Trends and Developments in Education Philippine Education For All Plan 2015 History of Education For All The

Education for All movement is a global commitment to provide quality basic education for all children, youth and adults. The movement was launched at the World Conference on Education for Allin 1990 by UNESCO, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and the World Bank. Participants endorsed an 'expanded vision of learning' and pledged to universalize primary education and massively reduce illiteracy by the end of the decade. Reaffirmation of Education For All (2000) Ten years later, with many countries far from having reached this goal, the international community met again in Dakar, Senegal, and affirmed their commitment to achieving Education for All by the year 2015. They identified six key education goals which aim to meet the learning needs of all children, youth and adults by 2015. The Six EFA Goals Goal 1 Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children. Goal 2 Ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to, and complete, free and compulsory primary education of good quality. Goal 3 Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programmes. Goal 4 Achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults. Goal 5 Eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieving gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality. Goal 6 Improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.

Philippine Education For All Plan 2015 Based on the Dakar Framework for Action, the country came up with the Philippine EFA 2015 National Action Plan entitled Functionally Literate Filipinos, An Educated Nation. The Philippine Education For All (EFA) 2015 is a vision and a holistic program of reforms that aims at improving the quality of basic education for every Filipino by 2015.

What are its Aims? Universal coverage of out-of-school youth and adults in the provision of learning needs Universal school participation and total elimination of drop-outs and repetition in Grades 1 to 3; Universal completion of full cycle of basic education schooling with satisfactory achievement levels by all at every grade or year; and Commitment by all Philippine communities to the attainment of basic education competencies for all Education for All by All. Nine Urgent Tasks Production Tasks Better Schools Early Childhood Care and Development Alternative Learning System Teachers: Promote practice of high quality teaching Longer Cycle: Adopt a 12-year program for formal basic education - Two more years added, one each for elementary and high school, to the existing 10-year basic education schooling Accelerate articulation, enrichment and development of the basic education curriculum in the context of the pillars of new functional literacy Enabling Tasks Funding: Provide adequate and stable public funding for country-wide attainment of EFA goals. Governance: Provide adequate and stable public funding for country-wide attainment of EFA goals. Monitoring: Monitor progress in efforts towards attainment of EFA goals. Of particular importance is the development and implementation of indicators of quality education. Larger Stakes/Concerns to the Nation 1. Language. Education for all should enable everyone to speak in the vernacular, Filipino and English. 2. National Identity. Education should not only develop critical thinking, but also enlarge horizons and inspire self-reflection and hope in every generation. 3. Social capital. Education for all builds social capital. It makes possible the achievement of certain ends that would not otherwise be attainable in its absence. 4. Cultural practices. Cultural values can be a highly productive component of social capital, allowing communities and the whole country to efficiently restrain opportunism and resolve problems of collective action such as individual refusal to serve the public good, etc.

5. Individual freedom. Education for all is really about assuring the capacity to fully exercise freedom by all.

Prepared by: Ancheta, Lorenz Aric A. IV 16 BSE History Professor Jerick Ferrer