The Right to Quality Education
for all
From the beginning…
Education, in order to promote dignity for every person,
has always been of the utmost importance to the Society of
Jesus.
Inspired by the Ignatian Magis, Jesuits and thousands of
collaborators have offered quality education to society’s most
disadvantaged around the world.
Nowadays, there are still many groups of people deprived
from the right to education, and a great number of those who
attend to school don’t have access to it with the required
quality.
That is why, various Jesuit organizations have joined together
to work for the changes that enable a better education for
everyone around the world.
A look at the world*
The right to education is denied to millions of people around the
world.
58 million children (6-11 yrs) y 63 million adolescents (12-15
años) dont have access to school, or have abandoned their studies.
751 million young people over 15 and adults in the world can
neither read nor write, and two thirds of them are women.
Young people and adults have the least opportunity to exercise their
legitimate right to the education that they didn't receive as children,
which they need for their own self development.
*NOTE: It is interesting to set some examples of the actual realities where the presentation is showed. Here is one example: A look at the
world (II) Latin American and The Caribbean.
3,8 million children in primary age and 2,8 million adolescents in the three first years of secondary school have no access to school or they
have quitted.
A look at the world…
The violation of the right to education
People living without the right to education are denied the
opportunity to live with dignity, and are denied the
possibility to overcome the poverty in which they live.
The people who are most affected are the most vulnerable
parts of society: rural communities, indigenous people,
girls, women, refugees, the elderly.
A look at the world…
The right to a quality education
Poor quality education due to
low paid teachers, dilapidated
infrastructure, irrelevant teaching
content, inefficient administrative
systems etc. leads to many
people lacking the minimum
skills needed to survive in a
globalized world.
The dignity of the excluded
EDUCATION
=
DIGNITY
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL
PARTICIPATION
Lack of education perpetuates
hereditary poverty.
Poor quality education hurts not only
individuals, but entire sections of society
and classes.
The best springboard for human
development, personal dignity and
political and economic participation in
the poorest nations is high quality
education for the whole population.
Our Mission
We declare ourselves in solidarity with those who have
been deprived form the right to education.
The approval of the Society of Jesus makes no mention of
education, but the first Jesuits soon realized how important
education was to their mission. Right now there are nearly 3
million students in the Society's different institutions worldwide.
All of our educative communities must understand and believe
that they are responsible not only for their own center, but also
they are a small part of our entire educative system, national
and global, and they are responsible for defending the right to
quality education for all.
We promote an education “for the others”
that builds…
Self- aware people co- responsible with the world
acknowledging the dignity of the other and autocritical
attitude.
Competent people capable of learning to learn and build
new and useful knowledge for the society progress.
Compassive people, who acknowledge and stand by the
weak and the excluded.
Commited people, who understand politics and
economy as means to serve human dignity and who
take over public affairs with responsability.
Education is a Human Right
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 states that
Education is an inalienable right of every human being. But it is not
just a right…
Education is the right which allows people to access other
human rights and enjoy basic human freedoms
We are not content with a simple proclamation of this right.
We are committed to work to make this right a true reality
throughout all populations and societies.
Public
Responsibility
STATE
FAMILY
SOCIET
Y
Co-responsibility
Recognition is not enough
• AVAILABILITY- The existence of sufficient and well provisioned
educational institution.
• ACCESSIBILITY- Free and full access to education, without
discrimination.
• ADAPTABILITY- The ability of educational institutions to be responsive
to the educational community
• ACCEPTABILITY- The appropriateness and relevance of education, in
compliance with human rights standards.
• ACCOUNTABILITY- the government, as the principal guarantor of the
right to education, should be accountable to the citizenry for guaranteeing
Meaning, values and quality
Every educative system must be provided for every person and
must be life long lasting, under no discrimination due to age,
race, caste, social status, language, culture, religion or gender.
We aspire to an education connected to every country
transformation process, training population who become able to
achieve its self- improvement with its creativity, capacities,
values and productivity. A type of education that develops the
citizen sense, based on personal freedom, critical thinking,
solidarity and social and ecological responsability.
Factors for achieving quality education
for all people
Public
Policies
Family, State
and Society
in synergy
Education to
transform
populations
and society
Education as a
Human Right
and a Public
Good
Educational
Centre
Educators
Educational
priority and
Financing
Public
Policies
Family,
State and
Society
Transform
population
and society
Public
Policies
Educational
Centre
Public
Good
Educators
Educational
priority and
Financing
The right to education for all needs to be
campaigned for so that governments will implement
policies to systematically change the way we deal
with those most excluded from education.
We seek to replicate successful programs,
measures and policies by studying them and
monitoring the after effects of their education.
Public
Policies
Family,
State and
Society
Transform
population
and society
Educational
Centre
Public
Good
Educators
Educational
priority and
Financing
Widespread levels of education can evolve our societies to
achieve their full potential economically, politically and socially.
Transform
Populations
and Society
We must build societies that are democratic, just,
diverse and inclusive, which involves providing
education which gives all women and men the
skills they need to build societies.
A radical transformation of education alone allows poor
people to become active agents of social transformation
Public
Policies
Family,
State and
Society
Transform
population
and society
Educational
Centre
Public
Good
Educators
Educational
priority and
Financing
Families, society and the state working together to provide
an education is key to establishing a system for the right to
education for all
Family,
State and
Society
Education is a basic human right so all states should
assume responsibility for it, and families and society
should demand the realization of this right.
Families and society in general must simultaneously
collaborate with the state to educate, they must share
this responsibility to provide quality education for all.
Public
Policies
Family,
State and
Society
Transform
population
and society
Educational
Centre
Public
Good
Educators
Educational
priority and
Financing
The educational center is often the heart of the
educational system, so it goes without saying
that it must be selected, maintained and cared
for to high standards.
The
educational
centre
Well trained teaching staff, expert directors
and diligent administration systems are
essential for coordinating a healthy classroom,
or educational center.
Public
Policies
Family,
State and
Society
Transform
population
and society
Educational
Centre
Public
Good
Educators
Educational
priority and
Financing
Education is a human right and a public good to
which not all humans have access. Excluding those
who cannot afford this ‘public good’ when it is
provided privately is a form of discrimination, and
the state must take responsibility for them.
Public
Good
We believe that any attempts to privatize
education in a way which closes off access to
education for people and communities are
initiatives that suppress the right to education.
Privatized education initiatives should act
responsibly to ensure that they are complying
with the human right to quality education.
Public
Policies
Family,
State and
Society
Transform
population
and society
Educational
Centre
Public
Good
Educators
Educational
priority and
Financing
Financing for education must cover three basic
objectives;
1. quality basic education through schooling of all
children and adolescents from early childhood to at
least the end of secondary school
2. literacy training for the adult population
3. professionalization and hiring of teachers
Financing
Financing should not be distributed either
quantitatively or qualitatively, but provided
to ALL, without discrimination.
Public
Policies
Family,
State and
Society
Transform
population
and society
Educational
Centre
Public
Good
Educators
Educational
priority and
Financing
Low salaries and social esteem directed towards teachers
are key drivers of the failures in our society's educational
system. The key to a good education is the availability of
well prepared educators who are vocationally motivated,
decently remunerated, and conscious of their social worth.
Educators
Teachers must not only be proficient in an educational
capacity, this is understood to be the bare minimum of
their responsibilities, they also must be capable of
planning education specific to their center,
understanding social factors, spreading a participative
and community atmosphere, and developing the
students and their own social and ethical awareness.
Educators must spend the finances they receive to carry out
their jobs efficiently, ensuring that the money is used to
maximum efficiency in all its destinations.
GIAN
“Global Ignatian Advocacy Network”
We are a group of Jesuit organizations working to improve
education under the leadership of the Social Justice and
Ecology Secretariat (SJES).
With our collective influence, resources and global potential, we
believe that we can make positive impact upon cultural and
political changes which are needed to achieve a quality
education for all.
Reflections Guide
 What parts of the text caused you to feel hopeful, inspired…
and which parts of the text make you feel sentiments of
desolation worry or dissatisfaction?
 In your Province/zone/speciality, what is the Society doing to
defend and promote the right to education with a special focus
upon excluded people?
 What do you think should be the main priorities of the Society
in the 21st century concerning the promotion of the right to
education, based upon the criteria of the most impact, the most
need and the most universal good?
Reflections Guide (II)
 How can the Society take advantage of the diversity of its
work in order to act as a true apostolic body in the defence
and promotion of the right to education for people who have
been deprived from it?
 How do you think that your Province/zone/speciality can
collaborate and towards the right to education for everyone?
Your contribution is very important for
those who form this Network. Please, we
ask you kindly to send us your
reflections to info@edujesuit.org and if
you want to learn more about the
Education Network don’t hesitate to visit
www.edujesuit.org