I would like to invite you to join our new discussion list on `Education Rights and Realities.' Learningchannel.org (www.learningchannel.org), a global online education initiative of OneWorld South Asia has just launched this email and web-based discussion forum in partnership with the Global Campaign for Education, (www.campaignforeducation.org) a coalition of civil society organisations campaigning for free and quality education.

How to join?
Joining this discussion list is very easy! Just visit the Join page::
(http://www.dgroups.org/groups/right2education/index.cfm?op=dsp_join) of this forum and submit your email address OR, Send a blank email to: [email protected]

What do we want to achieve?

This forum focuses on the right to free, good quality education as it has been defined by successive international conventions and commitments, most recently the six Education for All (EFA) goals agreed by 155 governments at the World Education Forum in April 2000.

Participants are invited to exchange views on specific practical and political obstacles to making this right a reality, and how such obstacles can be overcome.

The six EFA goals include:
· Gender parity in parity in primary and secondary education by 2005 · Universal completion of free primary education by 2015 · A 50 percent reduction in adult illiteracy by 2015 · Measurable improvements in learning achievements and quality · Expanded early childhood development and care · Expanded life skills programmes.

Recent evidence shows that some 88 countries are at risk of failing to meet at least one of the first three time-bound goals.

What will we discuss?

The discussion will centre on some of key and practical issues and challenges we face in making the right to education, a reality. These will include discussions on:

Ø Public/Private debate in education Ø AIDS and education -the challenges and solutions Ø Gender parity in education opportunities - an achievable goal?
Ø Do ICTs have a role in delivering education?
Ø And more.

The list will deal with these broad issues and much more. To have an idea of some of the issues that this discussion will address, check out these resources on Learningchannel.org.

Discussion schedule The discussions will run for six months initially, starting September
2003.
Future themes for discussion will be announced subsequently in the forum.

Language and postings:

The main language of the forum is English. However, members are welcome to post in English, French or Spanish. We will provide brief summaries in English of postings in French and Spanish. Regrettably, due to our limited pilot budget, we cannot translate the English items into French or Spanish.
We apologize for the restrictions this places on non-Anglophone participants. If the pilot phase is successful, we will seek additional funding to make it a truly tri-lingual discussion.

Who should sign up?
This is an open debate, so anyone can join. We especially invite education practitioners, activists, planners, teachers and students to take this opportunity to have their say. So sign up for the discussion and make your voice heard!

Contact us Hassen Lorgat of the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) will moderate the list. If you face any subscription problem, please contact Hassen at [email protected] or Geeta Sharma, Editor, LearningChannel.org at [email protected] About Us:

About Global Campaign for Education: GCE (www.campaignforeducation.org) is a coalition of civil society organisations that promotes education as a basic human right and mobilizes public pressure on governments and the international community to fulfill their promises in this regard.

About Learningchannel.org: LearningChannel.org (www.learningchannel.org) is OneWorld South Asia's global portal on education that networks more than 500 civil society organisations worldwide working on issues surrounding education. The channel showcases how education is the key to sustainable development.

Geeta Sharma Editor,
LearningChannel.org
www.learningchannel.org
OneWorld South Asia
New Delhi,
India
Ph/Fx: +91 11 26612008/26532430
email: [email protected]
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