The right to education and lifelong learning is at the very heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development because education, knowledge and learning are central to the dignity, growth and development of the individual. For centuries, education has been the great equalizer, a driving force of nation-building, and the engine of social, cultural, economic and technological progress. Today, however, beset by twin crises of equity and relevance, education as we know it is no longer fit for purpose.

Building on the Transforming Education Summit and the report of the International Commission on the Futures of Education, the present policy brief examines the current crisis in education in more detail and puts forward a vision and a set of guiding actions for countries and the international community to transform education. It concludes with two overarching recommendations for the consideration of Member States in their preparations for the Summit of the Future.

Ce document de recherche et d’orientation étudie certains aspects du droit à l'éducation qui pourraient nécessiter un ancrage plus solide dans le cadre normatif international et une expansion potentielle pour le 21st siècle. L'éducation numérique, la mobilité croissante des personnes, l'évolution démographique, le changement climatique et les attentes en matière de possibilités d'apprentissage tout au long de la vie ne sont que quelques-uns des domaines qui mettent à l'épreuve les limites du cadre normatif international existant. Aboutissement d'un cycle de consultations ouvertes, de séminaires et d'événements internationaux, ainsi que de recherches, ce document présente quelques-unes des tendances émergentes, des défis et des normes qui ont été discutés. 

 

ENGLISH

This policy-oriented research paper investigates some of the aspects of the right to education that might require a stronger footing in the international normative framework and potential expansion for the 21st century. Digital education, increasing human mobility, changing demographics, climate change, and expectations of opportunities for learning throughout life are just a few of the areas that are testing the limits of the existing international normative framework. The culmination of a round of open consultation processes, as well as international seminars and events, and research, this paper presents some of the emerging trends, challenges, and norms that have been discussed.

 

FRANÇAIS

45 organisations de la société civile reçoivent avec inquiétude le rapport d'enquête de conformité du Bureau du conseiller-médiateur (Compliance Advisor Ombudsman, CAO) sur l'investissement de la Société financière internationale (SFI) de la Banque mondiale dans les Bridge International Academies (BIA, également connues sous le nom d'écoles NewGlobe), et reconnaissent ses graves conclusions concernant les allégations d'abus sexuels sur des enfants dans la chaîne d'écoles à but lucratif de l'entreprise au Kenya.

 

ENGLISH

45 civil society organisations receive with concern the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman’s (CAO’s) Compliance Investigation Report into the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) investment in Bridge International Academies (BIA, also known as NewGlobe schools), and acknowledge its grave findings regarding allegations of child sexual abuse at the company’s for-profit chain of schools in Kenya.

 

Français

The  report examines Senegal’s mixed record in addressing the problem in the year since a fire ripped through a Quranic boarding school in Dakar housed in a makeshift shack, killing eight boys. After the fire, President Macky Sall pledged to take immediate action to close schools where boys live in unsafe conditions or are exploited by teachers, who force them to beg and inflict severe punishment when the boys fail to return a set quota of money. While important legislation has advanced, authorities have taken little concrete action to end this abuse. The report informs about the regulation of Quranic school and makes recommendations.

 

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