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The Forum publishes analyzes, ideas and views on Education under their author’s liability
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Message from the President
Education Today: National and Global Challenge
AIDEC is an international non-profit organization aimed at helping training institutions, local and regional governmental structures as well as States to develop their capacity to promote
universal access to education for all and quality of teaching. Indeed, despite an awareness of universal and obvious efforts, triggered by the first World Conference in Jomtien (Thailand) in
1990, and the Dakar World Education Forum in 2000, only a limited part of the targets could be set for 2015.
Many commitments have been made but the achievements are still far below the needs and expectations. Where education is not recognized as a priority and a fundamental human right,
still dominated by underdevelopment, poverty, youth despair and inevitably, instability, rebellion and violence to name a few.
Many countries in Africa, the Arab World, South East Asia and Central America have a lot of work to do in this direction. But on the other hand, in the Northern hemisphere, education is also a major problem. Unemployed graduates, youth unprepared for employment, disruption and structural crisis of growth, declining budgets, compression of teaching staff, urban violence, are also upseting many developed countries.
In short, in all cases the issue of education determines the future of all countries irrespective of their socio-economic level. Education repeats itself for the conquest of progress. A mission of awakening continuous innovation, adaptation and change. Backlog development is imperative to conduct economic, social and cultural reforms, to promote research, innovation and creativity, fight against violence, intolerance and promote basic human values. In this context, education is and will remain the essential framework to do so. But we also know that education as a process of design and implementation of economic, social, cultural, political, or even personal, requires a complex interdisciplinary approach, lengthy and difficult to develop, implement, evaluate and possibly readjust.
Educational outcomes are not an industrial product, and their impact is not immediately measurable. The reason is that schools, colleges or universities are not businesses as one might think. It is for this reason that the modernization of educational systems and their adaptation to the realities of today, the quality of the training provided and their performance can not be achieved without clear political commitments, a long-term strategic vision and a projection of the future at both national and global levels.
Cooperation, exchange of experiences, good practices elsewhere are now more successful than ever, accelerating factors of progress, saving valuable time and an issue of international solidarity for peace and stability. This is another way to build globalization. Desired, controlled and not hardly suffered.
Kacem Bensalah
Adviser in Policies and Strategies of Education,
Former Director at UNESCO
March, 2013