Global Education

Global education is a fairly new phenomenon in large part driven by the human rights movements of the 50s and 60s and the resultant pressure brought to bear upon governments bodies by international agencies. Not only is global education historically new but the standards of education required to achieve globally acceptable standards for entry into university for example, has been rising steadily.

Global education isn’t just a luxury or a privilege; it is increasingly the minimum requirement for survival in a technological age. For many cultures, historically education has been about passing along tribal trades and skills and cultural values and beliefs. As the world becomes more of a global village and these values become more diverse and intertwined, defining global education along these lines becomes more difficult.

Nowadays global education is primarily focused upon the universal requirements needed to cope in an internet era. As such, many countries offer free basic computing skills to all citizens as a requirement of coping in today’s world. This occurs in much the same way today that basic phonics and maths were once pivotal to one’s survival in work and at home.

But even global education of the basics is a relatively new concept. In fact global education of all children in literacy has only occurred in many countries after 1850 CE. Even today, in some parts of the world literacy rates have not managed to top 60% of the population.  Despite those figures some kind of education is compulsory to all people in most countries today. Due to population growth and the proliferation of compulsory education, UNESCO has calculated that in the next 30 years more people will receive formal education than in all of human history to date. That calls to mind some interesting global education facts from UNESCO:

Global Education Facts

• Data for 53 developing countries show that, from 2001 to 2008, the net primary enrolment rates increased the fastest in Burundi (up more than 9 percent on an average annual basis) and decreased the most in Equatorial Guinea (down an annual average 4.1 percent).  Burundi’s hyper growth of this indicator was hardly unique as four other Sub-Saharan African countries also posted increases exceeding seven percent at an annual average rate.  
• The most common experiences in 53 developing countries are either a modest increase (defined as annual improvement of at least 0.1 percent, but less than 1.0 percent) or a strong increase (annual rise of at least 1.0 percent but less than 4.0 percent). 
• In absolute numbers, the capacity of the world’s education systems has more than doubled in almost 43 years.
• In 1970, there were 415 million students enrolled in primary education compared to 696 million students in 2008.
• The number of secondary education students rose from 195 million in 1970 to 526 million in 2008.
• The number of tertiary students increased by six times over the same period as above, from 32 million to 159 million students in 2008.
• Studies find that 100 million girls currently enrolled in school will drop out before completing primary schooling.  Providing girls with one extra year of education beyond the average can boost wages by up to 20% and reduce infant mortality by 5-10%.
• Educated girls and women are less vulnerable to HIV infection, human trafficking and other forms of exploitation, are more likely to marry later, raise fewer children who are more likely to go to school, and make important contributions to family income.
• There has been considerable growth in educational opportunities and literacy levels over the past 40 years – particularly since the World Conference on Education held in Dakar in 2000. Participation has increased, especially at higher levels of education, and the number of girls in school has been growing – often faster than the number of boys.