Higher Education and Research for
Reaching the Education for All Goals
A Project of the International Association of Universities
developed with the support of an international Reference
Group and partial funding from the Swedish agency SIDA
Introduction
• EFA?
• World Declaration on Education for All, Jomtien, Thailand, 1990
• Dakar Framework for Action, Dakar, Senegal, 2000
• 6 EFA Goals: Early Childhood Care and Education; Free Universal Primary
Education; Youth and Adult Life Skills; Adult Literacy Increased by Half; Gender
Parity by 2005 and Gender Equality by 2015; Quality Education
• Jomtien Statement, Thailand, 2011
• Tenth Meeting of the High-Level Group on EFA
• MDGs?
• United Nations Millennium Declaration, New York, US, 2000
• 8 MDGs: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger; Universal Primary Education;
Gender Parity and Empowerment of Women; Reduce Child Mortality; Improve
Maternal Health; Combat HIV/AID, Malaria; Ensure Environmental Sustainability;
Develop Global Partnerships for Development
• Impact of MDGs on EFA?
• Poverty has overtaken Education
• Focus only on UPE (EFA goal n. 2; MDG n. 2) with a pinch of girls’ education
(EFA goal n. 5, MDG n. 3), limiting the activity of the HE sector in EFA to, in
most cases, teachers’ training
What has changed?
• Many programmes/projects/activities have taken and are taking
place
• Progress has been registered in primary schooling and gender equity
• The United Nations’ Education For All (EFA) initiative is coming to an
end in 2015
• But, according to the latest Global Monitoring Report (GMR), the 6
set objectives will not be met by 2015
• In some places, progress is receiding
• Education is not as high on the global agenda as it used to be
• Necessity to evaluate what has/is done to be able to amend, scaleup, think differently
• Growing need for evidence-based data are needed and requested at
both local and international levels
all tasks within the reach of the higher education sector
Why higher education?
• The higher education sector has generally not been involved
as a sector up to now
• With the exception of teachers’ training
• Excluding individual consultancies
• From the EFA perspective: the three primary missions of most
higher education institutions can all be of help
• Teaching, Research, and Public Service
• The higher education sector is generally not aware of the
initiative, issues at stake, and how to proceed to help
• From the higher education perspective: The higher education
sector will, if not already, be impacted by:
• A growing number of secondary-school graduates;
• The quality of pre-higher education schooling;
• Reforms of teacher education
What are IAU’s objectives?
• To raise awareness of EFA within the higher education sector
• To increase the level of involvement of the higher education
sector in EFA-related issues and in all three HE missions (not
only teachers’ training)
• To improve the visibility of higher education’s role and
activities in/for EFA within and outside the higher education
sector, locally and internationally
• To create a higher education community for EFA
• To help reach EFA
• To help the higher education sector deal with the impact of
EFA
• Numbers, quality
• Relating to bogus universities, rankings, employment, brain drain,
etc…
Visual for IAU Project
All age groups are offered and enjoy the possibility of education
What is the project doing?
• Capacity Building
• A model will be developed based on the results of the two pilot
capacity building sessions which took place within the IAU 20082010 project on the topic. The capacity building sessions aim:
• to inform both the higher education community of what EFA is and
the other EFA stakeholders of what higher education can bring to
EFA,
• to subsequently identify local needs and higher education’s possible
intervention(s), and
• to end with a commonly agreed upon document for a way forward.
• To support the dynamic created by the capacity building sessions
after the actual session, a set of activities will be developed in
collaboration with the hosting partners and, when possible, with
the participants of each session. The activities will follow the
recommendations collectively agreed upon at each session and
will consequently differ from one country to another.
What is the project doing?
• IAU’s capacity building approach to involving the higher education
sector in EFA is:
• Participant-centred
• Questionnaire/Workshops with IAU intervening only as facilitator
• Inclusive
• All EFA stakeholders at the national level are invited
• Based on Dialogue
• Mixed groups including every categories of stakeholders + HEIs
• Commonly agreed-upon way forward
• Result-focused
• All activities leading/aiming at the validation of a way forward
• Embedded in a process
• Pre and post-workshop activities
• Local but not closed
• With experts from other regions
Cuernavaca, Mexico
100 participants, A Declaration, Several Groups of reflexion/action created, An annual
meeting planned and taking place
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
40 participants, Recommendations to Ministers, Follow-up workshop to be organized
What is the project doing?
• Commitment Building
• A charter or equivalent document will be developed to guide
higher education’s commitment and activities to advance higher
education participation in support of EFA. It will serve as a
working document for the Group and a charter model for higher
education institutions, a sign/logo will be developed to identify
HEIs for EFA;
• Thematic sub-groups, each possibly headed by a ‘champion’, will
be set up. They would research topics that emerged from the
discussions at the 2010 IAU Innovation Conference: reading;
marginalised populations; and quality education, or be more
general, looking at the evaluation and way forward for EFA pre
and post 2015, analyse new positions such as skills vs/beside
education, etc.
What is the project doing?
• Community Building
• Starting from an enlarged Reference Group based on a call for
participation, the development of a community of higher
education for EFA and its associated tools (blog, facebook wall,
tweets) and services (Q/A, meetings) will be sought;
• The HEEFA Portal aims to be the main-entry point for data
collection and information on higher education projects,
publications (in particular theses) and experts for EFA.
www.heefa.net
• Published on a quarterly-basis, the HEEFA Newsletter, which
already reaches over 800 subscribers, will be enriched by
experiences/ content of interest/ analysis of new developments
and its format improved to become more user-friendly.
Africa
Americas
Asia
Europe
Regions as represented within the Reference Group
Voluntary focus on Africa with no region left behind
+ 2 persons from IAU
Name
Africa
Gono, Semukeliso
Mbegnouga, Moussa
Milanzi, Montanus C.
Mugenda, Olive, Chair
Mutimucuio, Inocente V.
Nakabugo, Mary Goretti
Wambui Gichuhi, Loise P.
Sena Lamptey, Alice
Shabani, Juma
Eliya Nsapato, Limbani
Americas
Chao Barona, Alejandro
Cummings, William
Greenlaw, Jim
Jimerson, Shane R.
Tessler, Leandro R.
Trouillot, Jocelyne
Asia
Azman, Norzaini
Paez, Di
Sharma, Neerja
Pant, Bijan
Europe
Ilie, Cornelia
Macfarlane, Ian G.
Mendes, Valtencir M
Russell, Terry
Boeren, Ad
Turner-Cmuchal, Marcella
Position
University
Organisation
Country
IAU
member
EFA priority
Director
Graduate student
Associate Professor
Vice-Chancellor
Dean
Senior Lecturer
Professor
Programme Coordinator
Director
Policy/Advocacy Manager
Women's University in Africa
Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar
Mzumbe University
Kenyatta University
Universidade Eduardo Mondlane
University of KwaZulu-Natal
University of Nairobi
WGHE (ADEA)
Cluster Office, UNESCO
Africa Network Campaign for EFA
Zimbabwe
Senegal
Tanzania
Kenya
Mozambique
South Africa
Kenya
Africa
Africa
Africa
YES
YES
Goal 5
Goal 6
Goal 6
Goal 5
Goal 2
Goal 6
Goal 3
All
All
Goal 2
Director
Professor
Dean
Professor
Director
President
Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Morelos
George Washington University
University of Ontario Institute of Technology
University of California, Santa Barbara
International Relations, UNICAMP
Université Caraïbe
Mexico
USA
Canada
USA
Brazil
Haiti
Associate Professor
Project Manager
Vice-principal
Policy Analyst
University Kebangsaan Malaysia/IPPTN
University of Southern Queensland
Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi
Institute of Public Policy Action Research
Malaysia
Australia
India
Nepal
Professor
Senior Education Specialist
Research Fellow
Professor and Director
Senior Policy Advisor
Policy Officer
Malmo University
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
CRPST, University of Liverpool
Nuffic
European Agency for Development
Sweden
Netherlands
Spain
UK
Netherlands
EU
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
Goal 4
Goal 6
Goal 2
Goal 2
Goal 2
Goal 4
Goal 3
Goal 3
Goal 1
Goal 5
Goal 4
Goal 2
Goal 2
Goal 2
All
Goal 3
EFA Goals as represented in the Reference Group
Other research themes include: education in emergencies; school psychology; affirmative
action; educational policies; curriculum development; teachers’ training; etc.
Previous Activities
• Pilot and Experts’ Seminar
• Objective: to know if higher education institutions were contributing
to EFA, if such a contribution was possible, desirable, and should it be
developed, sustained or not.
• It ended with a Seminar in Maputo, Mozambique in 2007 where the
projects’ findings revealing that little was yet known and more light
still needed to be shed were discussed as well as what should be
done next.
• Pre-Project and Innovation Conference
• Two principal activities: capacity building (reference group of
experts; capacity building sessions) and information tools
(Information Kit; HEEFA Portal).
• It ended with an Innovation Conference in Paris, France, in 2010 to
evaluate the progress concerning better inclusion of higher
education/research in EFA, review the project's outcomes, discuss
issues and constraints, and explore ways forward.
Experts’ Seminar, Maputo, Mozambique
30 participants
Innovation Conference, Paris, France
60 participants
Main Results to Date
• Growing awareness of the need to more systematically involve higher
education institutions at local, regional and international levels
• Invitation to IAU to participate in EFA High Level Meeting in Jomtien, Thailand
in 2011.
• IAU sits on the Ad-Hoc Group of UNESCO Collective Consultation of NGOs for
EFA as from 2011
• IAU’s General Conference (Puerto Rico, November 2012) will address: Higher
Education and the Global Agenda
• Growing community of higher education for EFA
• IAU call for participation in the Reference Group
• Follow-up of capacity building sessions are taking place
• Mexico: 3rd Meeting
• Burkina Faso: Considering the possibility of a follow-up session
• But there is still:
• A lack of information (HEEFA portal quite empty, difficulty to know who is
doing what and where)
• Need for evidence-based data to evaluate progress to date and consider
possible ways forward
Expectations
• The capacity building model developed for encouraging more
interactions between the traditional EFA stakeholders and the
HE sector is widely taken up as such or adapted;
• Information on HE projects and research results is made
available and accessible to all
• Research on pre and post-2015 issues is developing
• Higher education institutions are given the means to better
interact with the other EFA stakeholders
• HE institutions’ possible role in EFA is recognised and valued
• The community of HE for EFA is expanding
• More EFA goals are reached
• The HE sector is prepared for EFA knock-on effects
Africa
Kenya: University of Nairobi
• Project: Education in Emergencies Specialization Programme
• Keywords: Training Programme; Emergencies; Education
• Objectives:
• Build capacities of students, faculty, and practitionners to
respond to the educational needs of children and youth affected
by crisis in East Africa and beyond
• Document, stock and share practices and policy innovations with
the larger education in emergencies community
• Establish the University of Nairobi as a hub of expertise in East
Africa in the field
Americas
Mexico: Universidad Pedagogica Nacional
• Project: Intercultural Bilingual Urban School
• Keywords: Bilingual education; Culturally-sensitive education;
Urban schools; Indigenous populations
• Objectives:
• Preserve and make the most of local indigenous cultures;
• Ensure quality education to children from indigenous populations
• Ensure access for and improve success of children from
indigenous populations
• Serve as a practicum school for research projects
Working with Indigenous Communities
Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Cuernavaca
Arab States
Lebanon: Balamand University
• Project: University Students for Literacy
• Keywords: Adult Literacy; Health
• Objectives:
• Provide mothers and young men in rural areas with the
opportunity to acquire reading and writing skills
• Break the link between illiteracy, poverty and poor health
• Teach students how to become responsible citizens by
participating in the development of their community
• Create a bridge between the university and the community;
between urban and rural areas; men and women
Asia
Pakistan : Fatimah Jinnah Women University
• Project: Community Radio VOW
• Keywords: Radio; Training Courses; Women Empowerment
• Objectives:
• Produce and transmit news and informative programmes on
women’s issues
• Broadcast distance learning programmes
Europe
Germany : Universität Hildesheim
• Project: Men in Primary and Pre-Primary Schools (Thesis)
• Keywords: Gender; Primary Schools; Early Childhood
Education
• Objectives:
• Propose solutions to the issue of the lack of male teachers in preprimary and primary schools
• Research the implications of a totally female-guided pre-primary
and primary school education
Selected other IAU Projects
• Equitable Access and Success in HE
• Equitable Access, Success and Quality in Higher Education: A
Policy Statement by the International Association of Universities
• Doctoral Programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa
• IAU Report on the Changing Nature of Doctoral Studies in subSaharan Africa - Challenges and Policy Development Opportunities
at six universities in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Rethinking Internationalisation
• Affirming Academic Values in Internationalization of Higher
Education: A Call for Action
• Draft Guidelines for Institutional Codes of Ethics
• OER and the Academic Librarian
IAU
• IAU is a Membership organization. It has institutional,
organisational, and affiliates members in 120 countries
• IAU Secretariat is located in Paris, France. It has been hosted by
UNESCO since its creation (1950)
• IAU serves the higher education community worldwide and defends
academic values
• IAU promotes knowledge sharing, collaboration and solidarity
through projects, statements, conferences, reference and scientific
publications, and services.
• IAU functions with 15 permanent staff members, an elected Board
composed of 22 persons and an Executive Committee composed of
6 persons, both with equitable regional/gender representation, plus
all its Members on a voluntary basis
More at: www.iau-aiu.net
My contact: i.turmaine@iau-aiu.net