1. Access to Quality Education: The Need of the Hour!
Srimayee Dam
As we look beyond the 2015 MDGs Agenda on ‘the basic right to primary
education for every child’, the shift is much determined by the quality of education offered at schools and
academic institutions. The governing bodies find it as a major concern when there are not enough
investments and partnerships on educational programs, resulting in unequal education for all. Such is the
trajectory towards under-development, where increased enrollment rates in schools and colleges do not
ensure ‘learning’ and/or academic success for students and children. The difference in learning
experiences for students at the primary level is due to lack of ‘quality education’!
The Article 26 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights described quality education as “the
one which provides individuals and their societies with the ability to develop and thrive personally,
socially, politically and culturally; that develops the learner’s personality, talents and mental and physical
abilities to their fullest; and is geared towards the strengthening of citizenship, human dignity and a
culture of peace.” The 3 key elements/aspects are: well-trained teachers, and participatory teaching
methods and technologies; comprehensive and inclusive learning curriculum; and adequate learning
environment to include resources, facilities and infrastructure.
The 2013 MDGs and Beyond 2015 Factsheet noted that about 250 million children are unable to read,
write and count, even after having enrolled in schools; It stated “going to school is not enough; improving
learning is critical.” More so, the early school leaving rate for primary goers
remain at the same level as in 2000. The initiative on Education First proposed by the UN General
Secretary Ban Ki-Moon aims to promote school lesson plans that go beyond improving cognitive skills of
primary students; they should be encouraged to analyze real-life issues, think about solutions and execute
them. They need an environment conducive for transformative teaching; to enable trainers to improve
their teaching skills, and help learners think and respond critically.
The emerging post-2015 education development trends are likely to be affected by issues as: financing for
primary education and government accountability towards early-school curriculum planning; introducing
competency-based curriculum; greater focus on trained and qualified teachers, and on the pupil-to-teacher

2. ratio; increased efforts on providing free and public education, and abolishing of school fees.
So much so, the future of learning will be shaped by the application of
ICTs in areas of teaching and education management which will not only reduce the digital gap, but will
also bring in better outcomes for life-long learning.