Education for all global monitoring report focuses on inequalities
Overcoming inequality: why governance matters
Publisher: UNESCO
Publication date: 2008
Number of pages: 477
Language: English
Overview
“……in many countries governance reforms have two major defects: a lack of attention to tackling inequality and a tendency to apply blueprints, in particular in turning to the private sector to solve public sector problems. New approaches to education governance are needed. The Report pinpoints areas where government action is necessary:
- Commit to the reduction of disparities based on wealth, location, ethnicity, gender and other indicators for disadvantage. Governments should develop well defined targets for reducing disparities and monitor progress towards their achievement.
- Sustain political leadership to reach education targets and tackle inequality through clear policy objectives and improved coordination within government and beyond (civil society, the private sector and marginalized groups).
- Strengthen policies for reducing poverty and deep social inequalities which hinder progress towards education for all. Governments should integrate education planning into wider poverty-reduction strategies.
- Raise quality standards in education and work to ensure that disparities in learning achievement between regions, communities and schools are reduced.
- Increase national education spending, especially in developing countries that chronically under invest in education.
- Put equity at the centre of financing strategies in order to reach disadvantaged children through more accurate estimates of the costs of reducing disparities and the development of incentives for reaching the most marginalized.