The Global Campaign for Education

1. The Global Campaign for Education

2. United Nations Millennium Declaration • In September of 2000, World leaders gathered at the UN headquarters in New York to discuss what the UN’s role should be in the new millennium • From this declaration, the General Assembly derived eight goals aimed at raising the quality of life of people around the globe by 2015 • One of the eight goals is:

3. PRIMARY EDUCATION FOR ALL

4. There are currently 72 million children around the world who are not in school.

5. Compare that to: • The population of (your state) • Almost a ¼ of the total population of the United States- 307,000,000

6. Why aren’t they in school? Little boys washing cars for small change or shining shoes in exchange for food… little girls in search of water, hours from their home, or babysitting while their parents eke out meager livings…little people whose promise and potential are wasted away every day they are not in school.

7. With less than five years to the 2015 target date: • 72 million children are still not enrolled in primary school. • Over a third of children drop out before completing primary school and many more leave school having failed out. • There is a global shortage of teachers: 18 million teachers need to be trained and recruited by 2015. • 774 million adults have been denied an education and cannot read and write.

8. How do countries spend their money? U.N. Development Programme (UNDP), Human Development Report 1998 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), pages 30 through 37.

9. Costs to achieve universal access to basic education in all developing countries

10. Education is a fundamental right and governments have the prime responsibility for making that happen

11. An Elementary School in South Africa

12. What can we do?

13. We can join the Blue Ribbon Campaign

14. The Blue Ribbon Campaign is aiming to create awareness of the 72 million children currently out of school. We can join American students and teachers as they bring the Lesson for All curriculum into their classrooms and communities. The Blue Ribbon Campaign

15. Our teachers and students are creating links in the chain. They are joining with teachers, students and children without education and calling on politicians and policy makers to stand up for the right for a free and quality primary school education. Please include the grade, school name and location. The Blue Ribbon Campaign

16. Examples of what children may write on their blue ribbons • I am grateful for school because I can learn how to read and write! • I like school because I get to make new friends.

17. We can write to our Congressman: (find your congressman’s contact information at: www.house.gov) We are all committed to doing our part to meet the goals of the United Nations Millennium Declaration

18. We want our Congressman to support legislation that will: • Ensure that countries who pledged financial support, including the US, honor their aid commitments to basic education. • Stress the importance of improving quality education, by training and recruiting 18 million teachers by 2015. • Encourage governments to define and measure minimum learning standards. • Develop new strategies to reach hard-to-reach children. • Guarantee that children have enough to eat, in order to learn healthy habits.

19. Arguments and Facts to include in a letter • Education combats hunger. Educated women are more likely to have well nourished children. • Education saves lives. • Education helps end the cycle of poverty. • Children belong in the classroom and not working in industrial farms and sweatshops.

20. Raising our voices all over the world we believe that, together, we can make education a reality for the millions of boys and girls who remain out of school

21. Acknowledgments AFT wishes to thank Theresa Lally for her contributions. Grade 6 Teacher at Columbia Elementary School and AFT Member