Global Campaign for Education (GCE)
PGA INFORMAL INTERACTIVE HEARINGS WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS, CIVIL SOCIETY, MAJOR GROUPS AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR ON THE POST 2015 DEVELOPMENT AGENDA
Statement for Roundtable 4: Monitoring, review and follow-up
From: the Global Campaign for Education (GCE)
Ed Gragert, GCE Board of Directors, Executive Director, GCE-US
Excellencies, my name is Ed Gragert and I work with the Global Campaign for Education. It is my honor and pleasure to submit this statement as part of these interactive hearings.
Education is a fundamental human right that is at the heart of the post- 2015 agenda, facilitating achievement of all other Sustainable Development Goals. Success in achieving the SDGs will depend in large part on the extent to which all sectors of our societies and global community become partners in their implementation. This entails a strong emphasis on the thematic strand of accountability, monitoring and review, which must be seen not just as standalone, happening only at the international level, but be embedded in national, regional and global processes to bring in issue based expertise and provide formal space for participation of relevant stakeholders working on individual goals (especially, civil society and teachers unions).
Monitoring and accountability processes must proceed in tandem and duplication of structures must be avoided. In terms of accountability, especially from a thematic perspective, the following are key:
1. Strong focus ensuring thematic and non-financial MOIs, which are especially important in the early years of implementation. These must be given equal weightage with the main targets. The question of means of implementation cannot be subsumed under the FFD track.
2. Strengthen state systems to ensure delivery and ensure that private sector participation must not lower state accountability and provide for clear mechanisms for accountability of the private sector. As governments develop strategies for achieving national goals and targets, we must be vigilant to ensure that they remain committed to providing education, as a public good, and not default to the privatization of education. Kishore Singh, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, points out that “The cost of privatising education lies not just with school fees but also with the damage done to the public good. Fees, however small, hit the poorest and most vulnerable hardest. Sometimes, this means the oldest son
receives an education while daughters stay at home. Inequalities in society grow when the poorest are excluded.” The role of the private sector in education must be considered complementary and not affect the right to free, quality, public education. It must not be a source of segregation, discrimination and inequalities. It must ensure that private providers obey minimum education standards that must then be adequately enforced by the State and private provision allow for participation of people.
3. Ensuring robust, disaggregated data necessary for monitoring implementation. A process of setting quantifiable benchmarks and definitions of common terms (anchored by concerned UN agencies) and formal space for participation of civil society working on specific issues in processes of indicator development to facilitate common understanding and direction for implementation. Indicators selected must not shrink the framework and adhere to existing human rights commitments. As spelled out in the World Education Forum’s Declaration, data collection must be based on a broad definition of “quality” learning, going beyond literacy and numeracy to include assessments of global citizenship, critical thinking, peace education, etc. They must also prioritize aspects of the target that are actionable to facilitate follow up.
4. While collection of data is important, it must not replace peoples’ participation. Technology may be used to ensure that national and community-level stakeholders, including teachers, parents, government civil servants and civil society can contribute research and observations on the extent of progress in an online and transparent status report mechanism. Data agreed to by the global community on progress toward the indicators must be open and accessible to all.
5. Stakeholders in each country need to learn with and from each other. To facilitate cross-border sharing, particularly on a south-south basis, it will be important to create technology-assisted mechanisms to share successful (and non-successful) strategies and practices locally, nationally and globally.
Monitoring of progress must entail:
1. Strengthen the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) to enable it to take on the roles anticipated.
2. Build on existing mechanisms of peer review like the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and anchor the process in the Regional Commissions. Peer learning and review need not be treated as being mutually contradictory
3. Strengthen existing thematic partnerships. Globally and to a large extent regionally, the education sector has robust thematic partnerships (built around the Education for All Steering committee) and mechanisms of global review on education (through the Global Education Monitoring Report) that must be built upon. Thus, the World Education Forum that has just concluded
in Incheon, Korea brought together the education international community, including 100+ education ministers who have drafted a Framework for Action to implement the education SDG goal. This must be the basis around which the follow and review mechanisms for the education SDG has to be built. Any process of thematic review globally must not weaken existing mechanisms.
4. Civil society is committed to working actively and constructively toward achieving the education SDG.
Thank you.
Statement for Roundtable 4: Monitoring, review and follow-up
From: the Global Campaign for Education (GCE)
Ed Gragert, GCE Board of Directors, Executive Director, GCE-US
Excellencies, my name is Ed Gragert and I work with the Global Campaign for Education. It is my honor and pleasure to submit this statement as part of these interactive hearings.
Education is a fundamental human right that is at the heart of the post- 2015 agenda, facilitating achievement of all other Sustainable Development Goals. Success in achieving the SDGs will depend in large part on the extent to which all sectors of our societies and global community become partners in their implementation. This entails a strong emphasis on the thematic strand of accountability, monitoring and review, which must be seen not just as standalone, happening only at the international level, but be embedded in national, regional and global processes to bring in issue based expertise and provide formal space for participation of relevant stakeholders working on individual goals (especially, civil society and teachers unions).
Monitoring and accountability processes must proceed in tandem and duplication of structures must be avoided. In terms of accountability, especially from a thematic perspective, the following are key:
1. Strong focus ensuring thematic and non-financial MOIs, which are especially important in the early years of implementation. These must be given equal weightage with the main targets. The question of means of implementation cannot be subsumed under the FFD track.
2. Strengthen state systems to ensure delivery and ensure that private sector participation must not lower state accountability and provide for clear mechanisms for accountability of the private sector. As governments develop strategies for achieving national goals and targets, we must be vigilant to ensure that they remain committed to providing education, as a public good, and not default to the privatization of education. Kishore Singh, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, points out that “The cost of privatising education lies not just with school fees but also with the damage done to the public good. Fees, however small, hit the poorest and most vulnerable hardest. Sometimes, this means the oldest son
receives an education while daughters stay at home. Inequalities in society grow when the poorest are excluded.” The role of the private sector in education must be considered complementary and not affect the right to free, quality, public education. It must not be a source of segregation, discrimination and inequalities. It must ensure that private providers obey minimum education standards that must then be adequately enforced by the State and private provision allow for participation of people.
3. Ensuring robust, disaggregated data necessary for monitoring implementation. A process of setting quantifiable benchmarks and definitions of common terms (anchored by concerned UN agencies) and formal space for participation of civil society working on specific issues in processes of indicator development to facilitate common understanding and direction for implementation. Indicators selected must not shrink the framework and adhere to existing human rights commitments. As spelled out in the World Education Forum’s Declaration, data collection must be based on a broad definition of “quality” learning, going beyond literacy and numeracy to include assessments of global citizenship, critical thinking, peace education, etc. They must also prioritize aspects of the target that are actionable to facilitate follow up.
4. While collection of data is important, it must not replace peoples’ participation. Technology may be used to ensure that national and community-level stakeholders, including teachers, parents, government civil servants and civil society can contribute research and observations on the extent of progress in an online and transparent status report mechanism. Data agreed to by the global community on progress toward the indicators must be open and accessible to all.
5. Stakeholders in each country need to learn with and from each other. To facilitate cross-border sharing, particularly on a south-south basis, it will be important to create technology-assisted mechanisms to share successful (and non-successful) strategies and practices locally, nationally and globally.
Monitoring of progress must entail:
1. Strengthen the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) to enable it to take on the roles anticipated.
2. Build on existing mechanisms of peer review like the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and anchor the process in the Regional Commissions. Peer learning and review need not be treated as being mutually contradictory
3. Strengthen existing thematic partnerships. Globally and to a large extent regionally, the education sector has robust thematic partnerships (built around the Education for All Steering committee) and mechanisms of global review on education (through the Global Education Monitoring Report) that must be built upon. Thus, the World Education Forum that has just concluded
in Incheon, Korea brought together the education international community, including 100+ education ministers who have drafted a Framework for Action to implement the education SDG goal. This must be the basis around which the follow and review mechanisms for the education SDG has to be built. Any process of thematic review globally must not weaken existing mechanisms.
4. Civil society is committed to working actively and constructively toward achieving the education SDG.
Thank you.
Stakeholders