UNESCO IN THE ARAB STATES

Transcription

1 UNESCO IN THE ARAB STATES 1950 The UNESCO/UNRWA Programme to provide education to Palestinian refugees begins 1952 ASFEC Arab States Fundamental Education Centre created at Sirs-el- Layyan (Egypt) 1954 Conference on Free and Compulsory Education in the Arab Countries of the Middle East, Cairo 1957 C o n f e rence on Te c h n i c a l and Vocational training in the Arab Countries of the Middle East, ILO/ UNESCO/the Arab League, Cairo 1958 First regional Conference of National Commissions of the Arab States, Fez, Morocco 1960 First Regional Conference of Ministers of Education (MINEDARAB I, Beirut), followed by conferences in Tripoli 1966, Marrakech 1970, Abu Dhabi 1977, Cairo 1994 M O D E R N I Z ATION AND REFORM OF THE EDUCAT I O N A L SYSTEM TO PROMOTE DEVELOPMENT By holding the Third Session of its General Conference in Beirut in 1948 UNESCO underscored the importance it accorded to co-operation with the Arab States who, in 1945, had attested their unity by creating the Arab League. In its efforts to promote development through education in this region, UNESCO has worked closely and constantly with regional organizations in the Arab world, for instance, ALECSO, ISESCO and the Arab Bureau for Education in the Gulf States (ABEGS), as well as with funding agencies such as the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) and the Arab Gulf Fund for United Nations Development Organizations (AGFUND). ( 1 ) THE EARLY ACTIVITIES An Arab States Fundamental Education C e n t re for rural areas (ASFEC) was cre a t e d in 1952 at Sirs-el-Layyan in the Nile Delta. ( 2 ) Its principal objectives were to train educational personnel, produce teaching materials and carry out technical re s e a rc h re q u i red to implement its activities which benefited from the participation of international specialists from other agencies (WHO, ILO, FAO, UN). ASFEC kept pace with the evolution of UNESCO s strategies Rabat Regional Office Office/Representative in its specific spheres of action and became a regional centre for community development in 1960 and a regional centre for functional literacy in rural areas in UNESCO s assistance to Palestinian Arab re f u- gees began soon after the 1948 General Conference in Beirut with the opening of tent schools in re f u g e e c a m p s. ( 3 ) Since 1950, UNESCO has headed UNRWA s education department and been responsible for its technical and vocational programmes. By the end of 1993, the UNESCO/UNRWA education pro g r a m m e had been used by 11,000 teachers in 640 schools and 8 technical and vocational training centres to teach 400,000 refugee pupils living in Jordan, Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic, or still resident in the occupied territories. In 1994, a plan of action and co-operation was signed between the Organization and the Palestinian Authority. Within this framework, between 1994 and 1996, UNESCO mobilized over $4 million of extrabudgetary funds to assist in establishing a Ministry of Education and a Curriculum Development Centre. 100 Tunis Cairo Beirut Amman Doha 1951 Inaugural session of the Egyptian National Commission for U N E S C O The Egyptian National Commission for UNESCO was inaugurated in Cairo on December 28 by UNESCO s D i re c t o r-general, Jaime To r re s Bodet, in the presence of members of the Egyptian G o v e rnment, including the Ministers for Education, Social A ffairs and Economics. In his address UNESCO s Director-General appealed for support of UNESCO s work for peace, for, he said There is no man nor people in the world so rich as to having nothing to gain from the help of others, nor any man or people so poor as to having nothing to lose in a worldwide conflagration. Whatever its result, the final balance sheet of any war would reveal appalling loss. Not only would lives and wealth be thro w n a w a y, but mankind itself would emerge with shrunken s t a t u re. [...] A warm tribute was paid by the Dire c t o r- General to Egypt s Minister of Education, Dr Taha Hussein Pasha, whom, he said has accomplished in an extraordinarily brief space of time results which display a keen a w a reness of our age s tasks. The UNESCO Courier, February 1951.

2 UNESCO IN THE WORLD HARMONIZING THE EXPANSION OF EDUCATION SYSTEMS ( 1 ) AGFUND supports UNESCO s e fforts to assist the least advanced countries whether in the Arab States, in Africa or Asia. ( 2 ) ASFEC: Arab States Fundamental Education C e n t re. The Centre is a field unit, endowed with two consultative bodies, the Arab States Committee and the I n t e r s e c retariat Committee. ( 3 ) 3/C Resolutions 1.7 and 8.3. At the end of 1949 UNESCO had provided schooling to 21,000 pupils taught by 5 0 0t e a c h e r s. At the end of the 1950s, the Beirut Conference re c o g n i z e d that the rapid expansion of education systems had produced some inequity and imbalance: for example, in the rigidity of curricula, between th e di ff e ren t l evels an d branches of teaching (for every 100 pupils at primary school, t h e re were 16 at secondary school and 2 in technical and vocational training) and infras t r u c t u res (prestigious buildings side by side with many schools in varying states of decay). Educational planning was t h e re f o re given the highest priority and, as of 1961, UNESCO set up an Arab States C e n t re for Advanced Te a c h i n g for Educational Personnel THE EARLY DAYS OF THE UNRWA/UNESCO INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION, BEIRUT This Institute was founded in 1964 by UNRWA, UNESCO and the Swiss Government The first two courses at the institute began respectively in October 1964 and in May pupils registered for the first course and 700 for the second. Courses are of 2 years duration. Instruction is intended for teachers with a secondary education but no pro - fessional training and it combines both direct and indirect methods. Indirect instruction is carried on through correspondence courses (one lesson with a written assignment each week). Teachers also receive filmstrips, recordings, lists of recommended books and an educational periodical, and they can make use of a mobile lending library. Direct instruction is given by regional representatives of the Institute. These are qualified and experienced teachers, most of them former heads of schools or teaching inspectors who have followed special courses at the Institute. There are at present 20 of these representatives stationed in the host countries where each is responsible for 70 to 80 teachers. One regional representative each week inspects 8 to 10 classes to evaluate the work of the teachers and give personal guidance. In addition, he organizes three meetings of 20 to 30 teachers to discuss and correct the weekly assignment and to demonstrate audio-visual materials. The UNESCO Chronicle, Vol. XI, No. 10, Asma Fahmy Delegate of the Government of Egypt to the Fifteenth International Conference on Public Education, IBE, 1952 Under the new law, all first stage schools have been unified to give equal opportunity to all, boys and girls alike and to remove class barriers in this initial stage of popular education. The Conference Report Abed Mzali General Secretary of National Education, Youth and Sports, Delegate of the Tunisian Government to the Twenty-first International Conference on Public Education, IBE, 1958 Tunisia s educational philosophy may be said to be based on two principles: the defence and development of the national culture, and the opening up of a broad view of the outside world encouraging friendship and co-operation with all peoples. The Conference Report René Maheu (France) Director-General of UNESCO from 1962 to 1974 I would like to say how very much I welcome the measures taken by the Arab States on behalf of the access of girls and women to education. The provision of educational opportunities for women is a duty in respect of the rights of the individual and at the same time essential for the economic and social development of the community. Address to the Conference of Ministers of Education and Ministers responsible for Economic Planning in the Arab States, Tripoli,

3 1961 Arab States Centre for Advanced Teaching of Educational Personnel (ASCATEP) later to become the Regional Centre for Educational Planning and Management 1970 The Arab League creates ALECSO ( A S C AT E P) ( 4 ) in Beirut which was rapidly to become a regional centre for educational planning and management. All the regional conf e rences of ministers convened either by UNESCO or by the Arab L e a g ue ( 5 ) since 1960 have stre s s e d the need to improve the quality of inschool and out-of-school education and to diversify secondary education and technical and vocational training. The 1966 Tripoli Confere n c e s p u r red the Member States of the region to commit themselves to OMAN TOWARDS A BALANCED EDUCATION SYSTEM This action forms part of the Second Five-Year Plan ( ) which stresses the need to strengthen training activities to provide a greater number of Omani teachers and reduce dependence on expatriate labour. Main results include: re o rganization of the Ministry of Education; development of educational planning; linking technical/ vocational education to manpower needs; introducing health and nutrition education. ( 4 )A S C ATEP (Arab States Centre for Advanced Teaching for Educational Personnel) is a regional institution whose G o v e rning Board is chaired by the Minister of Education of the Lebanon. ( 5 ) C o n f e rences of Arab Ministers of Education organized by the Arab League in 1953, 1964, ( 6 ) Ten years after the Cairo C o n f e re n c e Conference of Ministers of Arab States responsible for the Application of Science and Technology for Development, CASTARAB I, Rabat 1976 and 1978 Conventions on the recognition of studies, diplomas and degrees in higher education p roviding primary education for all girls and boys by ( 6 ) Besides planning, between 1960 and 1980 within the framework of p rojects financed from extrabudgetary sources, UNESCO contributed to the creation of national institutes to train the managerial staff re q u i red for the rational use of natural re s o u rc e s and for rural development (institutes of technology and faculties of s c i e n c e) ( 7 ) and to the establishment of teacher-training colleges (ins tit ut es of education) for secondary education and technical ( 7 ) Engineering schools in Algiers, Benghazi, Damascus and Mohammadia; petro l e u m engineering institutes in Baghdad and Riyad; Science faculty in Amman. ( 8 ) Te a c h e r-training colleges or institutes of education, Aden, Amman, Baghdad, Bahre i n, Oman, Qatar, Rabat, Ramallkah, Riyad, Tr i p o l i, Tunis; Technical and vocational teacher- t r a i n i n g colleges in Beirut, Oran, etc. ( 9 ) The 1976 Convention adopted in Nice, France, c o n c e rns the Arab and E u ropean States bordering on the Mediterranean, and that of 1978 adopted in Paris c o n c e rns all the Arab States Creation of a network of Educational Innovation for Development in the Arab States EIPDAS based in Kuwait from 1984 to 1993 and vocational training. ( 8 ) In 1976 and 1978, two conventions on the Recognition of studies, diplomas and degrees in higher education c o n c e rning the region were a d o p t e d. ( 9 ) 102

4 UNESCO IN THE WORLD UNESCO IN THE ARAB STATES MODERNIZATION AND INNOVATION (10) UNEDBAS headquarters were transferred to Paris in 1981, then to Amman from 1987 to (11) Identification of Materials and Equipment with a View to their Production in the Arab States: Description and Analyses of Products. AFESD, ALECSO, UNESCO, (12) In 1993, new themes of pertinence for education in the twenty-first century were added education for democracy and human rights as well as information technology and documentation services. (13) Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Yemen. Efforts to modernize the education system accompanied those which sought to constantly adapt formal and non-formal education to economic and social change. The journal published by the Regional Office for Education, UNEDBAS, which since 1973 has grouped together in Beirut (10) all the educational services in the region, is called, symbolically, L éducation nouvelle (published in French and Arabic). As of the 1970s, ministers in the region advocated the use of modern communication technologies. In response, UNESCO prepared studies on the educational and cultural use of the ARABSAT Satellite, and a study on a Palestinian Open University, which would be the first in the region. In the mid-1980s, in conjunction with AFESD and ALECSO, the Organization studied the feasibility of setting up educational industries in the Arab States.(11) This was followed by a regional project to introduce information technology into higher secondary education and teacher training. The network of Educational Innovation for Development (EIPDAS), launched in 1979, became operational in 1984 thanks to the contribution of Kuwait where the co-ordination unit was then installed. EIPDAS provides a common framework for the innovative efforts of nearly 170 educational institutions, several of which are at sub-regional or regional levels. Areas of interest initially chosen mainly concerned the structure and content of secondary education, methods of self-instruction, modernization of management, training technical staff and special education.( 1 2 ) UNEDBAS also organizes population education activities in several countries, in co-operation with UNFPA.(13) His Royal Highness Hassan II King of Morocco To succeed in this task [training education specialists], we shall, once again, have need of one another; there are very few Arab States capable of creating for their own exclusive use, all the institutes they need to train all these qualified people, some of whom must be highly specialized. Here again, collaboration on a regional basis would simplify our tasks and vastly increase our chances of success. Message to MINEDARAB III, Marrakech, 1970 Mohi El Dine Saber (Sudan) Director-General of ALECSO from 1976 to 1988 I should like to affirm here, out of a firm belief in the importance of international co-operation in this age of the United Nations, that a strong UNESCO means a strong ALECSO, that a strong ALECSO in turn strengthens UNESCO, that they complement and support each o t h e r, and that the increasing requirements of the region in the spheres of operation of both Organizations make their combined efforts more than necessary. Opening Address to MINEDARAB IV, Abu Dhabi,

5 1981 Regional Conference of Ministers responsible for Higher Education, Algiers 1989 ARABUPEAL launched OBJECTIVE 2000: GENERALIZE AND RENEW PRIMARY EDUCATION, ERADICATE ILLITERACY Replicating the early activities of UNESCO in the region, the ARABUPEAL Programme launched in 1989 and which met with new impetus after Jomtien accentuates primary education and literacy within the context of lifelong education. ( 1 4 ) The programme is above all aimed at school-age children who have had no access to education or who have dropped out of school, unemployed young people lacking professional and technical qualifications, and illiterate adults and youth. UNESCO supports the initiative of Member States to set in place national plans to develop basic education, to mobilize re s o u rces and facilitate the access of girls and women to education. ( 1 4 ) Egypt belongs to the gro u p of Nine High-population Countries committed to the universalization of primary education and the eradication of illiteracy Assistance in reconstructing educational facilities in Kuwait and Lebanon 100 GROSS ENROLMENT RATIOS by level of education 1 st level I n c rease at regional level of public expenditure for education as perc e n t a g e of GNP: 1992 Regional Meeting on Educational Policies in the Arab Region, Cairo (34) (35) (36) (38) (41) (42) (43) (40) (44) 2 nd level (42) (42) LITERACY IN ARAB STATES Establishment of a UNESCO Chair on Human Rights and Democracy at Al-Bayt University, Jord a n (34) (35) (17) (20) (36) (24) (38) (28) (41) (29) 3 rd level (31) (35) (35) Literates Illiterates 1995 Regional symposium of policy-makers in technical and vocational education in the Arab States, Tunis In brackets, percentage of women enrolment against total enrolment p e r c e n t a g e. Years Literacy Rates Millions of adults L i t e r a t e s I l l i t e r a t e s 104

6 UNESCO IN THE WORLD UNESCO IN THE ARAB STATES C O - O P E R ATION FOR DEVELOPMENT Countries concerned 21 International Education Projects financing ( * ) Terminated On-going ( * ) Cumulative, in millions of curre n t dollars (not re-evaluated) utilized for the implementation of projects involving UNESCO UNESCO s Director-General, Jaime Torres Bodet, visits a class under canvas. The school, in Gaza, is one set up by UNESCO for young refugees. Hussein Kamel Bahaa El-Din Minister of Education of Egypt since 1991 We believe that education is the pivot of our national security taken in an overall meaning that covers our economy, our politics, our civilizational role and our domestic stability. In a nutshell, it is our path towards prosperity. Address to the Education for All Summit of Nine High-population Countries, New Delhi, Visit of Colin N. Power, Assistant Director-General for Education, to Mus ab Ibn Umair Elementary School for Girls, Gaza (renovated through funds-intrust from Saudi Arabia and UNESCO), January Abdul Aziz Othman Al-Twaijri (Saudi Arabia) Director-General of ISESCO since 1991 The democracy of education [...] is one of the foundations of Islamic civilization, since education in Islam is both a right and a duty. It is a requirement for both individuals and society. Hence the importance of eliminating obstacles to the democracy of education which, stated clearly, means acceptance of the principle of participation. Opening Address to MINEDARAB V, Cairo, 1994 TO KNOW MORE (see also CD-ROM, Vol. I) Meeting of Senior Officials Responsible for Education in the Arab States. Amman, June Final Report. Paris, UNESCO, (Arabic, English, French) Fundamentals and Methods for Rural Development in Arab Countries. Salah Yacoub and Issam Al-Zawawi. Amman, UNESCO/UNEDBAS, (Arabic) Literacy in the Arab world: Present Situation and Future Development. Saeed Ismail Ali. Amman, UNESCO/UNEDBAS (Arabic) The Role of the School in the Development of Local Communities. UNESCO/UNEDBAS, ( A r a b i c ) ARABUPEAL. Second Session. Final Report. UNESCO/UNEDBAS, (Arabic, English, French) 105 Federico Mayor (Spain) Director-General of UNESCO since 1987 Our schools must be revered places of learning and none of their lessons are more to be valued than those that teach the wisdom and virtues of peace and the follies and vices of war. Address to MINEDARAB V, Cairo, 1994