News & Event

His Highness Sayyid Asa’ad bin Tariq Al Said, Representative of His Majesty the Sultan, inaugurates today the Global Education Meeting at Oman auditorium at Al Bustan Palace Hotel in presence of  their Excellences Ministers of Education, Undersecretaries of the Omani Ministry of Education, members of the Education Committees of  both the  State and Shura Councils, Director-Generals of the Ministry of Education headquarters and the Educational Governorates, Heads of diplomatic missions of  participating countries, Directors of the Regional Offices of the UNESCO and Director-Generals of some governmental organs.

 His Highness Sayyid Asa’ad bin Tariq Al Said will take a tour around the exhibition that is accompanying the GEM. This exhibition will include many educational publications.

The UNESCO publications on EFA shall be present as well as publications of the UNESCO institutes and Regional Offices. The exhibition shall also include a corner for  the Sultanate of Oman at which many educational  publications shall be displayed along with other publications on tourism, culture and development from different ministries such as the Ministry of Manpower, the Ministry of Higher Education, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of information , the Ministry of tourism, the Office of HE the Advisor of His Majesty the Sultan for Cultural Affairs, National Youth Committee and the Public Authority for Investment Promotion and Export Development .

The Third Day Program

The program of the meeting in its third day includes the meeting of the Ministers/ Leaders attending at (GEM) by Ministers, Deputy-Ministers, and Heads of institutions concerned with  Education For All (EFA) and a meeting of Senior Officials. The main objective of the meeting is to analyze and discuss the progress made in achieving the six EFA goals which has been adopted by the world community in the Global Educational Forum held in Dakar in 2000, as part of the Education for All Initiative.  It was agreed during that meeting to exert efforts and endeavors to achieve these goals by 2015.  In addition, it was also agreed to take into consideration the challenges which hinder achieving these objectives especially the outcomes presented by member states with regard to achievement of EFA goals by 2015.  It is expected that today’s meeting shall identify the obstacles which set back progress in this field.

The meeting shall discuss the post-2015 education agenda and the action plan framework which will be approved in the Global Education Forum in 2015. In addition, this meeting shall identify the position, form and range of Education Agenda within the framework of the post-2015Global Development Plan. It is expected that participants shall come out with a statement which articulates ideas and visions on the post-2015 EFA six goals as well as its priorities and objectives. The meeting shall set up a detailed road map and a work plan to be discussed at the Global Education Forum in Korea in 2015 as well as clarifying the process of development of the forthcoming Education Agenda and their relevant framework. Moreover, the meeting shall agree on a strategy that aims at insuring that education will be included in the post-2015 Development Plan as well as enhancing the knowledge base with regard to EFA.

Second Day Program

Senior officials’ meeting was held yesterday morning under the chairmanship of Mr Dankert Vedeler, Head of EFA steering committee to complete discussion of the third session which was held the day before. In this session, Dr Qian Tange, the Assistant Director of the UNESCO for Education, presented a summary of the first day discussion. He said:’ Discussion which we had so far and those which will be made in the future and the dialogues between the UNESCO and other organizations are considered as consultative process. Yet, these discussions are not adequately summarized.

Objectives Monitoring Report
Mr. Tang continued:” The Monitoring Report had helped in showing the progress made so far with regard to the EFA objectives spatially the funding issues as well as the achievements at regional level. The Report also highlighted post 2015 actions to be taken, the agenda which should be set up for developing countries along with their required arrangements. The previous session discussed the issue of equity in education, inclusion and how to make this process successful.” Mr.Tang provided a number of clarifications on the post -2015 education document. He said:” The ultimate objective of this document is to provide education for all and to include it in the post 2015 development plan. Two of the five other objectives are connected to teachers and funding and both are considered as educational inputs which must be satisfactorily fulfilled and assessed. Other objectives are related to outcomes such as Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), primary education, illiteracy eradication and adult education.”

Within the course of his speech, Mr.Tang said:” This document is not a legal one but it is of a technical nature. Therefore, all members should contribute to the discussion and to arrive at some suggestions to be discussed in the Global Education Forum which will be held in Korea 2015. We have to present this document to member states and to the United Nations so as to be used in the future. We shall continue improving this document and adopt standards to implement the six goals. We should also develop a framework to interpret these objectives into actions and link them with national objectives. Therefore, we will exert every possible effort coupled with your cooperation to raise educational standards.

Discussions and Proposals

 The discussions of post- 2015 objectives of education were discussed during the meeting. Participating countries presented some proposals such as the necessity of the focus on adult education and illiteracy eradication since this issue is very important in developing countries. Emphasis should be made on illiterate people and provide them with vocational and technical training as well as women education especially in poor. The six goals focus on paying more care for early childhood and provide children with compulsory free education. More attention should be paid to reading, writing and arithmetic in elementary education. A variety of programs to evaluate reading in this level should be developed. More care is also required for teachers and professional development. The role of the private sector in development and providing support for education should be activated. Other proposals covered different aspects such as funding and higher education. At the end, Mr. Tang thanked the attendees

Ministerial Meeting

Her Excellency Dr. Madiha bint Ahmad Al Shibania, Minister of Education, chaired the ministerial/leaders meeting in the afternoon and initiated the first session (Big Push 2015) with a welcoming speech to honorable participating minsters in the Global Education Meeting for EFA (Oman 2014). She stated that this is the last meeting which included all partnerships in the EFA initiative before holding the Global Forum for Education in Korea in 2015, which is going to be the deadline of the specified period for achieving millennium goals that were first set in Dakar in 2000. HE also explained: “I hope that you will not reserve any effort to enrich this international gathering and to come out with important results and recommendations. This meeting is a genuine opportunity to share knowledge and experience in an effective manner, and to review commitments which were undertaken during the EFA meeting held at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris in November 2012. We also hope that we shall discuss and compare policies and approaches; and agree on common strategies and procedures to face challenges that may face education during forthcoming years”.HE continued saying: “The importance of this meeting lies in conducting a purposeful review of the progress made with regard to achievement of EFA objectives based on the Global Monitoring Education for All Report for 2013-2014, as well as other documents reviewed during senior officials meeting which concluded its works today, especially outcomes stated in reviews of member states on EFA goals by 2015, aiming at identifying challenges that hinder making progress in this field and looking into new initiatives and successful practices so as to overcome all obstacles and difficulties that slow-down achievement of desired targets”. HE the Minister concluded her speech saying: “The first session of this meeting will focus on all points mentioned above. The title of this session, “Big Push towards 2015”, is chosen to specify features of our work which will be based on discussion that shall follow the statement of Mr.Qian Tang and Ms. Pouline Rose”.

Mr. Qian Tang presented an explanatory introduction initiating his speech by welcoming participating countries ministers and said: “Let me first of all express once again my gratitude to Her Excellency, Dr. Ahmed Al Shaibanya, for your personal commitment to making this meeting a success and for the outstanding and generous hosting arrangements by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman.” He provided the Ministers who just joined the meeting today with an overview of the objectives of this 2014 Global EFA Meeting and what have been discussed so far in the Senior Officials Meeting during the past day and a half. He stated:

“With regard to the status of EFA, we heard yesterday from the EFA Global Monitoring Report on its latest findings. We also heard reports form the 5 regions on progress made in EFA and initiatives undertaken to accelerate action towards reaching the goals. All reports agreed on the fact that while progress was made, there is unfinished business which remains to be tackled beyond 2015. In particular, disparities inequity and issues of low quality, insufficient human and financial resources were mentioned as key obstacles. At the same time drives for success were identified. The meeting also shared best practices and discussed national and global experiences around the topics of equity and inclusion, quality of education and skills for life and work. Our second objective is to discuss the post-2015 education agenda which is to be adopted at the World Education Forum 2015 in the Republic of Korea .

 the post-2015 Global Development Agenda”

After that, Pauline Rose, the Former Director of EFA Global Monitoring Report, presented a paper entitled “Where are we from the EFA goals?”, in which she displayed the six EFA goals agreed upon by 164 countries in 2000 in Dakar, Senegal. GMR provides annual evaluation of the achieved progress, and this year’s GMR looks forward to discuss key issues that need to be addressed post-2015. She added that this year’s report discusses global learning crisis and the vital role that teachers paly in ensuring that every child’s right in education. The presentation included a discussion of big push of 2015 and post. This is because by 2015, there will be many countries that have not achieved the education goals yet. Therefore, the post-2015 education goals should follow up the countries that are lagging behind in this field. Moreover, the global learning crisis is hitting the disadvantaged children very hard, and it is not possible to achieve quality education without proving qualified teachers. The presentation also points to the gender inequality in learning which will probably continue until 2015. There are 57 million children are still out-of-school, and this means that by 2015 (final date of EFA goals) there will be millions of out-of-school children. In addition there are children who still do not even learn the basics.

On the other hand, the presentation discussed the lack of quality education that left behind it huge numbers of young illiterates. There are 175 million children in low-income countries who still cannot read a full or part of sentence. In sub-Saharan Africa, 40% of children are not able to read. Young women are the worst affected of all, making up 61% of youth who are not literate. In South and West Asia, two out of three of young people who cannot read are young women. The presentation concludes to the importance of making special efforts to ensure that all children are in school and learning, and the importance of teachers as vital part of the solution to the global learning crisis. Thus, the GMR identifies four strategies to provide the best teachers to reach all children with a good quality education: recruit the best candidates from a wide range of backgrounds, train all teachers well, both before and during their careers, allocate teachers effectively by offering incentives to teach in disadvantaged areas and retain teachers through improved working conditions and career progression pathways. After that, Ms. Ann Therese, Original Director of Education in Africa, lead an open discussion to comment on the session, whereas Alice Albright, Chief Executive of GPE, concluded the session.

Ideas and Information

Honorable Dr. Soud Nasser Al-Riyami, Deputy-Head of Education Committee at the State Council, said:” the Education Committee at the State Council is concerned with each development in the education sector. Therefore, Ministry of Education, represented by Her Excellency Minister of Education, invited us to attend this meeting and represent the State Council. Through this meeting we endeavor to grasp ideas and information that were introduced during the last two days, and provide other ideas and opinions that could enrich this meeting”. Also, he pointed to the importance of quality education that obligate decision-makers to have a clear vision and specified goals they endeavor to reach.

He also said,” the curriculums were used to focus on knowledge which is no longer valued for the next stage which needs a focus on skills, attitudes and values”. He stressed on the importance of attracting the receiver, students, and the sender, teachers, through curriculums. He also stressed on the importance of reviewing the programs of qualifying teachers who should be provided with financial and moral incentives which is a vital factor of promoting teachers.

Achieving Equality 
Mr. Abdulkareem Mohsen Al Mastafaoyi, National Coordinator of EFA, Iraq, said,” at the beginning we find ourselves obliged to appreciate the Sultanate’s hospitality and the genuine Arab generosity”. Regarding the participation of the Iraqi delegation in the GEM, he said,” we work with Countries of the world to develop education and endeavor to cooperate with Arab States and the GEM participating countries in setting up the post-2015 education goals. Therefore, we will submit one proposal concerning achieving equity and equality between countries. It is possible to achieve this goal through the UNESCO proposal to the United Nations. In this proposal the UN shall ask Governments to commit themselves to the statement of this meeting and not consider it only a reference document, taking into consideration that the UNESCO has no intention to interfere in these countries’ decisions, and that is not an adequate justification to let them work according to their own interests. We believe that through this courageous attitude can achieve the EFA goals”.