Education Strategies

PLAN OF “EDUCATION FOR ALL” IN PALESTINE

 Preface

Palestine, like other countries, participated in the Education for All (EFA) assessment of 2000 to review what was accomplished in the field of “Education for All” since the Jomtein conference in 1990. The evaluation was done in accordance to international standardized indicators. The International Forum for EFA convened in Dakar, Senegal, in 2000, and set six goals to be accomplished by each participating state by the year 2015, through designing national plans for EFA. The goals were:

1. Expanding and developing comprehensive education at the stage of early childhood, especially the needy students;

2. Giving children access to good and free primary education by the year 2010, and encouraging them to continue their education afterward, especially young girls, needy children, and children of minority groups;

3. Guaranteeing that the requirements of EFA, for children and adults, are met through providing equal learning opportunities and needed life skills.

4. Reducing the level of illiteracy to 50%, especially among women, and providing equitable chances of education at the level of primary education, as well as continuing education for adults.

5. Removing gender disparity in primary and secondary education by 2005, and instituting equality in education by 2015, by focusing on complete and equitable opportunities for young girls in primary education.

6. Improving the quality of education and insuring that all students will benefit from their education, especially in reading, writing, arithmetic, and other vitally needed skills.

EFA Plan:
Work on the plan of EFA started during the early months of 2002, by establishing the national forum for EFA. The forum included representatives of Palestinian ministries and institutions, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to ensure that the developed plan is credible and applicable, and represents the views of the education sector, as well as all other relevant sectors in the Palestinian society.

Two national forums were formed in the West Bank and Gaza. The two teams worked in parallel and complementary manner, and included representatives from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Ministry of Social Affairs, Ministry of Health, the National Central Bureau of Statistics, NGOs, in addition to private and international institutions interested in the issues of childhood, basic education, literacy, and continuing education.

This work targeted four main groups that were identified in three stages: Stage one, or the diagnosis stage; stage two, the main challenges were identified; stage three, these challenges were compiled in four major fields: Early childhood, basic education, literacy, and continuing education.

1. Early Childhood: This includes children less than 5 years of age, especially those who can attend nurseries and kindergartens.

2. Basic/Formal Education: This includes children 5 to 17 years old; age 5 to 15 years old enroll in primary education, and 16 to 17 years enroll in secondary education, with focus on children in primary education. Special attention was given to drop-outs, while focusing on the reasons that lead them to leave their schools.

3. Literacy and Adult Learning: This includes the population above 18 years of age that are enrolled in literacy programs and adult learning.

4. Continuing Education: This includes the general population in different age groups who are currently enrolled in out-of-school education training programs, drop-outs enrolled in vocational training, or those who do not participate in vocational training programs.

Results of Analysis:

1.   Early Childhood
Children are surveyed at different educational, social, and health levels, and the educational context of this stage was presented. This included a description of the different educational supervising authorities, description of the required age for enrollment in the different levels of this stage for both genders, and identification of the different indicators: Students, sections, kindergartens, teachers and staff, enrollment rates, and the percentage of those participating in programs of early childhood development that enrolled in 1^st Grade. These indicators were put in a time-frame starting 1999/2000-2003/2004, while paying particular attention to gender disparity in children. Other important social and health indicators, with special focus on disadvantaged children, were also identified.

2.   Basic Education:
The current status of basic education was reviewed from different aspects: educational, social, health, etc. The focus was on the educational content and the different learning levels, including a description of the supervisory part of each level. There was a description of the different age categories of the population that are qualified to enroll in this level from both genders. This was also followed by a presentation of the most important educational indicators on different time intervals, 1999/2000-2003/2004, concentrating on gender disparity, as well as social and health indicators, especially for disadvantaged students.

3.   Illiteracy and Adult Learning
This level included a analysis of the reality of illiteracy and adult education. Discussion pointed out the definition for illiteracy from different sources as there was an assessment of literacy rates in different periods. The educational content for this kind of education was presented, focusing on the most important educational indicators, students, employees, number of centers, etc., and the challenges encountering this kind of non-formal education.

4.   Continuing Education
A presentation was made on the results of the analysis for continuing education according to the supervisory authority: Ministry of Labor, Detainees and Prisoner Friends Association (DPFA), and cultural centers. The educational content for each level of education was also presented, including indicators and statistics about numbers of students enrolled in continuing education, graduates, and employees, and challenges facing continuing education.

Continuing education is divided into two main pivots according to the supervisory authority, and the type of programs provided:

Challenges of Educational Development
The EFA works towards achieving the general goals and commitments set forth in the International Educational Framework in Dakar, Senegal, in 2000. While working towards the goals, strategies, and operational programs, and including them in the national action plan that would identify the features of quality education by the year 2015, a number of challenges were identified through studying the four sub-sectors in formal and non-formal education such as early childhood, basic education, literacy, and continuing education. These challenges will be the compass to form the general goals and identify priorities within the framework of the six goals of EFA 2000.

Future action plan
National teams are formed for each of the three sectors: early childhood, basic education, and literacy adult education and continuing education. The teams formed consist of members from governmental institutions, civil society, and NGOs working in the sectors. Work plan includes the following subjects: Conceptual framework of each sector, visions of the sector, diagnosis of the current status of each sector, challenges revealed by the diagnosis, sectors’ objectives according to Dakar conference, and general goals and activities set for achievement of goals.

EDUCATION FOR ALL NATIONAL CONFERENCE
EFA conference in Palestine is considered a special initiative, held under severe circumstances the area is witnessing; violation of Palestinians human rights, confiscating their lands, and threatening their future. Therefore, there is a strong demand to reinforce awareness and partnership to reassure human rights. This conference aims at discussing the action plan for EFA which was developed by the technical teams in the preliminary stage to reach a common vision of the comprehensive plan to achieve the goals of EFA.

Activities of the Conference:

•  In the opening day, speeches were delivered by different representatives from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, UNESCO, UNICEF, and UNRWA. All speeches emphasized the significance of education under emergency situation, the role of each institution in the teaching-learning process, and quality of education.

• EFA National Forum presented a paper about the Palestinian situation since Jomtien conference, through Dakar, and up to the present. The paper also included a comparison between Palestine and other Arab states, a comparison between the two genders in three sectors: early childhood, basic education, continuing education; and a presentation of the principles of EFA in Palestine.

• The technical teams presented a summary of the future action plan for each of the three sectors. The summary included a conceptual presentation of vision, principles of each sector, results of the diagnosis (educational, health, social, and economical), challenges arising from the diagnosis, and the Dakar objectives and goals for each sector.

• Work papers on content of education were presented to deal with the concept of quality education, Dakar objective towards quality education, and quality education indicators: system efficiency, teachers, student achievement, the educational environment, and the basic elements to be included in the action plans for each sector.

All presentations included a description of the challenges encountering quality of education, and the most significant initiatives implemented to improve the quality of education.

The school was identified as an educational system with input, output and processes within this system. A study conducted to examine students’ achievement was presented as an illustration of this concept.

• A paper on the quality education in curricula development was presented. It dealt with the development and methodology for preparing the Palestinian curricula, the most important educational contents, values and mental skills, and the evaluation and assessment of the curricula, especially on the national level.

• Roundtable sessions discussed the papers presented by the national teams, additions and modifications, and other subjects related to each sub-sector.

• There was also a screening of the documentary film about the achievements of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, and the most important programs the Ministry provides for students, particularly under the situation of emergency.

• Recommendations resulted from the different presentations and roundtable discussions were included in the final statement of the conference.

 Recommendations:

1. Consider the three participant groups a basis for the continuation of discussion within the framework of the national forum for EFA.

2. Expand the international campaign for defending human rights, particularly the Palestinian children right to education.

3. Lobby the national media to support the strategic objectives of EFA campaign.

4. Invite local and donor institutions to make education and training a priority, since the teaching-learning process is the fourth pillar of any humanitarian assistance.

5. Coordination among the concerned teams in the future implementation of the educational strategy to achieve an integrated and inclusive plan-of-action for EFA.