UNESCO's "Early Childhood Care and Education" is a United Nation's Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization that advocates for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programs that attend to health, nutrition, security and learning which will provide for children's development.
One of the news' articles on UNESCO's website I chose to explore was "Every child has the right to education!" The Convention on the Rights of the Child observed its 20th anniversary on November 20, 2010. With this convention, states have legal obligations to ensure the right to education in their constitution and laws and take steps to improve education policies and strategies to give it effect.
On the 20th anniversary of the Convention, the biggest challenge was to eliminate disparities in education and ensure that the core obligations of states regarding the right to education remain in the forefront for pushing the education for All agenda forward.
Here is a statement in the article I would like to share that was related to issues and trends: excellence and the equity of care and education for children and families:
"The right to education is not only a human right in itself but also essential for the exercise of all human rights."
For additional information, visit the UNESCO's Early Childhood Care and Education website:
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/
Hi Carol,
ReplyDeleteI hope this doesn't feel too off topic. Since you mentioned The Convention on the Rights of the Child, did you know that the U.S. has not ratified this convention? When I wondered why, a friend of mine shared the following website with me and I wanted to share it with you and get your thoughts on it. The website is called ParentalRights.org - http://parentalrights.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC. According to Parental Rights, "This treaty poses a serious threat both to parental rights and to U.S. sovereignty, as the UNCRC dictates not only that the federal government must intrude into the family sphere to an unprecedented degree, but also how the federal government is to monitor and govern the actions of our families. Parental rights would be replaced by "the best interests of the child" as defined, ultimately, by an international committee of 18 people in Switzerland." Interesting to hear another side of this issue.
Carol,
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to hear that there was a convention to ensure that states have obligations to educate all. Somehow though it seems that we are falling short of this. We still have children who need programs and are not receiving the help the help they need. Maybe this has to do with some things that Masha mentioned above about the US not ratifying the convention.
Carol,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the article and I the information very important. Everyone does deserve an education and it is good to hear that UNESCO is saying it is an obligation. What progress have they made?
Hi Carol,
ReplyDeleteI very much enjoyed and appreciated your blog posting this week. It is very exciting to read about an organization promoting states legal obligations to the field of Early Childhood Education. I see you mentioned this was the 20th anniversary as well. Do have any idea if the attendance has increased significantly over the years?
Carol,
ReplyDeleteYou make excellent points in your blog this week. I think ensuring quality education is so important and should certainly be true for ECE as well. One of the ways the government has tried to do this is with the Universal PreK program...free 1/2 day prek for all children. However, many school districts have chosen not to use that money and those children are not given an alternative free program.