Education must help learners live their lives with greater competence and greater confidence. It will only do this if it is of good quality – where the learning process is positive and helpful, and where real learning takes place. For children, it is not merely a matter of attending school, but of learning in ways that make sense, and learning things that are relevant and useful. Today’s world is complex and knowledge is growing at a fast pace – learning must go on throughout life.

So teaching and learning must give learners the tools for life – education must lead to outcomes that are meaningful where learners feel confident in using the knowledge and skills they have acquired. Education is also about developing behavior based on positive values – understanding and respect for other people of all kinds, for their rights, for the natural world, for the past and the future. This is education of high quality – only education of this kind will lead to the many social and economic benefits which countries and individuals hope for.

An education of high quality also means that individuals will develop their potential – education will make a difference to the chances they have in life. In society as a whole, quality education supports positive social change. It will enable people to progress through effective learning outcomes – gaining the knowledge, competencies, skills and behaviors which are essential for development

Its importance in learning

Learners - whether children or adults - quickly react to the quality of education. Where the quality of schooling is high, for example, parents are motivated not only to send their children to school, but also to keep them there. The quality of education is therefore a factor in ensuring that education is accessible and meaningful to everyone.

What happens in the learning environment is also important. When the school is a safe environment and is well-equipped, when teachers are well-trained and highly motivated, learners are more likely to be able to achieve learning goals and successfully complete schooling.

Learning outcomes:

There are increasing concerns that the measurement of the quality of education is usually not adequate. Different modalities of capacity building and training are needed to measure learning outcomes. Appropriate monitoring, evaluation and assessment methodologies, trained personnel, relevant country-specific plans, quality indicators and instrumentation are required to assess what is learnt, how and under what conditions. UFSFC strengthens national and institutional capacity building in measuring learning outcomes and monitoring quality, produces reviews and inventories of quality indicators, and develops continuous assessment procedures, including the development of effective education quality measurement and monitoring tools.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

There is a clear need for relevant curricula in order to provide quality education. Socio-economic, political, cultural and technological changes are increasingly transforming educational practices across the world.

Curricula must be regularly reviewed and reformed to reflect these changes and to adequately prepare pupils to respond to their environment and its challenges.

Improved curricula, relevant to the life of the learner, can increase participation in schooling and improve the quality of the education provided. UFSFC will implement a number of activities worldwide that include curriculum strategy, curriculum development and reform, textbook revision, training, and publications.

CURRICULUM

UFSF has a mandate to support and strengthen national capacity to lead and facilitate renewal of curricula and to adapt the content and methods of school education. The regional networking seminars, workshops and projects presented here provide a platform for promoting exchange and dialogue on national experiences. They are focused on a host of curriculum development issues ranging from management of curriculum reform, to content and methodological issues related to citizenship education, multiculturalism, social exclusion, violence, and learning to live together through the teaching of history and geography.

METHODS

New approaches to active pedagogical learning and innovative modalities need to be developed to encourage teachers to change from using a traditional lecture approach to a more interactive style of teaching. Pedagogical techniques should include participatory and gender-sensitive teaching and learning methods and strategies that foster critical thinking and problem-solving skills. They should instill in pupils willingness and motivation to continue learning beyond the classroom. UFSFC’s activities include training workshops in several countries on innovative teaching methods.

LEARNING MATERIALS

The shortage of relevant, low-cost books for use inside and outside school continues to pose challenges to providing quality Education for All. Uneven access to teaching and learning materials, inadequate provision of reading materials that develop vital literacy skills and unacceptable pupil/book ratios continue to exist in many countries. UFSFC provides support to selected Member States to formulate policies on textbooks provision and tools for the design of relevant teaching and learning materials for quality education. A global strategy focusing on the links between sustainable book production and quality education is currently under development.

Languages

Many children are disadvantaged and excluded from quality education because they do not have the opportunity to learn in the language they best understand. Normally a national language is used in most educational settings. However, this can be a major obstacle in gaining literacy skills for those who do not speak it. Action areas include guidance on the implementation of bi/multilingual education policies for national policy-makers and planners, language of instruction policies, elaboration of teaching-learning materials in national languages, promoting cultural and linguistic diversity, and use of the mother tongue (both in pupil and teacher training).

UFSFC´s action in human rights Education:

UFSFC operates at different levels of the education systems (formal and non-formal) and targets a wide range of beneficiaries. The main objective is that learning should focus on the acquisition of values, attitudes and skills required to meet the emerging challenges of contemporary societies and the full development of the human personality. The activities carried out in co-operation with a wide range of partners are focusing on the following areas:

Board of Directors

Sec of State Hermann COHEN (Ret.)

Irvin FOSTER

Virginia LORENZO

Dr William SCHIPPER

Staff

Dr Hassan YEMER