Universal Education is an Investment in Our Future

This is a guest-post from the Education & Gender Equality team at UNICEF.

Question: What do the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the Convention of the Rights of the Child have in common? Answer: They both celebrate 20 years this November 2009.

The Convention on the Right of the Child is slowly reaching its majority. Since the adoption of the Convention in 1989, many things in the world have changed, the Berlin wall fell as did child mortality in many places around the world. The Convention has supported measurable advances in child survival and development, raised awareness of and expanded solutions to child protection risks and promoted child participation as a fundamental right of children.

Despite great advances, young people today face increasing challenges that require them to be more creative, adaptable and resilient than ever before. Poverty, climate change, conflicts and natural disasters, along with the economic crisis, call for more sustainable solutions. In 2007, 101 million children of primary school age – 53 million girls and 48 million boys – were not attending school. Universal primary education is a particular challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, where 46 million children were out of school in 2007, and South Asia, with 35 million out of school that same year. Education is thus the key to solving many of the problems of the global community. A relevant, quality education will ensure that these children become individuals who reach their full potential.

In today’s increasingly interdependent world our economies are as connected as our people. What happens in one part of our planet, has repercussions on us all. One of the cornerstones of the Convention is the right to education. Granting young people across the globe the best possible education is not only a moral obligation, it is an investment in our collective future. UNICEF puts the rights of the child into practice through its child-friendly school (CFS) model. This approach is not simply about implementing small education projects but ensuring that change happens at the national level.  This approach is about tackling the challenges of outdated teaching techniques, irrelevant curricula, overcrowded classrooms and scarce resources.  At the core of this approach is child participation and transforming our education systems to create sustainable opportunities for our future generations.

The main principle of a child-friendly school is a simple one at heart: schools should operate in the best interests of the child.  Schools and learning spaces must be safe, healthy and protective, endowed with trained teachers and adequate resources conducive to learning. They should be places where children feel all their needs are being met. In a child-friendly school, a child has a chance to get vaccinated, eat a nourishing lunch and be taught important life skills to protect themselves from diseases such as HIV and AIDS.If we fail to provide children with quality education, we fail ourselves. The cost of giving a child an education is far less than dealing with the consequences of ignorance.

Join us in supporting the Convention on the Right of the Child. UNICEF invites you to visit a special CRC website dedicated to this occasion: www.unicef.org/girlseducation/index_focus_schools.html

Photo: © UNICEF/NYHQ2006-2268/Pirozzi