Difference between revisions of "Educational NGOs"

From NGO Handbook
(Brief History of NGOs)
(Brief History of NGOs)
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Since the Dakar conference, the coordination group has been set up to ensure, in collaboration with UNESCO, that there are follow-up of activities as well as programs and mechanisms for NGOs under the area of “Education For All”.  The Coordination Group is composed of eight representatives of civil society organizations, comprised of five regional organizations, two international organizations, and one representative of the UNESCO/NGO Liaison Committee (CCNGO 2001). <membersonly>
 
Since the Dakar conference, the coordination group has been set up to ensure, in collaboration with UNESCO, that there are follow-up of activities as well as programs and mechanisms for NGOs under the area of “Education For All”.  The Coordination Group is composed of eight representatives of civil society organizations, comprised of five regional organizations, two international organizations, and one representative of the UNESCO/NGO Liaison Committee (CCNGO 2001). <membersonly>
  
===Brief History of NGOs===
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==Brief History of NGOs==
  
 
NGOs first appeared on the international scene in the nineteenth century (excluding the religious and academic networks from the middle ages) due to a rise in the middle class and their ability to devote time, education, and resources to joining associations.  In 1978, The NGO Committee became a permanent committee in the United Nations (Willetts 1996). However, it was only in the 1980s that there was a real rise in international non-governmental organizations (Schafer 1999).  The World Development Report in 2007 highlights the need for attention in the education sphere.  The theme of this report is youth, ages 12 to 24.  Along with the struggle with basic needs that many countries face, the global economy also demands from them more technical and behavioral skills, especially those formed during the ages of 15–24. The report highlights the need for education, as young people need to acquire the right knowledge and skills to become productive workers, good parents, and responsible citizens (World Development Report 2007). Furthermore, overall improvement in education not only leads to economic and social progress, but to a more healthy civil society and democratic processes on all level of societies. In general, the aim of education is not only to acquire practical skills, but to change societal behaviors for a better quality of life, as well as to increase citizens’ participation to community life (CONGAD 2000).   
 
NGOs first appeared on the international scene in the nineteenth century (excluding the religious and academic networks from the middle ages) due to a rise in the middle class and their ability to devote time, education, and resources to joining associations.  In 1978, The NGO Committee became a permanent committee in the United Nations (Willetts 1996). However, it was only in the 1980s that there was a real rise in international non-governmental organizations (Schafer 1999).  The World Development Report in 2007 highlights the need for attention in the education sphere.  The theme of this report is youth, ages 12 to 24.  Along with the struggle with basic needs that many countries face, the global economy also demands from them more technical and behavioral skills, especially those formed during the ages of 15–24. The report highlights the need for education, as young people need to acquire the right knowledge and skills to become productive workers, good parents, and responsible citizens (World Development Report 2007). Furthermore, overall improvement in education not only leads to economic and social progress, but to a more healthy civil society and democratic processes on all level of societies. In general, the aim of education is not only to acquire practical skills, but to change societal behaviors for a better quality of life, as well as to increase citizens’ participation to community life (CONGAD 2000).   

Revision as of 11:17, 4 August 2008

Overview of Educational NGOs

NGOs are civil society actors. They have a specific agenda for the improvement of society, and act on the desire to advance and improve the human condition (Gallin 2000). In 1990, the decade of “Education for All” (EFA) was launched in Jomtien, Thailand. There were six goals set in Jomtien and in 2000 in Dakar, Senegal, these goals were reaffirmed for another 15 years until 2015 (Torres). They are:

  1. Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
  2. Ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to, and complete, free and compulsory primary education of good quality.
  3. Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programs.
  4. Achieving a 50 percent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults.
  5. Eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieving gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality.
  6. Improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills (UNESCO 2000).

Since the Dakar conference, the coordination group has been set up to ensure, in collaboration with UNESCO, that there are follow-up of activities as well as programs and mechanisms for NGOs under the area of “Education For All”. The Coordination Group is composed of eight representatives of civil society organizations, comprised of five regional organizations, two international organizations, and one representative of the UNESCO/NGO Liaison Committee (CCNGO 2001).


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