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Rapporteur on Right to Education ends visit to Paraguay
22 April 2009
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22 April 2009
ASUNCION/GENEVA – At the end of his official visit to Paraguay, from 14 to 22 April 2009, the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, Vernor Muñoz Villalobos, released the following press statement:
The Special Rapporteur thanks the authorities for their invitation to visit the country, including the cities of Asunción y Ciudad del Este, as well as the departments of Presidente Hayes and Central. He was honoured to meet with the Ministers for Foreign Affairs, Education, Women, Children and the General Secretary for the President, as well as the Ombudsman, the National Council for Education and Culture, the Commission for Bilingualism, the President of the Senate Education Commission and other national and local authorities.
In more than 60 meetings, the Special Rapporteur met also more than 300 persons from civil society, including indigenous leaders, teachers, students, parents, teacher organizations and representatives of UN agencies. He had the opportunity to visit primary, secondary and evening schools as well as the National University at Asunción, a prison and NGO projects working on formal and informal education, as well as other related public institutions such as “PRIOME” and “ABRAZOS”. He would like to thank the Government for ensuring his ability to meet with all relevant authorities.
His visit allowed the Special Rapporteur to observe the progress made in school attendance rates and in budgetary allocations to education which in the 1990s were barkly 1.9% of GDP and have recently been over 4%. He also observed progress in eliminating gender stereotypes from textbooks and in mobilizing civil society, which often complement the role of the State in fulfilling its obligations.
The Special Rapporteur welcomes the honesty of the authorities concerning the challenged faced by the country with regard to education. The authorities acknowledged problems such as high repetition rates in primary school (30%), low rates of completion of secondary education (27%) and the neglect suffered by the inhabitants of rural areas and indigenous communities in almost all development issues. The Special Rapporteur is particularly concerned about illiteracy rates among indigenous persons over 15 years which reach 40%.
The Special Rapporteur also observed the existence of many important initiatives, such as the national literacy campaign, the establishment of departments for inclusive education and indigenous education, as well as of a unit for social monitoring and policy planning and above all the revitalizing of the Social Cabinet which will be essential to ensure that education policies are coordinated with other sectors.
Political changes over the last year have become a window of opportunities for education. To ensure they are seized, Congress must allocate a growing budget to education. The Special Rapporteur recalls the national and international legal obligation of the State to increase progressively investment in education to the maximum level of available resources. He recommends that the education budget be increased annually by 0.5% of GDP until it reaches the 6% recommended internationally.
It is necessary to build a national consensus on education that can last beyond Government changes. Educational problems must not be subject to party politics and it is urgent to ensure education is accepted as a national priority, allocating the necessary budget beyond the resources needed to pay teacher salaries. The education system requires necessary resources to address its problems with regard to infrastructure, safe drinking water, school meals, educational materials that reflect cultural diversity, teacher’s training and all the affirmative action measures needed to ensure the poorest can access and stay successfully in school.
Administrative restructuring will not by itself resolve social problems, leading the Special Rapporteur to emphasize the central role that education must play in the fight against poverty. Rural schools cannot improve if uncontrolled use of toxic agricultural products in the communities where schools are located does not cease, nor can school exclusion be dealt with without programmes to ensure community development and access to health services and adequate food. Schools are not isolated from their socio cultural context and the Special Rapporteur has observed that those excluded from education continue to be primarily indigenous and rural communities, as well as marginalized urban populations.
The fight against all forms of discrimination must be the underlying principle for today’s education. Some of the more dramatic discrimination forms observed by the Special Rapporteur, which deny educational opportunities to over a million boys and girls are child labour, including “criadazgo” (children working as domestic workers with a family in exchange for food, housing and education). A sustained and consistent educational policy is needed to address their plight.
Education is still not fully free in the country, as some of the State’s obligations have been delegated to the poorest families which must often pay for the building of schools, fees for exams and school materials, transportation, uniforms and related expenses.
In addition, problems concerning teacher qualifications which have been detected recently reflect the need to strengthen teacher training institutions and universities, starting with the design and implementation of a public policy on research and teaching that can update the knowledge base on education.
The disconnection between universities and the rest of the education system does not help address such problems. Teaching in high-risk schools must be rendered more attractive, so as to ensure better qualified teachers are available in the areas with the worse social, economic and cultural levels.
As for pedagogical challenges facing Paraguay, the Special Rapporteur believes essential the adoption of urgent measures to rescue and develop the Guaraní language which, in spite of being a national language spoken by more than 80% of the population, and of the existing plans for its learning in the education system, in practice continues to be considered a secondary issue. The Special Rapporteur believes that improving Guaraní language education processes and pedagogical tools would have a positive impact in the cognitive capacity development of students. Paraguay is the only genuinely bilingual country in Latin America, and Guaraní is the main cultural treasure the country has. Yet, it is obvious that such a beautiful ancient language is often shyly hidden among young people and relegated by teachers, in spite of its constitutional protection.
The Special Rapporteur insists on the need to formulate and effective implement a new approach to non-religious education based on knowledge and experience of human rights. For example, there is a need to develop a programme of sex education that can counter sexual and gender violence and facilitate the development of relationships among young people based on respect and equality.
The pedagogical model must also be inclusive, which requires strengthening measures to provide real opportunities for persons with disabilities to participation in the normal education system. The majority of children with disabilities continue hidden at home, sentenced to a life without opportunities.
The Special Rapporteur applauds the decision to launch a national literacy campaign as a governing plan for the entire social sector. The campaign should, however, make indigenous peoples its principal subject. To ensure the sustainability of the campaign’s results, it must be linked to life-long education, with the work of schools and emphasizing a gender approach.
The report on the visit of the Special Rapporteur will be submitted and examined by the Human Rights Council in Geneva in 2010.
-------------------------
The Special Rapporteur is an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to assist States and others in the promotion and protection of the right to education.
To obtain more information on the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, as well as copies of his reports, please consult the website of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights at ( http://www.ohchr.org) and (http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/education/rapporteur/index.htm )
ASUNCION/GENEVA – At the end of his official visit to Paraguay, from 14 to 22 April 2009, the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, Vernor Muñoz Villalobos, released the following press statement:
The Special Rapporteur thanks the authorities for their invitation to visit the country, including the cities of Asunción y Ciudad del Este, as well as the departments of Presidente Hayes and Central. He was honoured to meet with the Ministers for Foreign Affairs, Education, Women, Children and the General Secretary for the President, as well as the Ombudsman, the National Council for Education and Culture, the Commission for Bilingualism, the President of the Senate Education Commission and other national and local authorities.
In more than 60 meetings, the Special Rapporteur met also more than 300 persons from civil society, including indigenous leaders, teachers, students, parents, teacher organizations and representatives of UN agencies. He had the opportunity to visit primary, secondary and evening schools as well as the National University at Asunción, a prison and NGO projects working on formal and informal education, as well as other related public institutions such as “PRIOME” and “ABRAZOS”. He would like to thank the Government for ensuring his ability to meet with all relevant authorities.
His visit allowed the Special Rapporteur to observe the progress made in school attendance rates and in budgetary allocations to education which in the 1990s were barkly 1.9% of GDP and have recently been over 4%. He also observed progress in eliminating gender stereotypes from textbooks and in mobilizing civil society, which often complement the role of the State in fulfilling its obligations.
The Special Rapporteur welcomes the honesty of the authorities concerning the challenged faced by the country with regard to education. The authorities acknowledged problems such as high repetition rates in primary school (30%), low rates of completion of secondary education (27%) and the neglect suffered by the inhabitants of rural areas and indigenous communities in almost all development issues. The Special Rapporteur is particularly concerned about illiteracy rates among indigenous persons over 15 years which reach 40%.
The Special Rapporteur also observed the existence of many important initiatives, such as the national literacy campaign, the establishment of departments for inclusive education and indigenous education, as well as of a unit for social monitoring and policy planning and above all the revitalizing of the Social Cabinet which will be essential to ensure that education policies are coordinated with other sectors.
Political changes over the last year have become a window of opportunities for education. To ensure they are seized, Congress must allocate a growing budget to education. The Special Rapporteur recalls the national and international legal obligation of the State to increase progressively investment in education to the maximum level of available resources. He recommends that the education budget be increased annually by 0.5% of GDP until it reaches the 6% recommended internationally.
It is necessary to build a national consensus on education that can last beyond Government changes. Educational problems must not be subject to party politics and it is urgent to ensure education is accepted as a national priority, allocating the necessary budget beyond the resources needed to pay teacher salaries. The education system requires necessary resources to address its problems with regard to infrastructure, safe drinking water, school meals, educational materials that reflect cultural diversity, teacher’s training and all the affirmative action measures needed to ensure the poorest can access and stay successfully in school.
Administrative restructuring will not by itself resolve social problems, leading the Special Rapporteur to emphasize the central role that education must play in the fight against poverty. Rural schools cannot improve if uncontrolled use of toxic agricultural products in the communities where schools are located does not cease, nor can school exclusion be dealt with without programmes to ensure community development and access to health services and adequate food. Schools are not isolated from their socio cultural context and the Special Rapporteur has observed that those excluded from education continue to be primarily indigenous and rural communities, as well as marginalized urban populations.
The fight against all forms of discrimination must be the underlying principle for today’s education. Some of the more dramatic discrimination forms observed by the Special Rapporteur, which deny educational opportunities to over a million boys and girls are child labour, including “criadazgo” (children working as domestic workers with a family in exchange for food, housing and education). A sustained and consistent educational policy is needed to address their plight.
Education is still not fully free in the country, as some of the State’s obligations have been delegated to the poorest families which must often pay for the building of schools, fees for exams and school materials, transportation, uniforms and related expenses.
In addition, problems concerning teacher qualifications which have been detected recently reflect the need to strengthen teacher training institutions and universities, starting with the design and implementation of a public policy on research and teaching that can update the knowledge base on education.
The disconnection between universities and the rest of the education system does not help address such problems. Teaching in high-risk schools must be rendered more attractive, so as to ensure better qualified teachers are available in the areas with the worse social, economic and cultural levels.
As for pedagogical challenges facing Paraguay, the Special Rapporteur believes essential the adoption of urgent measures to rescue and develop the Guaraní language which, in spite of being a national language spoken by more than 80% of the population, and of the existing plans for its learning in the education system, in practice continues to be considered a secondary issue. The Special Rapporteur believes that improving Guaraní language education processes and pedagogical tools would have a positive impact in the cognitive capacity development of students. Paraguay is the only genuinely bilingual country in Latin America, and Guaraní is the main cultural treasure the country has. Yet, it is obvious that such a beautiful ancient language is often shyly hidden among young people and relegated by teachers, in spite of its constitutional protection.
The Special Rapporteur insists on the need to formulate and effective implement a new approach to non-religious education based on knowledge and experience of human rights. For example, there is a need to develop a programme of sex education that can counter sexual and gender violence and facilitate the development of relationships among young people based on respect and equality.
The pedagogical model must also be inclusive, which requires strengthening measures to provide real opportunities for persons with disabilities to participation in the normal education system. The majority of children with disabilities continue hidden at home, sentenced to a life without opportunities.
The Special Rapporteur applauds the decision to launch a national literacy campaign as a governing plan for the entire social sector. The campaign should, however, make indigenous peoples its principal subject. To ensure the sustainability of the campaign’s results, it must be linked to life-long education, with the work of schools and emphasizing a gender approach.
The report on the visit of the Special Rapporteur will be submitted and examined by the Human Rights Council in Geneva in 2010.
-------------------------
The Special Rapporteur is an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to assist States and others in the promotion and protection of the right to education.
To obtain more information on the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, as well as copies of his reports, please consult the website of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights at ( http://www.ohchr.org) and (http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/education/rapporteur/index.htm )