THE PRICE OF SCHOOL FEES
	As countries are calling a halt to school fees, millions more children are exercising their right to education. But after securing a place in school, how much are these children learning in overcrowded classrooms? Focus, a four-page dossier, looks at the trade-off between access and quality.

EDITO Helping countries achieve education for all is the top priority for UNESCO. Although the action framework developed at the Dakar Forum on Education for All held in 2000 guides our current activity, the aspiration of providing education for everyone is in the UNESCO constitution of 1946. Another cornerstone of our work is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, which states that ‘education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages’ adding that education at this level should be compulsory. UNESCO has always followed this injunction. In the 1990s some of our partners flirted with the idea of creating a market and charging fees for primary education, but all have now returned to the principle of free education at this level. Sadly, the reality is that direct or indirect fees are still widespread, even in countries that have legislated against them.

Fortunately, the Fast-Track Initiative through which countries can access external help for achieving universal primary completion provides a mechanism for addressing the issue. Not surprisingly, countries like Kenya, Malawi and Uganda that have abolished fees in a determined manner have seen dramatic increases in enrolment. This obviously creates an immediate challenge. More attention is now being paid to managing in an orderly manner the consequences of abolishing fees. UNESCO believes that it is better to uphold the principle of free primary education and to address energetically the quality challenge posed by an enrolment surge than to ration access to school through fees.

The unity of view on this issue between UNESCO and the World Bank is most encouraging, as is the close collaboration between our two agencies in designing and implementing the Fast-Track Initiative. This teamwork is just one example of the success we are achieving together in the vital drive towards Education for All.

By the time you read this I will have moved to Vancouver, Canada, to takup exciting new responsibilities as President and CEO of the Commonwealth of Learning, an agency that helps the fifty-four Commonwealth countries to develop policies, systems and applications for using open and distance learning. I take this opportunity to thank all readers of Education Today for their support and extend to you all my very best wishes.


John Daniel
Former Assistant Director-General for Education