A two day-long South Asia Civil Society Consultation prior to 2nd Ministerial Meeting of South Asia EFA Forum in Bangladesh on Reaching the Un-reached through Decentralization was held on 11-12 December 2009 at Hotel Sheraton, Dhaka. The consultation was jointly organized by CAMPE, Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE) and Global Campaign for Education(GCE). Civil Society Representatives from 6 South Asian countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka participated in the consultation. Ms. Rasheda K. Choudhury, Executive Director, CAMPE welcomed all the participants and briefly described the background and objectives of the consultation. A Charter of Demands was formulated in consultation in a participatory process for the 2nd Ministerial Meeting of South Asia EFA Forum. Mr. Bernie Lovegrove, CSEF Regional Coordinator, ASPBAE, Australia, Ms. Kjersti Mowé, Acting Project Manager, GCE, South Africa, Mohammad Muntasim Tanvir, South Asia Advocacy and Campaign Coordinator, ASPBAE, S A Hasan Al Farooque, CSEF Regional Coordinator, ASPBAE, Ms. Tasneem Athar, Deputy Director, CAMPE, and K. M. Enamul Hoque, Program Manager, CAMPE were also present in the consultation.

Charter of Demands

South Asia Civil Society Charter on EFA
On the eve of the 2nd Ministerial Meeting of South Asia EFA Forum 2009
'Reaching the Un-reached with a Focus on Decentralisation'
Dhaka – December, 2009
 

Preamble
We the representatives of civil society and education coalitions of South Asia - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have come together in Dhaka, Bangladesh from December 11-12, 2009 to uphold and strengthen our commitment to ensure Education For All in our countries.

While there has been some success on the road to EFA goals, there still remain huge gaps due to the immensity of the challenges. We urge that the Ministerial Meeting of the South Asia EFA Forum will seriously consider the following demands for inclusion in the Dhaka Declaration, that have come up from the multi-stakeholder constituencies represented by the participating organizations.

1. Full Inclusion and Access to Free, Quality Basic Education

• Quality education must ensure the acquisition of age-specific and developmentally appropriate skills, abilities and knowledge.

• Governments should focus on reducing drop-out rates, especially of female students and ensure completion of the full learning cycle.

• All South Asian countries shall commit to take new and bold steps to ensure that all people and groups currently unreached have access to quality basic education. Those not adequately reached include women and girls, indigenous groups, nomads, minority groups, people with disabilities, low caste groups, street children, rural and urban poor, those living in remote areas and in conflict and disaster prone areas, and others who are excluded due to various socio-political and economic reasons. All these groups and peoples have a right to basic education that is responsive to their unique and special needs. The respective Governments need to ensure that education is made available to them and is easily accessible.

• Literacy and basic education for youth and adults need to be provided and set within a life-long learning framework that provides opportunities and pathways from basic literacy to ongoing learning.
   

2. Right to Education Focusing on Policies and Financing

• All South Asian countries shall commit to guarantee through legislation that no citizen is excluded from quality basic education. An example is the Right to Education Act in India. The responsibility for education lies with the government, specifically the ministry of education. Attempts to shift this responsibility through privatisation of basic education should be discouraged.

• There needs to be policy coherence between various government ministries (for example, education policy should address disaster issues and disaster risk reduction policies should include education plans).

• Clear, measurable, time-bound and integrated implementation plans need to be developed for every education related policy.

• All South Asian countries shall by end 2010 calculate the full cost of achieving quality Education For All by 2015. This should include adequate allocations for professional teachers, integration of teacher training with teaching practice in appropriate learning environments, infrastructure, teaching-learning processes, the learning and reading materials, and all other quality learning inputs.

• Education should be made the top budgetary priority. Governments should commit to make all possible efforts to systematically increase education spending to reach a minimum of 6% of GDP or allocate at least 20% of national budget for education, as committed in the Dakar Declaration and other global forums. Given that adult illiteracy in this sub-region is the highest in the world, South Asian governments should also commit to allocate at least 6% of the education budget to adult education, including TVET by 2010, half of which should be earmarked for literacy initiatives.

• Crises (food, energy, finance, conflict or disaster) should not be used as an excuse to reduce allocations to education. Countries should sustain and increase commitment to education, acknowledging that investment in education is the best bail-out package for its citizens and to achieve EFA. Emerging areas of education (post EFA and MDG) such as disaster/climate change need to be reviewed and strategized accordingly.

• The best ‘defence’ countries could have is investment in the education of their citizens, rather than in defence.

• Bilateral and multilateral funding agencies and mechanisms (e.g. the Fast Track Initiative) in keeping with the Paris Declaration shall be negotiated by the education and finance ministries to ensure that no South Asian country fails to achieve the EFA targets for lack of resources.
   

3. Civil Society Participation in Decentralisation Processes

• To effectively translate policy into action, a strong multi-stakeholder approach is crucial. National level multi-stakeholder structures need to be convened – for example, all relevant ministries, local government, donors, CSOs including teachers, learners, unions, universities and media – to mobilize support for sustaining public education and learning. Civil society should be accorded legitimate space for participation in the policy processes to promote education in a truly collaborative manner.

• All governments should commit to the effective engagement of local governance bodies, including parents and the local community in ensuring quality basic education. National task forces for EFA should be revitalized and made more inclusive, comprising all stakeholders.
   

4. Collaboration and Learning Based on South- South Partnership

• While most initiatives focus on North-South relationships based on technical assistance and financial aid, the untapped potential of South- South partnerships and linkage is not being accorded due attention. South Asian governments should commit to strengthen the cooperative and learning partnership among the countries in the sub-region. It is essential for moving towards Education for All based on solidarity and shared learning.
   

5. Sectoral Plan beyond Project Approach

• Countries need to consider and commit to education sectoral investment plan going beyond discrete projects and sub-sectoral plans.

• Fully financed and time bound national plans must address the full EFA agenda, going beyond the focus on universal primary completion promoted by MDGs and ensuring priority to neglected goals such as ECCE, adult literacy, second chance education.
   

6. Multi-stakeholder Monitoring Mechanism

• Comprehensive multi-agency monitoring mechanisms need to be in place to ensure appropriate delivery of the commitments.

• South Asia Education Ministerial Meetings should be more frequent and should report on progress on commitments from one meeting to another, based on clear benchmarks developed and agreed to, nationally and regionally.

• The Forum should establish a South Asia Taskforce for Education, composed of a balanced number of government and civil society representatives
   

Accelerating Toward Goals and Targets
As the year for achieving the EFA goals looms nearer (2015), governments of the region cannot afford to take a ‘business as usual’ approach. Now is the time for renewed political will for decisive action. We call on the governments of the region to make firm commitments, backed by effective plans and strategies and the resources required to implement them effectively. In this way the pledge of achieving Education For All can be fulfilled.