Statement by Education International
Education International
Internationale de l'Education
Internacional de la Educación
Bildungsinternationale
Head Office
5, Bd du Roi Albert II
1210 Brussels, Belgium
Tel +32 2 224 06 11
Fax +32 2 224 06 06
headoffice@ei-ie.org
http://www.ei-ie.org
President
Susan Hopgood
General Secretary
Fred van Leeuwen
Equitable Quality Education: a Precondition for Sustainable Development
Education International1 (EI) views education as a fundamental human right and a public good,
and strongly endorses a rights-based approach to education. Therefore, equitable participation
in quality education must be at the centre of the global sustainable development agenda.
Equitable participation in quality education remains an unfinished agenda. National enrolment
figures often mask the differences between groups and regions, and those who tend to remain
excluded are disproportionally: poor, female, socially/ethnically/linguistically marginalised,
disabled children and adults, and migrants that live in distant rural areas and/or fragile states.
A commitment to equity requires measures designed to ensure that the most marginalised
children and young people have access to an education of the same quality as the least
marginalised, and this has to be reflected in the targets and indicators of a new framework.
Quality education provides people with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and creativity needed
to solve problems locally and globally, and actively contributes to the sustainable and
democratic development of societies. Thus, our aspirations for quality education must go
beyond narrow learning outcomes. While literacy and numeracy are necessary and part of the
broader set of competences that a quality education offers, they are far from sufficient.
Limiting the outcomes of education to one or two easily measurable indicators may encourage
teachers to teach to the test and restricts the transformative role and potential of education.
Tuition fees and the indirect costs of education still form the single biggest barrier to equitable
access to quality education. A renewed commitment to free education is urgently needed.
Being a public good and a basic right, education must be publicly financed, and the long-term
goal should be sustainable education financing sourced primarily from domestic revenue. By
2030, no child should be excluded from quality education because of cost.
Equitable quality education can lead to peace, social justice and sustainable development; the
challenge is to aim for more than measurable short-term outcomes. This is an opportunity to
put in place a framework for sustainable development that is aspirational and courageous. EI
advocates a broad notion of quality education, which covers all elements of the education
process, including broad-based curricula, adequate teaching and learning materials, and
reasonable class sizes. Every student has the right to be taught by a qualified and wellsupported
teacher, and to learn in safe schools with adequate infrastructure, facilities and
resources.
Education International calls for a renewed commitment to universal free quality education,
and for this to be at the centre of the sustainable development agenda. This must be coupled
1 Education International represents 30 million teachers and other education employees worldwide, from early
childhood to higher education
with commitments to financing the new framework. Education is a public good and it is the
role of the state to ensure the provision of universal quality education.
Education International proposes the following goal, targets and indicators:
GOAL: ENSURE UNIVERSAL FREE QUALITY EDUCATION
TARGET 1 By 2030, every child completes a full cycle of continuous, free quality early
childhood, primary, lower and upper secondary education, which enables them to achieve
their potential as human beings and to contribute positively as active members of society.
TARGET 2 By 2030, all young people and adults have equitable access to quality postsecondary
education and lifelong learning, enabling them to acquire knowledge, skills and
competences to achieve their full potential and participate positively in society and in the
world of work.
INDICATORS
• Percentage of children and young people who participate and complete early childhood,
primary, lower and upper secondary education to the appropriate national standards,
disaggregated by socio-economic status, location, gender, special needs, age and social group,
among others;
• Percentage of children and young people who demonstrate learning achievement broadlydefined
and determined through multiple measures and consistent with national standards,
disaggregated by socio-economic status, location, gender, special needs, age, social group,
among others;
• Percentage of educational institutions that are publicly financed, do not charge fees and are
not for profit;
• Percentage of children and young people taught by qualified teachers with a reasonable
student to qualified teacher ratio;
• Percentage of educational institutions that have adequate professional and student support,
including teaching assistance, medical and psychological services;
• Percentage of educational institutions that have safe and adequate infrastructure, facilities,
resources and learning materials for all students according to national norms;
• Breadth of curriculum, including an assessment of its contribution to active citizenship, life
skills, sustainable development, health, employment etc.
Internationale de l'Education
Internacional de la Educación
Bildungsinternationale
Head Office
5, Bd du Roi Albert II
1210 Brussels, Belgium
Tel +32 2 224 06 11
Fax +32 2 224 06 06
headoffice@ei-ie.org
http://www.ei-ie.org
President
Susan Hopgood
General Secretary
Fred van Leeuwen
Equitable Quality Education: a Precondition for Sustainable Development
Education International1 (EI) views education as a fundamental human right and a public good,
and strongly endorses a rights-based approach to education. Therefore, equitable participation
in quality education must be at the centre of the global sustainable development agenda.
Equitable participation in quality education remains an unfinished agenda. National enrolment
figures often mask the differences between groups and regions, and those who tend to remain
excluded are disproportionally: poor, female, socially/ethnically/linguistically marginalised,
disabled children and adults, and migrants that live in distant rural areas and/or fragile states.
A commitment to equity requires measures designed to ensure that the most marginalised
children and young people have access to an education of the same quality as the least
marginalised, and this has to be reflected in the targets and indicators of a new framework.
Quality education provides people with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and creativity needed
to solve problems locally and globally, and actively contributes to the sustainable and
democratic development of societies. Thus, our aspirations for quality education must go
beyond narrow learning outcomes. While literacy and numeracy are necessary and part of the
broader set of competences that a quality education offers, they are far from sufficient.
Limiting the outcomes of education to one or two easily measurable indicators may encourage
teachers to teach to the test and restricts the transformative role and potential of education.
Tuition fees and the indirect costs of education still form the single biggest barrier to equitable
access to quality education. A renewed commitment to free education is urgently needed.
Being a public good and a basic right, education must be publicly financed, and the long-term
goal should be sustainable education financing sourced primarily from domestic revenue. By
2030, no child should be excluded from quality education because of cost.
Equitable quality education can lead to peace, social justice and sustainable development; the
challenge is to aim for more than measurable short-term outcomes. This is an opportunity to
put in place a framework for sustainable development that is aspirational and courageous. EI
advocates a broad notion of quality education, which covers all elements of the education
process, including broad-based curricula, adequate teaching and learning materials, and
reasonable class sizes. Every student has the right to be taught by a qualified and wellsupported
teacher, and to learn in safe schools with adequate infrastructure, facilities and
resources.
Education International calls for a renewed commitment to universal free quality education,
and for this to be at the centre of the sustainable development agenda. This must be coupled
1 Education International represents 30 million teachers and other education employees worldwide, from early
childhood to higher education
with commitments to financing the new framework. Education is a public good and it is the
role of the state to ensure the provision of universal quality education.
Education International proposes the following goal, targets and indicators:
GOAL: ENSURE UNIVERSAL FREE QUALITY EDUCATION
TARGET 1 By 2030, every child completes a full cycle of continuous, free quality early
childhood, primary, lower and upper secondary education, which enables them to achieve
their potential as human beings and to contribute positively as active members of society.
TARGET 2 By 2030, all young people and adults have equitable access to quality postsecondary
education and lifelong learning, enabling them to acquire knowledge, skills and
competences to achieve their full potential and participate positively in society and in the
world of work.
INDICATORS
• Percentage of children and young people who participate and complete early childhood,
primary, lower and upper secondary education to the appropriate national standards,
disaggregated by socio-economic status, location, gender, special needs, age and social group,
among others;
• Percentage of children and young people who demonstrate learning achievement broadlydefined
and determined through multiple measures and consistent with national standards,
disaggregated by socio-economic status, location, gender, special needs, age, social group,
among others;
• Percentage of educational institutions that are publicly financed, do not charge fees and are
not for profit;
• Percentage of children and young people taught by qualified teachers with a reasonable
student to qualified teacher ratio;
• Percentage of educational institutions that have adequate professional and student support,
including teaching assistance, medical and psychological services;
• Percentage of educational institutions that have safe and adequate infrastructure, facilities,
resources and learning materials for all students according to national norms;
• Breadth of curriculum, including an assessment of its contribution to active citizenship, life
skills, sustainable development, health, employment etc.
Stakeholders