Education

Education

The UNESCO Medium-Term Strategy 2002-2007 in education sets forth three strategic objectives:

promoting education as a fundamental right in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
improving the quality of education through the diversification of contents ad methods and the promotion of universally shared values
promoting experimentation, innovation and the diffusion and sharing of information and best practices as well as policy dialogue in education.

The development of UNESCO Major Programme I Education is focused on applying the latest information technologies in education, on raising the education quality, as well as on the development of information society and open learning system.

In order to promote the implementation of education as one of the basic human rights in 1990 the global movement "Education for All" was started with the adoption of the "World Declaration on Education for All" at the World Conference at Jomtien and the "Framework for Action to Meet Basic Learning Needs" for the following decade was elaborated to ensure the development of primary education and accessibility to it in the world. The evaluation of the Education for All took place at the World Education Forum in Dakar. The assessment of the current situation was laid at the basis of the Dakar Framework for Action "Education for All: Meeting our Collective Commitments" that formulates the six Dakar goals.

Latvia prepared the National Education Review "Education for All. Assesment 2000." Latvian education policy makers participated in the events of programme planning and evaluation in Warsaw and Dakar. Since the World Education Forum Latvia has been taking part in the UNESCO programme "Basic education for all: meeting the commitments of the Dakar World Education Forum". On 24-27 January 2002 in Riga the sub-regional conference "Education for All in the Baltic Sea Countries" was held. The participants adopted a resolution on the development of a joint platform for sub-regional cooperation with a view to implement the Dakar Framework for Action "Education for All: Meeting our Collective Commitments" in the countries of the Baltic Sea region. Latvia was entrusted to undertake the responsibilities of chairing the first coordination working group for a year.

The UNESCO programme "Building knowledge societies through quality education and a renewal of education system" is aimed at the promotion of a new approach to quality education by emphasizing the acquisition of values, attitudes and skills needed to face challenges of globalization. School environment, preventive education and science and technology education is focused, as well. The basic document of the programme is the Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the 21^st century "Learning: the Treasure Within," as well as the Dakar Framework for Action. The UNESCO LNC has ensured its translation and publication in Latvian. Within the framework of the given programme Latvian education policy makers have participated in several UNESCO forums: the conference "Adult Learning and the challenges to the 21^st Century" (Hamburg, 1997), the World Conference on Higher Education (Paris, 1998), the International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education (Seoul, 1999), the conference "Education for All: Learning to Live Together" (Geneva, 2001). Participation at the above mentioned forums have facilitated the integration of the adopted recommendations in education system and national education policy in Latvia.

Objectives of the programme:

To promote the integration of UNESCO Major Programme I "Education" in the education system of Latvia;
To facilitate the participation of educators, pupils and students of Latvia in the UNESCO programmes and projects.

Priorities of the programme:

To promote the society integration into the life-long learning perspective;
To further the implementation in Latvia of the Dakar Framework for Action "Education for Al: Meeting our Collective Commitments" adopted at the World Education Forum.