of
their Collective Consultation with UNESCO.
2.12 In secondary and higher education, despite the clear structure of the Education Sector programme,
welcomed by many countries, the problem of content remains. This was stressed in particular with respect to
secondary, technical and vocational education and higher education. Many delegates expressed a wish to see
secondary education given a clear identity of its own, with a variety of vocational programmes and a significant
development of scientific and technical education. In this connection, a follow-up mechanism to the Seoul
Conference was forcefully and urgently requested. The achievements of the UNEVOC programme and the
network it has generated were greatly appreciated. We also enthusiastically welcomed the establishment of the
Bonn Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (BCTVET).
2.13 The setting up of the International Follow-Up Committee to the World Conference on Higher Education
was favourably received by many delegates who welcomed the establishment of focal points but wanted the work
of the Committee to be speeded up so as to give a clear focus to the recommendations made by the Conference
and ensure that “action-oriented documents” were rapidly made available. As for the UNESCO Chairs, the
general opinion was that they had proved their value, but the debate brought out the need to clarify their tasks and
identity, and to endow them with sufficient resources to enable their activities to be genuinely different from
classic academic chairs. Interest in the Chairs was confirmed and some countries, such as Mali and Botswana,
expressed the wish to host UNESCO Chairs for the culture of peace and distance education.
2.14 The question of new technologies and education remains one of the central points raised by a majority of
speakers. The time for being disturbed or worried about the new technologies is over; the task is now to make the
best use of them and to facilitate access to them by the least privileged countries and population groups. These
new information technologies were recognized as having become a decisive instrument in educational methods,
and it is therefore necessary to train teachers to be fully proficient in them. The emergence of an information
society requires teachers to take account of these new tools for disseminating knowledge and skills and to
integrate them into their structures and curricula. The UNESCO project concerning teachers in the information
society, which should result in a redefinition of the mission and status of teachers, was frequently and strongly
supported.
2.15 Despite the scepticism aroused among some speakers, distance education is now considered an essential
strategy for attaining the universal objective of education for all. In all cases, the sharing of knowledge and skills
must be accompanied by education in citizenship, creativity and the media, in order to avoid the appearance or
recurrence of negative reactions or forms of behaviour, such as racism or cultural contempt, that exclude others.
2.16 Many speakers described their efforts to renew, reform, reconstruct or re-establish their education
systems in order to face the challenges of peace and democracy, the pressures of globalization, the incursion of
new technologies (Argentina, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Thailand, Tunisia) and the urgent
demands of the transition period (Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia and Mongolia, among others). Some countries,
including Gabon, Guinea, Nigeria and Papua New Guinea, asked for support to make in-depth changes in their
education systems, while others pointed out the need to move away from the sectoral approach and technical
planning and adopt strategic planning (Gambia, Swaziland) and the joint programme approach (Burkina Faso,
Madagascar). A third group of countries, including Mali and Senegal, have established a 10-year programme and
explored a number of educational alternatives which they wished to share.
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