Issue 16: May 2002

UN University Rector Prof. Hans van Ginkel was one of the co-chairs when leading education experts joined  Education Ministers and Ambassadors to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in a round table discussion on "Education and Development" at UN Headquarters in New York February 14.

The event was in preparation for this year's ECOSOC high-level segment, whose theme is "The contribution of human resources development, including in the areas of health and education, to the process of development."

Presided over by the President of ECOSOC, H.E. Dr. Ivan Šimonovic, the roundtable was co-chaired by Prof. van Ginkel; Sir John Daniel, Assistant Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); Andre Roberfroid, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); and Kunio Waki, Deputy Executive-Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Participants included the Ministers of Education of Egypt, El Salvador, Gambia, Pakistan and Uganda, ECOSOC ambassadors and education experts from the public and private sectors.

The first session discussed education for all, including girls' education, and technical and vocational education. The second session focused on higher education and was followed by a presentation of good practices in education and development featuring case studies from UNESCO, UNICEF, UNFPA, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

One of the issues on the table was the worldwide shortage of teachers, which will become increasingly acute in the coming decade. In the industrialized world, this shortage is due to the large-scale retirement of teachers who joined the expansion of education systems in the 1960s. 

In some developing countries, the progress towards education for all is generating massive demand for new teachers. In other countries, the HIV/AIDS pandemic is decimating the teaching force. Another reason for the shortage seems to be the diminishing status of teachers, and a concomitant decline in their working conditions.

Girls' education is another priority, with girls constituting 60 per cent of the 113 million children not attending school. At the same time, research shows that girls' education has a great developmental payoff and is about the best investment in their future countries can make. The whole school environment must therefore be made girl-friendly - for instance through female teachers providing role models, and a curriculum equipping girls for a richer life.

Another area for reform is technical and vocational education, which often does not keep pace with global changes in technology and labour markets. Too much of secondary education on offer disappoints the expectations of children and their parents, because the skills it provides do not match the world of work - formal or informal - that they will want to enter. The answer may be to integrate vocational disciplines in secondary education, so as to equip students with the knowledge, skills and attitudes for the world of work.

Universities, too, are under pressure to reform from rising costs, new information technologies and demands for improved quality of teaching and degrees. Staff development, distance learning technologies and expansion of international programmes for students can provide some answers.

The roundtable event followed up on the round table on health held on February 5. A third roundtable held on March 5 focused on human resources development in the development process. The results of the round tables will be presented to the high-level segment of ECOSOC to be held from July 1-3 in New York.

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