brochure PPP
7/09/09
16:23
Page 32
E D U C AT I O N I N T E R N AT I O N A L
Box 6: The Aims of education from the convention on the rights of the child, article 29 (1) (1989) 1. States Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to: (a) The development of the child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential;
(b) The development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations;
(c) The development of respect for the child’s parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values, for the national values of the country in which the child is living, the country from which he or she may originate, and for civilizations different from his or her own;
(d) The preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin;
(e) The development of respect for the natural environment.
41. However, there is a growing trend towards measuring quality with international comparisons based on standardized indicators (Carnoy, in Nordtveit, 2005a: 51). The use of such indicators places increased emphasis on national performance levels in reading, math and science curricula, at the primary and secondary levels of schooling. Analysing the education systems in a number of countries, the Norwegian education researcher Alfred Telhaug identified a common tendency which prevailed during the 1980s. Although Japan, China, Germany, Great Britain, the USA, Russia and the Scandinavian countries differ greatly in their history, culture and political systems, there is, according to Telhaug, a common tendency to shift the focus from ‘child-centred’ to ‘economy-centred’ (Nordtveit, 2005a).
32
42. While EI recognizes the importance of education for the economic development of communities and the economic success of individuals, we believe that the primary focus of teachers remains the full development of each child or young person. This will be the basis for our evaluation of the impact of PPPs on equity of access and the quality of education.