When we see the face of a child, we think of the future. We think of their dreams about what they might become, and what they might accomplish. But today, there are 72 million children in the world who have had at least part of their futures stolen from them. That's because they've been denied a basic education.
The international community promised to provide universal primary education at the 2000 World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal, where world leaders made commitments to education and our world's most valuable resource -- children. But a decade later the basic human right to education for all is still denied. Despite the countless summits, high-level meetings and high-blown rhetoric, progress toward the United Nations' Education for All goal of universal primary education by 2015 has been disappointing, and as the Global Monitoring Report ominously cites, "We are heading steadfastly for an avoidable failure."
We can no longer step lightly around this shame. It is our moral obligation to give every child the very best education possible. We must be willing to do more than talk and put universal education on the fast track to break the cycle of illiteracy and poverty running rampant in regions around the world. Without free and compulsory schooling, the lives of these children are a nightmare of forced labor in factories, sweatshops, and fields.
Universal education is not only a moral imperative but an economic necessity, to pave the way toward making many more nations self-sufficient and self-sustaining. If you want to boost economic growth and build democracy, it is hard to think of a strategy with a higher return on investment. Inclusive, good-quality education is a foundation for dynamic and equitable societies. For each year a woman attends primary school, her earned wages are 10 to 20 percent higher. HIV/AIDS infection rates are halved among young people who finish primary school. Education for all must be at the center of our international policy agenda in a global economy where success increasingly depends on knowledge and skills, fueled by a well educated population.
The current economic situation around the world is dire. But the cloud could have a silver lining. As we struggle to rebuild the world's economies, we need to get back to basics and remember what built the great economies of the 20th century. Nations that want to build a sustainable recovery must invest in primary and secondary education for our future generations. Investing in people - in education - is the smartest strategy for recovery.
There is much work to be done, but even in the midst of war, there are encouraging signs. In Afghanistan, where the U.S. is investing a significant portion of its foreign assistance in the reconstruction of the education system, the number of girls enrolled in primary schools has increased five-fold in just seven years. Studies have clearly shown that when a nation's work force becomes more educated, the benefits are spread across the economic spectrum. Sustained investments yield results and pay long-term dividends.
This week millions of students, teachers, parents, celebrities and politicians are participating in "Global Action Week" to put the spotlight on Education for All and what needs to be done to make it a reality. Even the world's soccer players are on board, leveraging the attention surrounding the World Cup in South Africa this summer to support this campaign. But will this year's "Global Action Week" channel the groundswell of advocacy into a concentrated and specific policy action?
Educators around the world are united in the belief that education is a fundamental human right. Add your voice with ours in urging the Obama Administration and your member of Congress to help create a better, safer and more just world for every child. We hope that President Obama attends President Zuma's Education Summit at the World Cup and follows through on his inspired commitment of $2 billion to establish the Global Fund for Education. Congress must create a foundation for this effort by supporting Congresswoman Nita Lowey's "Education for All Act of 2010."
We have an opportunity - through universal education for all - to help children everywhere to pursue their dreams - and secure their futures.
Let us seize this opportunity to serve the world's children.
The Most Rev. Desmond Tutu is an Honorary Chair of the Global AIDS Alliance. Dennis Van Roekel is the President of the National Education Association.
Rev. Mpho A. Tutu: Father's Day 2010: Why I Am Proud of My Father
Come to think of it, these are the exact same reasons we promote education here in our American schools. "Our" children and "their" children are not so far apart at all. They have the same needs and many of the same dreams. We owe it to them...and to ourselves...to make these small investments for the immense payoff we will all receive.
Each one of us can help RIGHT NOW by asking our US Representatives to cosponsor the Education for All act. Visit this website to find out how:
http://capwiz.com/results/issues/alert/?alertid=14945481&type=CO
What we need is a Global Fund for Education that will help realize the dream of an education for children all over the world. Tell your Congressmen to support the Education for All Act. This can work!
Now I usually say that all generalizations are bad, but I think not in this case.
Love
Bette S Baysinger
www.mbtevents.com
You are so right to focus on education for girls, but we mustn't scrap the whole education movement because of hard times in some fundamentalist areas. Read Greg Mortenson's "Three Cups of Tea" for a look at how education is valued by Muslims even in some of the most difficult areas of the world. His schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan create common bonds among disparate factions of their communities and in some cases make the Taliban obsolete.
Mortenson's second book, "Stones Into Schools," is subtitled "Promoting Peace with Books, not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan." Promoting education is the core of a rational and effective strategy for our foreign policy. Boys' chances of ending up in militia groups decrease with every year of school they have, and educated mothers are much less likely to allow their sons to go to fight. People all around the world mainly want to be able to make a living, care for their families, and live in peace, and they are grateful to anyone who helps them do that.
There is a huge thirst for education in low-income countries. Kenya did away with school fees on one Friday and had a million new children show up for school the next Monday. Nobody said it will be easy, but this is a project worth some effort. The Education For All Act is a first step that will help us catch up on the promises Rev. Tutu cites.
Right now there are 75 million primary school-aged children in poor countries who are still not in school, who need the chance to learn to read and write, helping to lift their families out of poverty.
President Obama said in Sept 2008 that our nation should do its part by establishing a two billion dollar Global Education Fund.
Ask your Congress members to support the Education for All Act, which creates a multilateral Global Fund for Education, a partnership between rich and poor countries to create and fund sound national education plans to get all kids into school.
This can work, folks!
Education is bad for profit. Slaves work better when uneducated and people ruined by corporations will not fight back if they do not even understand what happened. There are interests that need education to recede. And they have been at that for a long time. If You want better education You first have to get rid of those in power profiting from destroying it.
Love
Bette S Baysinger
http://www.unesco.org/en/efa