INTRODUCTION

The education world forum is a global gathering of Education Ministers and the
internationally recognized ministerial forum for debating future practice in education. It is
hosted by the South Korea from 19-22 May. This year forum is led by UNESCO in
collaboration with UNDP, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UN Women and the World Bank
Group. The Forum brought together more than 130 government ministers, along with high-
level government officials, Nobel Prize Laureates, heads of international and non-
governmental organizations, academics, representatives of the private sector, researchers and
other key stakeholders. It provides an unparalleled opportunity for ministerial teams from all
participating countries to address economic and educational challenges, share experience and
establish a cooperative, future- proof approach to education.

DAY 1
Officially opening of education forum
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon opened the event. He describe Education as the mean to
secure human rights, including health and employment. He further underlined the significant
of education to fighting security threats, including the rise of violent extremism.

The other speakers include UNESCO Director General, Irina Bokova, who recognized the
power of education as one of the means to eradicate poverty, transform lives and make
breakthroughs on all the Sustainable Development Goals. She noted that there is the need to
build on the success of the past 15 years by taking a collective duty to empower every child
and youth with the right foundations, knowledge, values and skills. This according to her is
not only a human right but an imperative for security, inclusive development and peace.

The President of the Republic of Korea, Park Geun-hye, also spoke at the opening. She
intimated that Education form the basis for individual growth and national development. She
then reminded the forum of South Korea nickname the miracle of the Han River which was
given because of its fast growth and he was quick to note that the power of Korea comes
from education. According to her Excellency, South Korea did not have enough resources or
capital after the war. However, still managed to invest in education as much as possible to
produce talented people.
UNICEF Executive Director, Anthony Lake was the Sixth speaker who also averred that
every child deserves equal chance in life which begins with a fair chance to learn. Such
chance according to him will give them the tools to build a better world for themselves and
their children.
He however noted that failure to provide children with equitable opportunities, especially fair
access to learning, will sow the seeds of future social and economic adversity and harmful
inequities in the next generation.

On his part, the President of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim was very blunt with his
assessment of the prevailing education standard in most countries which he described as not
serving the poorest children well. He cited a statistic which suggested that an estimated 250
million children cannot read or write despite many have attended school for years. This for
him is a tragedy which has serious consequences for ending extreme poverty. He suggested
the need for sustained efforts to improve learning for children which will unlock huge
amounts of human potential for years to come. He asserted that as a way to help better the
condition of nearly a billion people remaining trapped in extreme poverty today.

In her statement, UNDP Administrator and the Chair of the UN Development Group, Helen
Clark pointed out that knowledge is power and education empowers. Therefore education is
sine qua non for development and therefore should form the central part in advancing
development.

Another speaker was UN Women Executive Director and UN Under-Secretary-General,

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka who expressed concern about the level illiteracy among adult

women which stands at two thirds of the total worlds illiterate adults despite that we know

that education is an unparalleled catalyst for change. She urged the forum to make a
concerted push to remove these constraints and ensure the life-changing, empowering impact
of education. She submitted her support for Education 2030 as part of the overall drive for
gender equality by 2030.

In his presentation, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Antnio Guterres

expressed concern that only one in two refugee children go to primary school, and one in four
to secondary. He considered such situation as a tragedy since Education is the most important
thing a refugee child can carry across borders, and their brightest hope for a better future.

The final speaker was United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin
Who reechoed the message of the previous speakers that Education is key to enjoying all
other human rights, particularly the right to health, and vice versa. He however, pointed out
that millions of adolescent girls are kept out of school and robbed of their rights. He
emphasized the need to invest in education, including comprehensive sexuality education,
enables young people to grow up healthily and safely and transition into decent work. It also
empowers girls and young women to achieve their full potential and drive the development of
their communities and nations.

High Level Panel Debate Setting the Scene

The opening ceremony was followed by Presentation by Mr Aaron Benavot, Director, EFA
Global Monitoring Report, UNESCO. This session was meant to stimulate debate on the
future of education, drawing on the findings of the independent EFA Global Monitoring
Report 2015. The regional analyses of some 120 National EFA 2015 Reviews and the
publication.

The Panellists were:

Mr Gordon Brown, United Nations Special Envoy on Global Education (TBC)
H.E. Ms Smriti Zubin Irani, Minister of Human Resource Development, India (TBC)
H.E. Mr Jaime Saavedra Chanduvi, Minister of Education, Peru
Mr James Heckman, Laureate of the 2000 Nobel Economics Prize
Ms Julia Gillard, Chair of the Board of Directors, Global Partnership for Education
Ms Camilla Croso, President, Global Campaign for Education
News

DAY 2 WEDNESDAY 20TH MAY 26, 2015

PLENARY SESSION I

Education 2030. Proposed Agenda and Framework for Action.

The second day of the World Education Forum was devoted to thematic debates in the
morning on 2030 Agenda and framework for action and draft world Education Forum
Declaration. The debate was moderated by Mr Ahlin Byll;Cataria Former Excutive Secretary,
Association for the development of Education in Africa. The presentation was made by Mr
Qian Tang, Assistant Director General for Education, UNESCO.

Thematic Debate

In the afternoon, six parallel sessions on the following theme were conducted. Participants
were allowed to engage in a wide range of educational topics and issues. The debates
included the following sessions:

1. Equity and Inclusion - organized by UNICEF

2. Education in Conflict and Crisis - organized by UNHCR
3. Can financing for results help us achieve learning for all; organized by world Bank Group
4. Achieving gender equality in education and empowering women and girls: Looking ahead
and planning together; organized by UN Women
5. Place quality education of the center of lifelong learning; organized by UNESCO
6. Innovating through technology: Shaping the future of education; organized by UNESCO

The Gambian team is divided into two groups. The first group attended the session on Equity
and Inclusion. The debate was chaired by Anthony Lake, Executive Director of UNICEF. In
his statement, the Executive Director of UNICEF emphasized on the need to invest on the
most disadvantaged children as key to overcoming inequalities. He sought the panelist to
focus on the discussion on the major challenges and opportunities to the creation of a robust,
inclusive social agenda. The other panelists included 2014 Nobel Peace Prize co-Laureate,
Kailash Satyarthi; and Nepalise Minister of Education Chitralekha.
In her submission, the Minister Education Chitralekha, expressed her heart felt support to the
children and schools of Nepal who were affected by the recent earthquake that devastated
parts of the country, including many schools. She affirmed her resolve to continue fighting
for education for children.
The second group attended a session on Place quality education of the center of lifelong

learning; organized by UNESCO

David Edwards, Deputy Secretary General of Education International, chaired the session. In
his opening remarks, he stated that assessments are a critical pillar in ensuring quality. Ma
Mmantseta Marope, Director of the UNESCO International Bureau of Education, on her part
called for growing consensus and the need for more focus on improving the quality of
education over the next 15 years. The six panelists examined key strategies to advance the
quality of education and improve learning outcomes. Baela.Jamil, Coordinator of South Asia
Forum for Education Development indicated the need assessments which are relevant to all:
teachers, leaners and governments.

DAY 3

PARALLEL GROUP SESSION II

On day 3 there were 10 parallel session which discuss the implementation process and the
systems to put in place to achieve future agenda and to make recommendations in view of the
adoption of the framework for Action. The session includes

Global and Regional coordination and monitoring mechanism

Effective governance and accountability

Beyond aid: transforming education system through partnership

Can there be development without capacity? Principle from national sector analyses and
planning

Providing meaningful learning opportunities to out of school children

Using evidence in police making and practice

Operationalizing lifelong learning

Mobilizing business to realize the 2030 education agenda

The role of civil society in education

The 2030 education targets: what are our societies gain by achieving this universal agenda?

The Gambia team split into three group the MOBSE, MOHERST and NATCOM team
attending the following three sessions respectively:

Effective governance and accountability

Operationalizing lifelong learning

Providing meaningful learning opportunities to out of school children

The Honourable Minister of the Gambia joined the MOBSE group to attend the session on
Effective governance and accountability. On her contribution to the debate she shared the
success story of the Gambia citing the free education strategy introduced in the primary and
eventually in Senior Secondary school this year. She also gave a bit of insight about the
Governance structure in the Education sector in the Gambia which she emphasized attached
premium on the involvement of the civil society in the education management of the Gambia.
The Gambian experience was embraced by the gathering and considered as a well worked out
strategy for improving education

The MOHERST Team attended session on Expanding the Vision: youth and adult literacy

within a lifelong learning perspective

This session drew together Education Ministers from Egypt, Mongolia and Niger; as well as
representatives from UNESCO, and International Council of Adult Education. It looked at
the issues that determine low literacy - a global concern that includes middle and high income

countries. Anne-Therese Ndong-Jatta, .intimated that literacy was the most important

component of the Sustainable Development Goals. She further explained the real context of
literacy which she indicated as not limited to just reading and writing but being able to use

that literacy to access ICT and mobile phones.

The NATCOM team attended session on Providing meaningful learning opportunities to

out of school children

PLENARY SESSION III

HOW DOES EDUCATION CONTRIBUTE TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

POST; 2015

The debate solicit discussion on how education contributes towards sustainable development.
Speakers included Ministers of Education from Argentina and Nepal, and the Deputy
Minister of Education of Zambia. Julia Gillard, Board Chair of the Global Partnership for
Education (GPE) referred to the underfunding of education as crisis situations. Other
panelists included Ministers from South Sudan and Iraq, and representatives from UNICEF,
the Global Education First Initiative and the Philippines. Speakers described how conflict and
crises have hampered progress towards the Education for All goals and how crises may affect
the achievement of the 2030 education targets. Jesus Lorenzo R. Mateo, from the

Department of Education in the Philippines, emphasized that love is the spirit of education

in his country. To show how love has acted in real life, he described the devastating typhoon
Haiyan that struck the Philippines last year. Education officials stayed with citizens and used
schools as shelters while teaching and classes still went on. The Deputy Minister of

Education of Zambia. He described education as a social vaccine against infectious diseases

such as HIV, adding that effective life-skills based sexuality education must include cognitive
skills, Healthy Bodies, Bright Minds: health, HIV and sexuality education. On her part, Anna
Susarenko suggested that young people must be armed with knowledge from sexuality
education, especially knowledge about sexual rights and she added that when young people
are armed with a knowledge, they will behave more responsibly.

Plenary Session IV

Education 2030: Agreement on the framework for Action and adoption of the final
Declaration
World Education Forum adopts Declaration on the Future of Education which will set
roadmap for global education until 2030. The Declaration is centered on the recognition of
education as fundamental human right which will continue form integrated part UN
Sustainable Development Goal. The declaration put focus on inclusiveness, equity, quality
education and promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all. In addition, the
declaration put emphasis on strong civil society participation be institutionalized and be

integrated in the whole process. The Dozens of Ministers Sign Up to The Worlds Largest

Lesson at WEF.

Closing

The Gambian delegation travel to Jeollanamdo to meet the Governor and therefore could not
attend the closing ceremony.

Meeting with Governor of Jeollanamdo.

After exchanging gifts, The Honorable Minister extolled the Governor for the kind gesture
making reference to the donation of 150 (one hundred and fifty) computers by the Governor
to the schools in The Gambia. He asserted that such donations made positive impacts on the
lives of The Gambia students. The Honorable Minister then outlined the policy direction of
the Gambia which is meant to make education free from primary to high schools including
providing teaching and learning materials for all public schools. She also mentioned the idea
of introducing digital education at the Senior Secondary School but was quick to point out the
challenges of providing tablets for each student. She then explained that the second most
important reason for the visiting South Korea apart from the world Education Forum was to
negotiate for reasonable tablets to be used in the school. She concluded by inviting the
Governors to intervene to enable the Gambia secure more tablets for reasonable price range
of $25 and below

On his part, the governor appreciated the kind sentiments and promised to explore all
available opportunities and get back to the Minister in due course.

Visit to Various Sites

The meeting with the Governor was followed by visit to the following Sites

1) Jeollanamdo office of education

Jeollanamdo office of education is a provincial educational administrative institution

supervising academics and Arts and Science related tasks. It has jurisdiction over 22 local
office and 16 directly attached institutions. The Gambia Team tour of the facilities of the
institutes. Apart from the high tech equipment used by the institute to facilitate

It's operation, it has a research unit that embark on research on education to inform
Management direction.

2) High School

The second site to be visited by the Gambian delegation is the ...High School. The team tour
the facilities of the schools and were generally impressed with the facilities of the schools
particularly the teaching and learning materials.

3) JEONNAM Life Science high school.

This is a model Agricultural high school which combined learning with practical
apprenticeship for the students. The school prepares high school students to become full-
fledged farmers after a three year program. The school is well equipped with farming
equipment (machinery) fully operated by the students. The school is tuition free and get its
main financial support from the proceeds from its farming activities. In addition, student are
also taught how to combine various chemical components to form fertilizers.