An expanded vision of basic education situation reviews: Situation Reviews in Nine Countries  
An expanded vision of basic education situation reviews: Situation Reviews in Nine Countries

Creator:   Diallo, Aicha Bah
Publisher:   Unesco
Date:   December 2000
Keywords:    basic education; universal education; educational personnel; educational policy; comparative education
Extent:   27 pages
Abstract:   The Division of Basic Education at UNESCO has implemented the pilot phase of a project, Educators for Basic Education programme: Integrated Policy and Training, with financial support from the Gov- ernment of Norway. As part of the activities of this pilot phase, the nine countries taking part in it - The Gambia, Guinea, Jordan, Kenya, Mali, Mexico, Senegal, Vietnam and Zambia - have carried out Situation Reviews of their approaches to basic education. This document is a summary of the findings of these reviews. The Situation Reviews were intended to assess the general status of the achievement of the targets set by the World Conference on Education for All, Jomtien, Thailand (5 - 9 March, 1990). Special emphasis was given to their achievement of the expanded vision of basic education, particularly to the integration of formal and non-formal basic education programmes. Since there was a lack of information and data on the progress and development of non-formal basic education, the assess- ments made were less precise than had been hoped. Furthermore, as the Situation Reviews were conducted in only a small number of coun- tries, any generalizations, expressions of views, or arguments presented in this document, should be treated with caution. Nevertheless, it is considered that the experiences, successes and failures reported by the nine countries highlight the problems and obstacles that are encountered when attempting to transform the expanded vision of basic education into reality. This document is expected, therefore, to serve as a guide for similar efforts being undertaken by other countries in this regard. The preparation of this document was a collective effort. First, I would like to thank the national project teams in the respective countries, who prepared their country reports. Special thanks are due to Ms Criana Connal and Mr John Allen, who helped prepare the initial structure of the document and to Mr Thomas Bediako, Mr Gabriel Carron and Mr Warren Mellor, who provided valuable comments. Special thanks and gratitude are reserved for Mr Ki Su Kim, who helped prepare the final text of the manuscript. I must also convey my thanks to the members of the UNESCO Technical Working Group for the devotion they have shown in the preparation and production of this document. Aicha Bah Diallo