The Declaration includes important statements, many unprecedented in such declarations, on free and publicly-funded education; the importance of qualified, well-trained motivated teachers; the centrality of equity and inclusion; the quality of education; the recognition of civil society participation; and commitments to financing: these clearly reflect both the long-standing positions of the GCE movement, and core elements of the Declaration of the 2015 NGO Forum, Towards the Right to Inclusive Quality Public Education and Lifelong Learning Beyond 2015, which was issued in a pre-event forum on 19 May.
Civil society was well-represented in the drafting group of the final Incheon Declaration, by Camilla Croso, President of GCE and Coordinator of the Latin American Campaign for the Right to Education (CLADE); by Maria Khan, Secretary-General of the Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE) and GCE Board member; and by Dennis Sinyolo of Education International.
Camilla Croso, GCE President,said, “The GCE movement must celebrate this Declaration, which represents a significant achievement. We know there is much more to do – both this year in finalising the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, the financing framework, and the 2030 Framework for Action, and also in the coming years to achieve the ambitious targets we have set out. We leave Incheon energised both by what has been achieved so far, and by the tasks we have ahead of us.”
The full declaration will shortly be available here, but key elements include:
- 12 years of publicly-funded, free, equitable quality primary and secondary education, of which at least nine years are compulsory.
- At least one year of free and compulsory quality pre-primary education and ensuring that all children have access to quality early childhood development, care and education.
- A commitment to address all forms of exclusion and marginalisation, disparities and inequalities in access, participation and learning outcomes.
- Recognition of the importance of gender equality in achieving the right to education, including a commitment to supporting gender-sensitive policies, planning and learning environments.
- Commitment to quality education and improving learning outcomes, including ensuring that teachers and educators are empowered, adequately recruited, well-trained, professionally-qualified, motivated and supported.
- Commitment to quality lifelong learning opportunities.
- Recommendations on crisis responses and ensuring that education is delivered in safe, supported and secure learning environments.
- An affirmation that the fundamental responsibility for implementing this agenda lies with the State.
- Urging adherence to spending at least 4-6% of GDP and/or allocating at least 15-20% of total public expenditure to education.
The immediate next steps for the GCE movement are to coordinate around the Addis Ababa Financing for Development Summit in July; the UN Sustainable Development Summit in September, which will finalise the Sustainable Development Goals including Goal 4 on education; and the UNESCO General Conference in November which will adopt the Education 2030 Framework for Action. A GCE briefing sets out key issues to be resolved at these summits.
And of course, the major task of implementing and achieving these goals lies ahead; a new GCE report, Time to Get it Right, sets out lessons from the GCE movement for how this can happen, drawing on the experience of the Education For All agenda and the Millennium Development Goals.
