B.9 - Full and satisfying youth

B.9 - Full and satisfying youth
Invest in youth, through specific public policies and differentiated access, especially through the provision, without discrimination, of universal, free, public, secular, high-quality, intercultural education in order to ensure that this stage of life is full and satisfactory, to enable them to develop as autonomous individuals with a sense of responsibility and solidarity and with the ability to tackle creatively the challenges of the twenty-first century.
Priority measure number
9

Comments

This priority measure contains several points that are complicated to measure in detail (i.e. by establishment), such as the secular, intercultural and non-discriminatory nature of education and its quality. For the moment, specific measurement of these points remains an unresolved challenge. Whatever measurement method is chosen, the indicators should be disaggregated by age, sex, area of residence, socioeconomic level and ethnicity.

Possible lines of action

1. Guarantee universal coverage of free, secular, intercultural and non-discriminatory public education, ensuring all the resources this implies. 2. Institute comprehensive programmes of support for public education designed to boost its quality, ensure it is secular and intercultural, and promote retention at all levels. 3. Improve school management at all levels, from the ministry or secretariat to the classroom. 4. Update school education, incorporating the progress of the technological revolution. 5. Facilitate access to information and communications technologies (ICTs) for general school performance by students. 6. Take advantage of new technologies to improve teaching and learning. 7. Update school curricula. 8. Promote good learning practices in classrooms on the basis of comparative international experience, considering the specific features of each national and subnational situation. 9. Improve teacher training. 10. Improve working conditions for teachers. 11. Attract the highest skilled to the teaching profession. 12. Introduce systems for monitoring and evaluating the coverage and quality of education.

Related instruments, forums and mechanisms

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 26.

Ibero-American Convention on the rights of youth, article 22 (“Right to Education”).

Sustainable Development Goals, targets 4.1, 4.2 and 4 .3 (cited above under priority measure 7).

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has an accountability mechanism, the Universal Periodic Review, based on reports from countries and rapporteurs. The Convention on the Rights of the Child and its accountability mechanism could also be important, as noted under priority measure 7, although in this case the most relevant provision is article 28 on the right to education. Because it deals with education issues, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has an obvious role in promoting and monitoring this priority measure. The Organization of Iberoamerican States for Education, Science and Culture has established a set of targets in this area for 2021 (see [online] http://www.oei.es/metas2021.pdf).

Topic
B. Girls, boys, adolescents and youth