austraLasia 1137
Samoa: Don Bosco and 'education for all'
APIA: 20th may 2005 -- The principal of Don Bosco Technical and Vocational Training Centre at Alafua, Samoa, Fr Mosese Vitolio Tui SDB, recently represented the Centre at the Pacific EFA Conference held in Nadi, Fiji.
Education for All is a UNESCO supported project coordinated globally. The challenge is education for all, especially for indigenous peoples, by 2015.
Member forums commit themselves to certain goals to be achieved locally: expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged; ensuring that children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities have access to and can complete free and compulsory primary education of quality; equitable access to appropriate learning and like skills; 50% improvement in levels of adult literacy; gender equality in education; achievement of recognisable learning outcomes especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.
In the case of Samoa, Fr Mosese was invited by the Samoan Ministry of Education, Sports and Recreation to represent the Samoa Forum at the meeting.
EFA Week was celebrated worldwide from 24-30 April. The Nadi Conference was part of this. A special worldwide campaign for the week was entitled 'Send my friend to school'. As a result, worldwide, 100,000 friends were made and 3,000 politicians went "Back to School"!
No doubt Salesians elsewhere in the world, so closely involved with grassroots education, took part in similar events. For further information on EFA see the following URL:http://www.unesco.org/education/efa/index.shtml
VOCABULARY
EFA: Education For All
UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
forum: a meeting or group of people who meet to discuss
equitable access: a term used by governments to indicate that all (children) whatever background or circumstances can benefit from the same educational opportunities
gender equality: as above but to ensure that females as well as males have equal opportunity.
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