Op-ed by Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace Laureate & Commissioner at International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity
NEW DELHI – In Côte d’Ivoire, I once met a boy working on a
cocoa farm whose only dream was someday to taste the rich brown chocolate he
helped produce. And in Pakistan, I once rescued a boy who sewed footballs and
wished only to play with the product of his work.
In the course of more than three decades of defending children’s
rights – including rescuing tens of thousands of children from bonded labor and
slavery, among them little girls who were trafficked from their homeland for
sexual exploitation – I have met young people from many backgrounds. But,
whether they are child laborers or victims of war who have lost everything, all
have something in common: an indomitable urge to study. They want nothing more
than to pick up a book, go to school, and improve their lives through
education.
According to UNESCO, every additional year of schooling a
young person receives increases
their average future earnings by 10%, and can boost countries’ average
annual GDP growth by 0.37%. Education doesn’t only break the shackles of human
slavery; it can also fuel social, economic, and political change.
Recognition of education’s importance is enshrined in many
United Nations treaties and international declarations, and in the
constitutions of its member countries. Education is not just a fundamental
human right, but also an enabling right – essential for the exercise of all
others. With such a powerful tool available to us, we should be doing whatever
we can to use it.
To that end, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Chilean
President Michelle
Bachelet, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Malawian President Peter
Mutharika, and UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova have
convened the International Commission on Financing Global Education
Opportunity.
Chaired by United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon
Brown, the Education Commission (as it is more widely known) brings
together a committed and diverse group of experienced individuals who share a
belief in the importance of accessible schools for all. I am both proud and
humbled to be a member of the Commission, which has developed a bold agenda to
turn today’s global youth into a “learning generation.”
Currently, millions of children are being denied quality
education, and 263 million children are out of school worldwide – including 63
million in conflict zones and another 30 million who have disabilities.
Millions cannot go to school because they are trapped in child labor and
slavery, fueling a lifelong cycle of poverty and illiteracy. Poor children who
are forced to perform unskilled repetitive tasks fail to learn anything else,
which erodes their future employability and puts them on a path toward
continued hardship in adulthood. Only education can stop this cycle and give
children the means to secure a future free from exploitation.
Meanwhile, 600 million children who are in school are missing out
on the full benefits of education because they are not learning basic skills.
Young people who haven’t learned the skills they need to participate in the
global economy are becoming
disillusioned, which makes them more likely to find outlets in extremism or
crime.
These numbers tell a story of education in crisis. But it’s
worth mentioning that in 2000 the total number of out-of-school children was
almost one-quarter higher, at 374 million, than it is today. This improvement
proves that we can still build a better, more equitable, and sustainable world
through education.
Fortunately, many countries are now implementing sound
policies to do just that, including abolishing school fees, starting school
meal programs, and using cash transfers to provide educational opportunities in
poor communities. Moreover, at the international level, the fourth UN
Sustainable Development Goal encapsulates a new commitment by member countries
to ensure inclusive, quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for
all people by 2030.
SDG 4 is ambitious, but achieving it is imperative if the
world is to meet the other 16 SDGs. The Education Commission’s new report, “The Learning
Generation: Investing in Education for a Changing World,” recommends a
targeted approach and greater investment aimed at the hardest-to-reach children
– those who are in child labor, suffering from disabilities, affected by
conflicts, or excluded from education simply because they are girls.
The Education Commission proposes a strategy that fosters
empathetic, compassionate, and respectful youth leaders who can show their
peers that peace and innovation are worthy alternatives to fundamentalism and
extremism. And, because education is ultimately a public good furnished by
states, we advise governments to increase their investment in schools, either
with domestic resources, international support, or private-sector partnerships.
The Education Commission’s report was presented to UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at this month’s UN General Assembly summit, and
we hope that world leaders will take notice and begin to translate its
recommendations into action.
A childhood without education isn’t a childhood at all, and
every youth who is out of school is one too many. We must act urgently to
provide universal primary education by 2030. Creating a “learning generation”
is a moral responsibility we all share – and a legacy all subsequent generations
will carry on if we can just take the first, crucial steps.
