Alliance for Responsible Trade

Background

At the Second Summit of the Americas, in Santiago, Chile in 1998, the heads of state endorsed an action plan on the measures that should be carried out to ensure increased access to education and success in school, the elimination of illiteracy and a drastic reduction in inequality. We appreciate the inclusion of this issue, as public education should be at the center of the people's development and that of their communities, but we observe that the investments actually made in education do not even fulfill the commitments agreed to at the Summit, which themselves are insufficient to resolve existing problems. We also disagree with the general orientation of the action plan.

There are nearly 50 million illiterate people in our hemisphere, the majority of whom are women. The vast majority of the indigenous population does not have access to education that respects their language and culture. Many millions of children live in poverty and misery and must work under inhumane conditions to survive. In Latin America and the Caribbean, one child in 20 does not go to school and 35 percent do not pass the fifth year of primary school. These inequalities persist and are even increasing in spite of the growth in access to education in some countries, since that growth has often not been accompanied by the needed improvements in the quality of education.

Over the past few years, neoliberal policies have had dramatic impacts on education. In many places, the application of a mercantilist model has lead to greater explicit or disguised privatization. The privatization of education has not always been explicit in the sense of canceling public education; many times it has been carried out indirectly by not increasing the supply of public education, so that, in fact, many people are compelled to seek private education or do without it. On the other hand, education has become stripped of its fundamental premises, so that such words as "clients, products, competition, and yield" become key words in a dangerous plan for the future of public education.

The ministers of education in the Americas already work within a framework of hemispheric integration. They are developing Pan-American indicators on education, tools to measure the quality of education, and mechanisms to recognize competencies in order to favor mobility throughout the hemisphere of teachers and specialized workers. There are also numerous pressures by certain groups and countries to treat education as a commodity that would then be included in agreements on the liberalization of services such as the FTAA and the WTO.

We believe that it is both possible and necessary to act in a better and different manner, and that a change of course is imperative.

Guiding Principles

1. Education is not a commodity; it is a right. It is a universal and fundamental social right of persons and peoples that should be ensured through publicly funded services and should be the responsibility of the State. It should not be made to depend on the monetary capacity to pay for it. This right includes not only basic education but also professional or technical training.

   Education is also a fundamental element in the formation of culture and national identity. Therefore every nation should have, without foreign interference, complete sovereignty on matters related to education.

2. These considerations lead us to conclude that education should be excluded from agreements on the liberalization of trade in services, at both the hemispheric and global levels.

3. Public education should be free and fully accessible in all areas and throughout people's lifetimes. Adults' right to education should be guaranteed, whether offered in schools or in popular organizations. The creation of a culture of education throughout a person's lifetime should multiply the opportunities for learning in their lives and work.

4. International financial assistance should be provided to ensure the right to education for all of the population in developing countries and to radically reduce the educational deficit in many parts of the hemisphere. It is therefore imperative that richer countries and international organizations cancel many countries' illegitimate foreign debts, end structural adjustment policies, increase unconditional development assistance and adopt a tax on financial transactions.

5. Any agreement on education should ensure respect for and make binding all declarations, pacts and agreements that have been signed on these issues, particularly the United Nations Agreement on the Rights of the Child, above all that which refers to the elimination of child labor.

6. Higher education should respect academic freedom and institutional autonomy and ensure that research serves the development of society and is not subordinated to the needs and impositions of private firms.

7. All educational systems should ensure that teachers and other education personnel receive salaries and working conditions that allow them to dedicate themselves to high quality education for all. They should also receive solid initial training and additional opportunities to keep their knowledge and skills up to date.

8. Education should contribute to the formation of free and critical persons, active and committed citizens, respectful of diversity and human rights, open to the world and concerned about the planet's future and about sustainable development. It should be a tool for social justice that promotes equality among women and men, whatever their ethnic origin.

9. Special attention should be devoted to teaching in rural areas and respect for rural peoples' culture. In addition, disabled students or those with learning difficulties, street children, working or itinerant children and children who were victims of war should have access to special services to ensure their education.

10. Autonomous nations and indigenous peoples should have control over their educational institutions in order to ensure respect for and development of their language, culture and heritage.

11. Schools and classrooms should respect health and safety standards that ensure adequate protection of staff and students and offer quality services.

12. The utilization of new information and communications technologies for educational purposes should respond to the needs and priorities of local communities and not to commercial interests.

13. The management of educational institutions should be based on the participation of staff, students and the community as a whole. Education staff should have access to solid initial training and continuing education, as well as good working conditions.

Specific Objectives

1. Ensure quality education for all peoples throughout their lifetimes. Toward that end, governments should ensure adequate and fair funding for public education, equivalent to at least 8 percent of GDP.

2. Respect all declarations, pacts and conventions signed by governments, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, above all those related to the elimination of child labor.

3. Ensure equal and free access to all levels of education, including higher education.

4. Provide a three-year investment plan based on precise objectives for literacy, school attendance, increases in access and academic success and on objectives for the reduction of inequalities, with special attention on the situation of girls and women.

5. Improve services to the youngest children, particularly health services, educational day-care centers, and making preschools for children 4 and 5 years old both compulsory and free of charge.

6. Implement all necessary measures to teach children and undereducated adults to read and write, in close collaboration with educational organizations and unions.

7. Ensure that educational reforms respond to peoples' needs and those of disadvantaged sectors and that they are agreed to with the participation of unions and the people most affected by the proposed change.