KoFID Issue Brief Vol 3

KoFID 교육개발협력분과

Post-2015 교육의제와 한국의 교육개발협력

KoFID 교육개발협력분과는 Post-2015 교육의제 수립과 이행 논의에 참여하고 Post-2015 개발의제와의 유기적 통합방법

연구, Post-2015 교육의제의 국내 이행 모니터링 활동을 전개하고자 하는 15개 단체로 구성되었습니다.

본 이슈브리프는 5월 인천 세계교육포럼을 대응하며 Post-2015 교육의제의 동향을 요약 및 설명하고 개발협력의 관점에서

국내이행을 위한 주요 주체인 정부, 개발협력 시민사회의 역할을 제언하고자 작성되었습니다.

[발행처]


[집필진]

굿네이버스 국제개발본부

윤보애 사업기획팀장,

강혜린 객원연구원

월드비전 국제사업본부 옹호팀

남상은 팀장, 정신애 대리

[발간일]

2015년 5월 11일

[후 원]

Issue Brief

I. IntroductionEducation is a fundamental human right for every person. While it is an essential factor in realizing all other human rights, education, as the basis of individual and societal development, contributes to the progress of the society in diverse fields including the economy, society, health care, and environment.

An educated person can take better care of his or her health and well being, get a decent, high-quality job, and earn higher income that can help overcome chronic poverty. Furthermore, education allows one to be interested in environmental issues and be actively engaged in the society.

In particular, educated women can protect themselves from early marriage and pregnancy, and protect their children from diseases. Recognizing education as a human right can be the foundation for the argument that every man should enjoy equal educational opportunities.

This issue brief provides an overview on the international community’s endeavor to realize the right to education-rights of children, youth and adult citizens-and the lessons learnt during the process, thereby analyzing the issues and implications of the post-2015 education agenda. By doing so, this paper proposes the roles and efforts that need to be addressed by the government and the civil society, which are the major actors in Korea’s aid to education.

II. Education For All, Achievements and Challenges“Education For All” (EFA) is a global commitment launched by the international community to provide quality basic education for all people-without discrimination or exclusion-throughout their lifetimes; there are six goals in EFA initiative. First introduced at the World Conference on Education for All which took place in Jomtien, Thailand in March 1990, the EFA has developed into an action plan (“Dakar Framework for Action”) in 2000 at the World Education Forum at Dakar, Senegal. Closely aligned with Goal 2 ‘Achieve universal primary education’ and Goal 3 ‘Promote

KoFID Issue Brief [3rd]

Post-2015 Education Agenda and Korea’s Aid to Education : The Role of Korean Government and Civil Society

The Thematic Working Group on Education of KoFID is comprised of 15 civil society organizations that work together to engage in the Post-2015 Education Agenda.

The purpose of this issue brief is to respond to the World Education Forum that will take place in May 2015 at Incheon, Republic of Korea. This paper aims to address the current state of Post-2015 education agenda and to further propose the role of the Korean government and civil society in contributing to the achievement of the new education targets.



KoFID 교육개발협력분과는 Post-2015 교육의제 수립과 이행 논의에 참여하고 Post-2015 개발의제와의 유기적 통합방법

연구, Post-2015 교육의제의 국내 이행 모니터링 활동을 전개하고자 하는 15개 단체로 구성되었습니다.

본 이슈브리프는 5월 인천 세계교육포럼을 대응하며 Post-2015 교육의제의 동향을 요약 및 설명하고 개발협력의 관점에서

국내이행을 위한 주요 주체인 정부, 개발협력 시민사회의 역할을 제언하고자 작성되었습니다.

[발행처]


[집필진]

굿네이버스 국제개발본부

윤보애 사업기획팀장,

강혜린 객원연구원

월드비전 국제사업본부 옹호팀

남상은 팀장, 정신애 대리

[발간일]

2015년 5월 11일

[후 원]

Issue Brief

[Sponsors]

[Authors]Boae Yoon, HyeRin Kang

Sang-eun Nam,SinaeJung

[Date of publication]May 11, 2015

[Publisher]Thematic Working Group on Education of KoFID


2 KoFID Thematic Working Group on Education Issue Brief 3


gender equality and empower women’ of the Millennium Development Goals (hereby MDGs) that was adopted in 2001, EFA has contributed to the achievement of those two goals and also other goals of MDGs.Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948, where the international community has recognized the importance of the right to education, discussions on education agendas has begun and has continued to develop through numerous declarations and global treaties. However, it was as a result of the World Declaration on Education for All (Jomtien Declaration) in 1990 that the international community has officially set up goals to achieve the right to education. Based on the human rights-based approach to ensure the opportunities to meet the basic learning needs of “every citizen in every society”, a global commitment to achieving six EFA goals has been made. Despite such promises and efforts, however, EFA has failed to achieve the goals as a result of political changes, financial crisis and polarization in the international community. During this process, it became clear that a strong political will to recognize education as a priority in government policies is an essential factor to successfully achieve EFA goals.Such lessons have become a significant agenda at the World Education Forum held at Dakar, in 2000, where over 1,100 participants from 164 countries, under the slogan, “Meeting Our Collective Commitments”, have agreed on the Dakar Framework for Action-an action plan to reach the six EFA goals by 2015. While the Dakar Framework for Action stressed the roles of the donor countries, it gave each recipient country the primary responsibility; agreements have been made to develop and strengthen the six goals according to each country’s context. According to the Dakar Framework for Action, the EFA goals that the governments have committed to achieve by 2015 are the following: 1) to improve early childhood care and education; 2) to achieve free and compulsory primary education of good quality for all children, including girls; 3) to ensure equitable and appropriate learning and life-skills programs for all young people and adults; 4) to achieve a 50% improvement in adult literacy, especially for women; 5) to eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005 and to achieve gender equality in education by 2015; and 6) to improve all aspects of the quality of education. For each government to achieve EFA goals, the following national strategies have been emphasized: to develop national action plans and enhance investment in basic

education; to link EFA goals with poverty elimination and development strategies; to ensure the engagement of the civil society in the entire process of achieving strategies for educational development from establishment, implementation to monitoring; to develop a participatory and accountable educational governance; to promote education in emergencies (education affected by conflict and national disasters); to provide educational programs to prevent violence and conflict; to ensure gender equality in education; to implement education programs to combat HIV/AIDS pandemic; to create safe and healthy environment for education; and to promote professional capacity of teachers.In addition, in 2001, the member states of the United Nations adopted MDGs in an effort to eradicate extreme poverty around the world. Among the eight goals of MDGs, two of them-to achieve universal primary education (Goal 2) and to promote gender equality and empower women (Goal 3)-are directly related to education. Although MDGs provided an opportunity for the global community to recognize the importance of education agendas and promoted the achievement of goals, there were limitations. One of them was that MDGs were too narrow in scope to cover core values and goals, such as providing equal educational opportunities, improving of quality education and learning outcomes, and ensuring lifelong learning. For the last 15 years, major actors in education have strived to achieve education goals, thereby making significant progress. Despite such efforts, however, the EFA Global Monitoring Report (GMR), which was published on April 9, 2015, predicts that EFA goals are unlikely to be achieved by 2015. Still there are 121 million children around the world who do not have access to primary and lower secondary education. The goal to halve the adult illiteracy is yet to be achieved as only 23% of the target population has become literate; in fact this was also feasible due to the increase in the number of educated children. While 83% of 146 countries have lowered the pupil-teacher ratios, the ratio remains high. Among the countries with data, in one-third of the countries, there are about a quarter (25%) of teachers who are untrained according to national standards.Such a failure to achieve EFA goals has several causes, which can be largely summarized into the following three points:First, the assessment of the programs on achieving EFA goals has been limited. This is in line with the way MDGs have peripherally set up education goals, thereby limiting



the scope of EFA goals. An example of this is that the primary focus was on the increase in universal primary enrollment, which has resulted in a lack of attention to the quality of education as well as the equality in educational opportunities. As a result, the educational inequality between high-income countries and low and lower middle income countries have aggravated; this haslead to the exclusion of a group of poor, marginalized, fragile states from the assessment of EFA goals. Second, shortfall of financial resources has undermined the achievement of the EFA goals. The Dakar Framework for Action in 2000 has emphasized the need for national governments to allocate adequate financial resources in education. However, many governments have failed to prioritize education in national budgets. Aids from the donor countries were not sufficient enough to bridge financial gaps. While the total amount of aids from the donor countries has increased since 2000, the scale of assistance specifically allocated to education has declined, failing to reach the level of financial contributions needed from the international community to meet the EFA goals.

Third is the weak governance and mechanism for implementation had been a challenge to achieving the goals. Although EFA was a commitment made by the member states,it was far from ensuring the accountability. In other words, while the national governments were expected to voluntarily come up with national strategy and framework for EFA plan implementation, it was not an easy task for the member states to integrate EFA goals into the existing national education policies and to engage national stakeholders for effective collaboration. The analysis on the causes of failure to meeting the EFA goals allows opportunities for further examination and reflection necessary to establish Post-2015 education agenda. In fact, as the deadline for EFA and MDGs is approaching, diverse actors in education have initiated the discussion on new education goals based on the reflections from the past success, failure and challenges. In the next chapter, we examine ways in which the lessons learnt from the EFA initiatives have generated possible directions for the new education agenda and look at the detailed process of discussion for the Post-2015 education agenda.

For the past two to three years, the international community has actively carried on discussions on the Post-2015 education agenda, which will lead the education for next 15 years, taking into considerations the lessons learnt from the limitations of EFA and MDGs.

To understand the discussion process of Post-2015 education agenda, one should realize that the debate on Post-2015 education agenda is largely divided into two: one is discussion on Post-EFA, and the other the broader discussion on Post-2015 development agenda .

III. Post-2015 Education Agenda, Where Are We Now?

<Picture 1> The development process of global education agendas

1990 2000 2014 2015

Jomtien World Conference on

Education for All

MDG 2, 3

1948Universal Declaration of

Human Rights

1959Declaration of the Rights of the Child

1989Convention on the Rights

of the Child

OWG, SDG 4 70th Session of the UN General Assembly (September)

Dakar World Education

Forum

The MuscatAgreement

(May)Incheon World

Education Forum

(November)A special high-level meeting alongside the 38th session of the General Conference of UNESCO




Presented at the Global EFA Meeting (GEM) in 2014 as an important momentum for Post-2015 education agenda, the Muscat Agreement, has set up an overarching goal to “ensure equitable and inclusive quality education and lifelong learning for all by 2030” and proposed 7 global targets to achieve the goal. Concluded with an aim to overcome the limitations of EFA as well as to reaffirm EFA’s goal to achieve “education for all”, the Muscat Agreement has the following characteristics and meanings:

First, it puts greater emphasis on the significance of “Right to Education”, the fundamental value of EFA. The right to education was the core value that led to the foundation of the EFA, and EFA was an international endeavor to realize education as a right. However, after analyzing the results of EFA, which was based in accordance with the Muscat Agreement’s action plans, it was found that educational opportunities were unequally provided among social groups within a country or among countries. Some of the factors that derive children and citizens of the quality education include region, age, income level, gender, religious beliefs, race and ethnicity, language, and existence of conflict and natural disasters. Hence, the Muscat Agreement calls for a reconfirmation that the right to education be prioritized and that everyone should be provided with equal, adequate educational opportunities.

Second, the realization of equality in education applies not only to the access to education, but also to the quality of education. Through the monitoring report, which showed that children--whether currently enrolled in or graduated from primary schools-- do not have the basic literacy and numeracy skills, the importance of quality education has been re-emphasized. Therefore, the Muscat Agreement stresses the importance of qualified, trained teachers in improving the quality of education.

Third, based on the recognition that education is a public good and that everyone has the right to education, the Muscat Agreement indicates that the national government has the primary responsibility in implementing education agenda. Thus, the Agreement recognizes the role of the government to establish a participatory governance to enhance the collaboration of stakeholders-including the

civil society-in the process of enacting education laws and policies and raising financial resources. In addition, one notable difference between the Muscat Agreement and the Dakar Framework for Action is the fact that the Target 7 of this new education agenda specifically states that national governments increase and strengthen their financial contribution for education.

Fourth, the Muscat Agreement stresses the importance of establishing a strong mechanism and/or system in setting goals and implementing education programs. It emphasizes the close cooperation among interested parties and stakeholders within the civil society, as issues on the securement of financial aids, democratic governance, and reinforcement of monitoring and evaluation have further been discussed. Two processes of the Post-2015 development agenda-the Post-MDGs led by the UN Secretary General and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) led by the Member States-have converged at the 69th Session of General Assembly in September 2014. Based on the UN Open Working Group Proposal for Sustainable Development presented in 2014, the proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is currently in the process of negotiation for the Post-2015 development agenda. Among the 17 goals, the education agenda has been proposed as Goal 4 of SDGs. Similar to the formation process of the Post-2015 development agenda, education agenda has also taken a bottom-up approach to reflect diverse opinions, thereby setting a flexible education agenda to overcome the limitations of MDGs. The education agenda of OWG SDGs is in parallel with the visions and goals of the Muscat Agreement. In addition, efforts have been made to overcome fragmented approaches and to improve mechanisms of EFA and MDGs.Following the Muscat Agreement, the 2015 World Education Forum in Incheon will carry on the discussions on the Post-EFA agenda. Pertaining to the adoptationof Post-2015 development agenda at 70th Session of UN General Assembly in September 2015, the action plan for Post-EFA will be finalized at a special high-level meeting of UNESCO in November1). Through such processes and concerted efforts, the international community hopes to achieve the creation of an integrated and innovative Post-2015 education agenda.

1) According to the Post-2015 Education Agenda Framework for Action (published on April 24, 2015), at the 2015 World Education Forum at Incheon, only the Incheon Declaration will be adopted; the Framework for Action on Post-2015 Education Agenda will be finalized at the special high-level meeting during the 38th General Conference of UNESCO in November, after the Post-2015 development goals and targets-- including the education agenda-- have been determined at the 70th Session of UN General Assembly in September.



�※�The dotted lines show how the targets at the Muscat Agreement have been reflected on the education agenda of SDGs.

<Table 1> The Comparison of Post-2015 Education Agenda

Proposed Goals of SDGs: Goal 4 (2014.07.19)

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all

4.1 by 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes

4.2 by 2030 ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education

4.3 by 2030 ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university

4.4 by 2030, increase by x% the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and Entrepreneurship

4.5 by 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, and children in vulnerable situations

4.6 by 2030 ensure that all youth and at least x% of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy

4.7 by 2030 ensure all learners acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including among others through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship, and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development

4.a build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all

4.b by 2020 expand by x% globally the number of scholarships for developing countries in particular LDCs, SIDS and African countries to enrol in higher education,including vocational training, ICT, technical, engineering and scientific programmes in developed countries and other developing countries

4.c by 2030 increase by x% the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially LDCs and SIDS

Muscat Agreement (2014.05.14)

Ensure equitable and inclusive quality education and lifelong learning for all by 2030

Target 2 at least x% of girls and boys are ready for primary school through participation in quality early childhood care and education, including at least one year of free and compulsory pre-primary education, with particular attention to gender equality and the most marginalized.

Target 2 all girls and boys complete free and compulsory quality basic education of at least 9 years and achieve relevant learning outcomes, with particular attention to gender equality and the most marginalized

Target 3 all youth and at least x% of adults reach a proficiency level in literacy and numeracy sufficient to fully participate in society, with particular attention to girls and women and the most marginalized.

Target 4 at least x% of youth and y% of adults have the knowledge and skills for decent work and life through technical and vocational, upper secondary and tertiary education and training, with particular attention to gender equality and the most Marginalized

Target 5 all learners acquire knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to establish sustainable and peaceful societies, including through global citizenship education and education for sustainable development.

Target 6 all governments ensure that all learners are taught by qualified, professionally-trained, motivated and well-supported teachers.

Target 7 all countries allocate at least 4-6% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or at least 15-20% of their public expenditure to education, prioritizing groups most in need; and strengthen financial cooperation for education, prioritizing countries most in need.

Target 1




1. Establishing Targets for Overarching Post-2015 Education Goal

Among the 17 proposed goals of SDGs, the education goal is number 4, which is “to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” This indicates that the “overarching goal” of the Muscat Agreement has been reflected at the education agenda of SDGs, thereby showing that the international community agreed that equity, inclusion and quality education be the key components of the new education agenda. Before the finalization of Post-2015 education agenda and the Framework for Action, there are important meetings that will take place this year: the World Education Forum in May, the Third International Conference on Financing for Development in July, the 70th Session of UN General Assembly in September, a special high-level meeting alongside the 38th Session of the General Conference of UNESCO. However, it is predicted that changes to the overarching goal of the current education agenda, which is the Goal 4 of SDGs, are unlikely to occur. Until the new development goals including education isadopted from the UN General Assembly, there remains a process of member states to agree uponand integrate the Post-EFA targets and the targets of Goal 4 of SDGs. During this process, the civil society should continue to actively influence the national government to refrain from omitting and distorting the key components-equity, inclusion and quality-in achieving the overarching goal of Post-2015 education agenda.

2. Establishing Inclusive and Effective Governance

A key weakness of EFA is that it relied on a loose governance s t ruc ture in wh ich the ro les and responsibilities of the stakeholders in implementing the goals were not clear. Learning from the past, effective democratic governance that ensures the inclusion of the stakeholders in decision-making and the allocation and adjustment of duties among partners should be established. As a part of this democratic governance, an inclusive policy dialogue and two-way communications must be practiced at all levels of society-between multilateral

organizations and member states, between the ministry of education and the civil society, between governments of a donor country and a cooperating country, between schools and parents, and between teachers and students. Particularly, for the civil society to take part in the processof policy making, monitoring and evaluation, a transparent, inclusive,enabling environment is essential.Civil society should be recognized as an essential actor, which can play an important role in strengthening accountabilityof the government in implementing and achieving the education targets.The civil society, in particular, can take the role of delivering the voices of the grassroots from the most marginalized and fragile states not only to the national government but also to the regional and global community, thereby providing the data and evidences that are essential for the national governments and international community to achieve equitable, inclusive quality education. However, bringing about an agreement on democratic governance and ensuring its implementation will be a challenging task, as various stakeholders, interests and political stances are involved in this issue. Notwithstanding such difficulties, the international community should collaborate to establish the governance structure that is essential in realizing the two major principles of Post-2015 education agenda, which is equity and inclusion in education, as well as the “Leave no one behind” principle of Post-2015 development agenda.

3. Developing Indicators to Measure the Equity and Quality of Education

While EFA has made great progress in expanding the access to education, the issues of inequality and the lack of quality education remain unresolved. Furthermore, the absence of clear and measurable indicators for some of the goals made it difficult to monitor progress of the goals and to assess and manage performances.Based on the lessons learnt from EFA, the Post-2015 education agenda proposes the use of disaggregated data based on individual characteristics of children, youth and adults, such as learning outcomes, age, location, race, language, disability, socio-economic status. This is to provide a complete assessment of the progress of the targets, thereby accelerating the equity and quality of education. In particular, the Post-2015 education agenda

IV. Post-2015 Education Agenda: What’s Next?



focuses on the learning outcomes of 5 out of 10 targets, and it proposes an equitable approach for education as an independent target. Meanwhile, the education indicators is currently being developed by the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) and UN Statistics Commission, with an aim to develop and propose indicators for the goals and targets of the Post-2015 development agenda, which is under the supervision of UN Statistics Commission. While there is a high possibility that the recommendations for indicators be reflected in the new development agenda, how things progress needs to be observed. To prevent the targets of the Post-2015 development agenda from being considered merely as an international principle and standard, the international community must make greater efforts in developing indicators that reflect the core principles of the education agenda.

4. Securing Financial Resources to Achieve Basic Education for All

Due to the broad scope of the new development agenda, much more financial resources will be required in the Post-2015 development era compared to that of MDGs. Likewise, it is no exaggeration to argue that the success of new education agenda depends on the allocation of sufficient financial resources. This is due to multiple factors such as an increase in the number of children, who are the main subjects as well as participants of the Post-2015 education agenda, as well as an increase in the educational cost for a child, as a result of improvement in the quality of education and inclusion of the marginalized group. A detailed analysis on the financial issues on the new education agenda and recommendations to overcome such situations can be found in the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2015 and the draft of Framework for Action of the Post-2015 education agenda.Recognizing that education is a public good that needs to be managed by the government, the analysis stresses that the national governments have the primary responsibility in providing financial resources to realize the right to education. The Muscat Agreement has also encouraged the governments to allocate at least 4~6% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and/or allocate at least 15~20 % of their public expenditure to education. In terms of low and lower middle income countries, it was predicted that taking the financial responsibility does

not solve the financial situation of education; hence the Agreement underscored the need for donor countries to increase the amount of aid to education. To be specific, to achieve the inclusive, quality basic education (Early childhood education, primary education and secondary education) proposed by the Post-2015 education agenda, it is estimated that the annual financial gap for basic education will be US $ 22 billion in low and lower middle income countries, even with an assumption that the GDP will grow an average of 5% annually. To overcome such circumstances, the donor countries must increase its aid to at least four times what they currently allocate and share 10% of the bilateral aid in achieving basic education in low and lower middle income countries.Since 2009, the overall amount of aid, not to mention the budget allocated to education, has declined; in such situations, the assertion that donor countries must increase the amount of aid is a huge burden to donor countries, which may also bring about great resistance. However, considering that the annual global military expenditure totalledUS $ 1.75 trillion in 2013, and that the task to meet the budget deficit to achieve the new education agenda is only the amount of 4.5days of theannual military spending, this task is not unattainable2).This July, the Global Partnership for Education is expected to meet at the Oslo Summit on Education for Development. This will be followed by the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, which will take place at Addis Ababa, also in July. At the above-mentioned meetings, issues concerning the innovative ways to solve the budget deficits of education agenda such as the increase in domestic expenditure to education, bilateral and multilateral contributions from the donor countries, South-South Cooperation, and mobilizations of financial resources from private sectors will be discussed. However, discussions that lead to the national governments and donor countries from excusing themselves and transferr ing the responsibilities to the private sector must not happen. In order to avoid the shortfall of financial resources to be an obstacle in realizing the right to equitable, inclusive and quality education through the Post-2015 education agenda, there is an urgent need for the international community to drastically contr ibute to f inancial resources for education.

2) UNESCO(2015), Education for All Global Monitoring Report Policy Paper 18 ‘Pricing the right to education: Thecost of reaching new targets by 2030.’




1. Implications of Post-2015 Education Agenda on Korea’s Aid to Education

This year 2015 marks a historic turning point for international education. The Post-2015 education agenda will not only be an essential part of the new development agenda, but it is considered as a prerequisite for the accomplishment of sustainable development through Global Education First Initiative (GEFI). With its role to extend the visions of EFA as well as to resolve the yet-to-be achieved goals, the significance of Post-2015 education agenda cannot be emphasized more. In Korea, compared to the approaches to MDGs and EFA, the Post-2015 development agenda and education agenda may have different significance to the country’s international development cooperation. In the early 2000s, the Government of Republic of Korea (hereby the Korean government) and the civil society complied with the international development cooperation standards such as the MDGs and EFA with little participation or contribution to the decision-making process of the global agendas. However, since the late 2000s, Korea has taken a leap forward and has become an influential donor country. First of all, comparing the amount of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2013 with that of 2005, the Government has scaled up its ODA in education to about seven times, which is a significant progress.3) Furthermore, the Korean government has demonstrated its willingness to contribute to the global development agendas by joining the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of OECD in 2010, and hosting the G-20 Summit in 2000 as well as hosting the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in 2011. In addition, while the level of participation and contribution has been low in the development of the Post-2015 education agenda, Korea has strived to strengthen its influence in the global education agenda, especially after the decision has been made that the country will host the World Education Forum and chair the EFA Steering Committee. Having the history of rapid economic growth with the help of education, Korea aims to make key contributions in the field of education for the new education agenda.In such circumstances, the diverse actors and stakeholders in Korea ought not overlook their responsibility to collaboratively realize the visions and key principles of the Post-2015 education agenda, which are equality and inclusion. Also, it is important to recognize thatthey are

expected to take part in the process of solving issues concerning the Post-2015 education agenda such as the establishment of inclusive and democraticgovernance, creation of a plan to secure adequate financial resources, and the development of clear, inclusive indicators.Currently, Korea is facing an important era in the field of int ernational aid, as it is in the process of devising the Second Strategic Plan for International Development Cooperation(2016~2020) and developing the Strategy of theAid to Education. To meet this end, the government and the civil society must closely work together to establish a strong mechanism to develop and implement these strategies, which will lead to the active participation in realizing the visions and values of the Post-2015 education agenda.

2. Proposal on the Role of the Korean Government and the Civil Society to Contribute to the Post- 2015 Education Agenda

The Government

① The Korean government must priorit ize its contribution to the realization ofvalues and visions of the Post-2015 education agendaagreed by the international community.

As the hosting country of the 2015 World Education Forum, the Korean government has showed its willingness to do the following: to impart Korea’s development experience and knowledge in education and share its education policies with the international community, to lead the global education in pursuit of happiness for all mankind, and to exercise global leadership in Global Citizenship Education and Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) in Education. Currently, the Korean government is engaged in a full-scale effort to successfully host the World Education Forum in Incheon, which will provide a strong momentum to realize the above-mentioned desires. The Korean government’srecognition on the importance of Global Citizenship Education and its willingness to lead the global community is promising. However, considering the fact that the country lacks experience on the field, compared to European countries, is a cause of concern. Moreover, Global Citizenship Education and ICT is not a priority for the world’s poorest nations, fragile states, and conflict-affected countries, who are far from achieving the basic education;

V. Role of the Korean government and civil societyto contribute to Post-2015 Education Agenda

3) ODA Statistics Review System (http://www.edcfkorea.go.kr/edcf/info/oda/system.jsp)



4) EDCF(2014), ODA in Numbers., ODA Statistics Review System. (http://www.edcfkorea.go.kr/edcf/info/oda/system.jsp).

5) ODA Statistics ReviewSystem (http://www.edcfkorea.go.kr/edcf/info/oda/system.jsp)

6) Kim., J. H. (2014). Analysis and Implications on the Post-2015 Education Agenda of the United Nations.Korea Education Development Institute.

Recalling that the Post-2015 education agenda is based on inclusion, equality, and human rights-based approach, the Korean government needs to reconsider its decision to prioritize Global Citizenship Education and ICT. Furthermore, for the Korean government to demonstrate leadership in realizing the Post-2015 education agenda rather than “selecting or focusing on” its comparative advantages or its areas of interest, it should first support the priority set by the international community. To illustrate, the Korean government must put efforts in bridging the World Education Forum to Post-2015 development agenda, and refrain from omitting important issues such as the reducing inequality in educational opportunities, ensuring quality of education, and securing financial resources in education, all of which require strong cooperation from the international community within the discourse between countries at the Post-2015 development agenda discussions, EFA Steering Committee, International Conference on Financing for Development, and UN General Assembly. Meanwhile, the latest news that Ministry of Education (MoE) has showed its willingness to take the leadership role of EFA Steering Committee in the Asia-Pacific region and that Statistics Korea (KOSTAT) has been elected as a member state of UN Statistics Commission for three years from 2016 brings about great anticipation as well as apprehension from the field. Given the opportunity to play an important role in developing and implementing the Post-2015 education agenda, it is expected that the Korean government first give its undivided attention to the realization of the right to education for all.

② The Korean government should increase its aid to education and activelycontribute to overcome the financial challenge.

While the outline of the Post-2015 development agenda-including the education agenda-is becoming clear, the mechanisms to secure adequate financial resources still remain as a big challenge.As mentioned above, the amount of ODA has declined for the past four to five years or have remained as stagnant, which gives us doubts on whether or not it is possible to overcome the financial crisis of the Post-2015 development agenda. The size of Korea’s aid totalled US $ 18.5 billion in 2014, ranking 16 of the 28 member nations (donor countries) OECD DAC-an increase of 5.4% compared to the previous year. While such improvement stands out among other donor countries whose aid sizes and growth rates are in decline, the rank of Korea’s ODA is never too high, when compared to the

size of its economy. With the 2013 data,the country’s ODA/GNI ratio was 0.15%, which is still far from reaching the average ODA/GNI ratio DAC, which is about 0.3%; Korea’s ODA ranked the 23rd among 28 donor countries in OECD DAC. Of the total ODA, the amount of Korea’s ODA on education in 2012 totals US $ 1.27 billion, which is 7.3 % of the total ODA4). In order for the Korean government to actively take part in solving the shortfall of financial resources in education, it has to scale up the ODA volume to meet the global standards, as well as to increase the importance of education in ODA. Korea has joined the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) in 2014, a platform for multilateral cooperation to increase the effectiveness of aid and efficiency of education, and has donated US $ 5 million up to date. In contrast to Korea’s recent membership, all other member states of OECD DAC have participated in GPE over the years and have focused on achieving basic education through multilateral cooperation. Considering this, the Korean government must continue to expand its support to GPE. As the hosting country of World Education Forum, whose financial contribution is highly expected by the international community, the Korean government-- especially the ODA-related departments-- must closely collaborate in order to gradually meet the global expectations in the near future.

③ The Korean government should strengthen its national strategy on aid to education based on the visions and key components of Post-2015 Education Agenda.

First, it should drastically increase the support to basic education.

Compared to the goals of the MDGs and EFA to prioritize the support to basic education (primary education) of world’s poorest nations, Korea’s ODA to education is rather focused on the secondary education of Asian countries. In fact, about 70% of Korea’s ODA to education is allocated to secondary education and to education in general, while the budget on basic education is about 10%5). This is in contrast with the way major donor countries such as the United Kingdom and Swedenshare 38% and 40% of their budget for basic education6). Considering the fact that the size of the aid has to increase 4 times of the current size so as to achieve basic education for low and lower middle income countries, the donor countries should therefore expand the support to basic education, thereby meeting the urgent needs of the recipient countries, rather than insisting on their own interests and priorities.




Second, the Korean government musttake integrated approaches between humanitarian assistance and development sector ODA and increase the budget share on education.

Around the world, there are about 57 million children who are deprived of the access to education; a majority (50%) of those out-of-school children live in conflict-affected countries, and thousands of them live in disaster-affected countries7). While the Global Education First Initiative (GEFI) has encouraged the donor countries to allocate 4% of their humanitarian assistance to education, in reality, only 2% is shared for education8). Education in emergencies can play a key role saving and sustaining the lives of children. A safe and protective educational environment allows children to feel secured even in emergency situations; also, safe, child-friendly spaces can be used as the base for post-conf lict reconstruction. In this context, the Post-2015 education agenda indicates that expanding the right to education for children and people in conflict-affected countries and fragile states must be considered a priority. However, as mentioned above, the international community’s financial investment on education in emergencies is extremely limited. In Korea there was an absence of support on education in emergencies. Therefore, the Korean government must increase the share of humanitarian aid to education so as to contribute to the realization of the Post-2015 education agenda. Besides the expansion of support for education among the humanitarian assistance sector, the government must devise strategies to connect the support to education from humanitarian to that of development sector, which will not only resolve the problem in which education is being overlooked in humanitarian situations, but also enable the development of a sustainable, quality education. The implementation of ODA in Korea has fundamental limitation in that structure of aid is divided into two-humanitarian assistance and development. Such a structure makes it difficult to connect humanitarian assistance and development at all stages from emergency relief, reconstruction and restoration. However, as the “Korea’s Humanitarian Assistance Strategy”, was adopted at the 21st meeting of the Committee for International Development Cooperation (CIDC), the Korean government aims to strengthen the integration of humanitarian assistance and development in ODA system; how it will be practiced

and realized in the future deserves attention. In doing so, it is recommended that Korean government first start by integrating the education in humanitarian assistance sector.

Third, the Korean government should resolve the aid fragmentation issue for an effective aid system in education.

Korea’s issue on aid fragmentation has been brought up at the Peer Review of OECD DAC in 2012, where improvement in coordination was recommended. The same challenge of fragmentation applies to aid to education. The main implementing agencies of aid to education are largely the Ministry of Education (MoE), Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF), and local governments, city and provincial education offices, and government-affiliated organizations partly are responsible for the implementation. Each ministry of the government has set up its own purposes and goals on aid to education, whose priorities differ from one another. Yet, this is not a role division made through effective coordination and collaboration, but a result of having different preferences and characteristics in each ministry.In reality, the absence of integratedand agreed goals, strategies, and indicators for Korea’s aid to education makes it difficult to measure results and assess the overall impact of the programs. Hence, the goal setting is done arbitrarily, depending on the character of implementing agencies and programs. This is due to the fact that the coordination between departments and organizations are recognized and specified on paper, but it is not restrictedly practiced in the implementation process9). Such a fragmentation of aid to education has been identified during the preparations for World Education Forum. Even from the initial stage of the World Education Forum, there was infinitesimal collaboration between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and/or KOICA, let alone the EDCF, which is the major sponsor organization. The UNESCO-led Post-EFA goals and targets, which will further be discussed in the World Education Forum and the Post-2015 development agenda negotiations between governments, will be finalized and be integrated into the Post-2015 development agenda at the 70th Session of UN General Assembly. Taking these circumstances into consideration, closely collaborating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which acts as the

7) http://www.ineesite.org/en/education-in-emergencies

8) UN Global Education First Initiative(2012)

9) Yoon, J. H. (2012). A study on Strategic Implementation of Korea’s ODA to Education. Korea Education Development Institute.



10) KCOC, A Handbook of Korean International Development Cooperation(2013)

government’s representative in the discussions of the Post-2015 development agenda, is crucial. In this case, the Korean government’s plan to develop strategy on aid to education in 2015 deserves positive attention. In doing so, however, the government must modify the mechanism where the strategies are distributed to the relevant departments and organizations for planning, which are later finalized at the last stage for implementation. Instead, the government must establish a collaborative mechanism, where ministries, departments, and government agencies can work together to devise an integrated strategy in accordance with the global education agenda.

④ The Korean government must ensure the participation of the civil society in devising strategy on aid to education as well as in implementing the Post-2015 education agenda.

In 2013, the Korean civil society’s expenditures on overseas educational projectsin developing countries totalled 54.3 billion won (approximately US $ 500 million), 95% of which were purely its own funds. Moreover, 76% of educational programs conducted by the civil society are focused on basic education, which is in sharp contrast to the government’s contributionto basic education, which is only 10% of the total aid to education.10) This proves that the civil society has played a crucial role in making up for the shortage in aid to education. Despite the fact that the civil society’s role and contributions to the post-2015 education development system is evident, there have been insufficient opportunities for the civil society to participate in the discussion of the education agenda and in the planning process of the World Education Forum. Unlike the case of Korea, globally, the civil society has been recognized as a significant partner in the formulation of the Post-2015 education agenda. An example of this is an introduction of an official mechanism, one of which is the EFA NGO (CCNGO/EFA). In order to fully realize the Post-2015 education agenda, the participation of the civil society and all other stakeholders in the entire process from the setting of agenda, implementation, monitoring, to assessment is crucial. Particularly, ensuring the participation of the civil society is a crucial element in strengthening the accountability of the Korean government in fulfilling the Post-2015 agenda. Thus, the new government strategies such as the Second Strategic Plan for International Development Cooperation as well as theStrategy on Aid toEducation must clearly indicate the participation of the civil society.

The Civil Society on International Development Cooperation

For the past few decades, Korean civil society on international development cooperation has taken part in diverse educational programs to supplement the government; however, its participation and contribution to the development of the Post-2015 education agenda has been relatively limited. This is in direct contrast with the way the global civil society has actively taken part in the formulation, implementation and monitoring process of education agenda, since the adoption of the Dakar Declaration and the Dakar Framework for Action. However, the Korean civil society’s engagement on the Muscat Agreement, which was an important momentum for developing the Post-EFA agenda, was insignificant. Since then, the Korean civil society has been questioned by the global civil society such as The Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE) and Global Citizenship Education on its engagement on the preparations of the World Education Forum at Incheon as well as the Post-2015 education agenda. Thus, since the summer of 2014, which is about one year before the World Education Forum which was scheduled to be held at Incheon, South Korea, the civil society recognized the importance of an active response to World Education Forum, which led to the establishment of a network with the Korea Civil Society Forum on International Development Cooperation (KoFID) as the central figure. Being one of the major actors in the field of development cooperation, the civil society in particular must speak for the rights of the poor and the marginalized. Until recent date the Korean civil society has focused and put their priority role in service providing for education. But it should consider the World Education Forum at Incheon as an opportunity in stepping forward to be an active partner in the policymaking and be an advocate of the weak and the vulnerable. To make this happen, first, the civil society must prioritize its research activities to study the Post-2015 education agenda, before urging the government on its participation in the implementation process of the Post-2015 education agenda. Second, the civil society must build capacity in order to contribute to the monitoring and evaluation on the implementation of the Post-2015 education agenda. Third, the civil society must be prepared to practice true solidarity so as to achieve the ultimate goals and targets aimed in the Post-2015 education agenda. Last, the Korean civil society must establish and maintain a firm cooperative relationship with the global society by actively expressing its stance and sharing information. Until the Post-2015 education agenda is being finalized,

and even after its confirmation, there are many issues that must be tackled by the civil society. Following the World Education Forum at Incheon, the civil society must earnestly express its stance on the education agenda and ensure that its statements are heard by the government delegates and reflected in the negotiation process of the Post-2015 development agenda between governments. This is to make certain that the opinions of the global society agreed upon during the World Education Forum are heard and not omitted. Moreover, while the Second Strategic Plan for International Development Cooperation and Strategy on Aid to Education are being devised for the internalization of the Post-2015 education agenda, the Korean civil society must continue its advocacy engagement during the process. At the same time, the educational projects/programs implemented on the ground by the civil society must be reflected through the new education agenda and reshape its goals and approaches that can contribute to achieving the agreed goals and targets.

VI. ConclusionRealization of the right to education should be at the center of the upcoming World Education Forum in Incheon.

Now that the World Education Forum at Incheon is near at hand, many education actors and stakeholders are putting all their efforts to hosting the event successfully. At this point, a question could be raised to all of us on the purpose and goal of the Forum. While the deadlines for both MDGs and EFA are near, the phrase “Education For All” is put in the shade, as there are still millions of children and adolescents who are deprived of the educational opportunities. Instead of being too excited on the fact that the country is hosting an important international event, we must focus on the essence of the Post-2015 education agenda. While preparing for the World Education Forum, we hope that everyone altogether dream of the world in 15 years, where more and more number of children, particularly the marginalized and vulnerable, are fully ensured of their right to education and live their lives fulfilled.

● The World Bank Group (2000), “Education For All, from Jomtien to Dakar and Beyond”

● UNESCO (2000), “The Dakar Framework for Action, EFA: Meeting our Collective Commitments”

● UN (2011), “accelerating progress towards the MDGs: options for sustained and inclusive growth and issues for advancing the UN Development agenda beyond 2015: annual report of the secretary-general. A/66/126

● UN System Task Team on the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda (2012), “Review of the contributions of the MDG Agenda to foster development: Lessons for the post-2015 UN development agenda, discussion note”

● UN Global Education First Initiative(2012)

● UNESCO & UNICEF (2013), “Envisioning Education in the post-2015 Development Agenda: Global thematic consultation on education in thepost-201 development Agenda”

● UNESCO & UNICEF (2013), “Making Education a priority in the post-2015 development agenda: Report of the global thematic consultation inthe post-2015 development agenda”

● UNESCO (2013), “Concept note on the post-2015 education agenda”

● Beyond 2015 (2013),“Making education for All a reality”

● GCE (2013), “Civil Society Joint Statement”

● GCE (2013), “Equitable, inclusive and free: a collective vision for quality education beyond 2015”

● GCE (2013), “The right to Education and post-2015 framework”

● Dili International Conference on the post-2015 Development Agenda (2013), “development for all: stop conflict, build states and eradicate poverty”

● Beyond 2015 (2014), “Key comments to the OWG SDGs outcome document”

● UN (2014), “OWG proposal for SDGs”

● UNESCO (2014), “2014 GEM Final Statement, The Muscat Agreement”

● UNESCO (2014) “Seventh meeting of the CCNGO/EFA: Final declaration, realizing the right to education beyond 2015”

● UNESCO (2014), “Position Paper on Education post-2015”

● UNESCO (2015), “DRAFT (version 31 March 2015): Framework for action of the post-2015 education agenda: Towards inclusive and equitablequality education and lifelong learning”

● GCE (2015), “EFA GMR 2015: GCE response”

● GCE (2015), “The road to dignity by 2030: Ending poverty transforming all lives and protecting the planet: response by the GCE”

● UNESCO(2015), Education for All Global Monitoring Report Policy Paper 18 ‘Pricing the right to education : The cost of reaching new targets by 2030’

● 국제개발협력연구 제 4권 제 2호(2012년 12월)

● 윤종혁, 한국교육개발원(2012), 한국의 교육ODA 실천전략 연구

● KCOC, 2013 한국 국제개발협력 CSO 편람

● EDCF(2014), 숫자로 보는 ODA

● 김진희, 한국교육개발원(2014), 유엔 Post-2015 교육분야 의제 분석과 향후 전망

● KOICA(2014), 개발과 이슈 제 19호, Post-2015 개발의제 동향연구 1: SDGs 초안 분석

● KOICA(2015), 개발과 이슈 제 22호, Post-2015 개발의제 동향연구 2: Post-2015 의제에 관한 UN 사무총장 종합보고서 분석

● 국무조정실 2015 제 8차 시민사회 단체와의 정책간담회 자료

References

KoFID Issue Brief Vol 3

Documents

Transcript of KoFID Issue Brief Vol 3