What education for whom?

Education is the most important part of human life.Different person in different field required different education. Education for all cannot be defined simply in terms of age groups in a homogeneous population. To be realistic and hence feasible and sustainable, the goal, targets and strategies must be appropriate for the learning needs of specific age groups in specific living environment. The main groups described above are:

•    Widely scattered subsistence farming in remote regions
•    Nomadic and semi-nomadic in Savannah and dessert
•    Cash crop plantations, ‘commercial farming’ areas
•    Mining towns
•    Emigrant villages without men
•    Cosmopolitan port cities
•    Capital city and major administrative towns
•    Squatter-settlements and slums of migrants
•    Displaced persons in flight
•    Refugees in foreign countries
•    Repatriated refugees
•    Traumatised victims and perpetrators of war

In many ways, the differences within the countries are often greater than between countries. In a country, for example, various languages of these groups vary from pre-literate languages spoken only in a few villages to international languages of commerce and science. In social organisation, from isolated and scattered households and nomads to complex cities. In technology, from near stone-age to cyber-space. In mode of learning, from nature to computer-simulation. A child in a rural school in one country may have more in common with her counterpart in a neighbouring country than a child in a urban school in her own country.

Unfortunately those who really need essential knowledge and skills for survival and prosperity are the ones with least opportunities for engaging in learning activities. To attain education for all, the main target groups would be logically those who have not yet been reached by education, the groups that the first decade of EFA failed to reach: the out-of-school children, youth and adults living in environment where there are little or no learning opportunities. Therefore, an analysis of the obstacles to education for these groups is needed for formulating strategies that are feasible and sustainable.

To be feasible sustainable and relevant, we need to define the basic learning needs at various stages and conditions life of early childhood, youth and adult,

•    to be able to survive,
•    to develop their full capacities to live and work in dignity,
•    to participate fully in development,
•    to improve the quality of their lives,
•    to make informed decisions, and
•    to continue learning,

Their learning needs must be identified in terms of specific knowledge and skills required in the context of the respective groups and mode of delivery that is feasible and sustainable in their respective environment.

Moreover, in formulating the framework of action that is anchored to reality, we need to relate each cell of the matrix to the following regional priority issues:

•    the role of education in social, cultural and economic developmental goals and vice versa
•    curriculum content relevance and quality
•    the role of the state and the transformation of the education system structures and functions
•    building capacity in statistics, information systems, research, education planning and management and school administration
•    forging partnership with NGO and civil society.