ANHRE and the Jordan Coalition for Education for All Hold the Launch Conference for the 2023 Global Action Week for Education
Amman, 5 June — Participants in the launch conference of the Global Action Week for Education, held under the patronage of H.E. the Minister of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research, Dr. Azmi Mahafzah, in Amman on 5 June 2023 under the theme “Investing in a Just World: Decolonizing Education Financing Now,” recommended classifying education as an investment rather than merely a consumer expenditure. They also called on governments to increase investment in education and allocate sufficient financial resources to improve education infrastructure, provide high-quality learning opportunities, and improve teachers’ salaries.
Participants, representing members of the Jordan Coalition for Education for All, the Arab Network for Civic Education, youth activists in the field of education, and several media representatives, called for education to be recognized as a fundamental right for every individual, regardless of gender, race, or economic background.
The conference’s final statement called on the international community to reaffirm the importance of education as a fundamental right and to work toward providing fair and equal education opportunities for all. It also emphasized that education should be regarded as a key tool for achieving sustainable development, as it empowers individuals, develops their capacities, and promotes gender equality, thereby contributing to the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
The statement further stressed the need for genuine efforts to reduce education gaps, both within and between countries. Equal education opportunities should be provided for all, including vulnerable and marginalized groups and remote communities. It also called for teachers to receive the necessary support and recognition, including continuous training, professional development, improved working conditions, and better salaries, given their crucial role in achieving quality education.
Ms. Khuzama Al-Rasheed, Vice President of the Jordan Coalition for Education for All, noted that education suffers from underfunding due to World Bank recommendations to reduce social expenditures, including education and health. Accordingly, members of the Coalition agreed on several demands aimed at expanding the fiscal space allocated to education.
The Coalition called on the government to allocate at least 4–6% of GDP to education and to refrain from seeking assistance from the International Monetary Fund in determining policies related to spending on citizens’ social and economic rights. It also called on the Jordanian government not to adopt the IMF-endorsed approach of encouraging private sector investment in education, which the Coalition described as a form of commercialization of education, despite education being a human right.
The Coalition further called for maximizing available revenues by building progressive domestic tax systems, closing loopholes that facilitate tax evasion and tax avoidance by the private sector, and reducing tax exemptions under Arab and bilateral international free trade agreements. It also directed a demand to the World Bank to remove austerity measures and restrictions on public sector wages that hinder efforts to increase teachers’ salaries.
Ms. Fotouh Younes stated that Global Action Week is an annual campaign organized by the Global Campaign for Education around the world to raise awareness of the importance of providing education for all. The week’s activities were held from the end of May to June 2023. She noted that the Transforming Education Summit served as the main reference point for this year’s Global Action Week, as heads of state agreed in September 2022 to take action on financing. Activists worldwide focused on key demands aimed at increasing education spending, including action on taxation, IMF austerity policies, debt, and recognition by ministries of finance that education is an investment rather than consumption.
The 2023 Global Action Week for Education launch conference was organized by the Arab Network for Civic Education (ANHRE), in partnership with the Jordan Coalition for Education for All, with the participation of active youth groups representing Youth for Education — the youth group of the Arab Campaign for Education for All — and members of the Youth Education Academy.
The conference was held under the theme “Investing in a Just World: Decolonizing Education Financing Now,” which was selected through a vote during the 2022 Global Campaign for Education General Assembly. The conference included contributions and interventions from decision-makers and influencers in education financing, including Dr. Yousef Abu Al-Sha’ar, representative of H.E. the Minister of Education, who spoke about the Ministry of Education’s policy on education spending in light of Jordan’s financial burdens. Former Minister of State for Economic Affairs Dr. Yousef Mansour addressed the interrelationship between the economy and education, while Mr. Bashar Al-Khatib from the Netherlands Institute for Democracy spoke about the Economic Modernization Vision and education.
The conference also included interventions from Coalition members calling for an end to austerity policies adopted by the government based on World Bank guidance, the development of new mechanisms for government negotiations with the World Bank, and ensuring that austerity policies do not affect substitute teachers.
The conference further included a dialogue session for youth groups active in education. The session addressed specialized education themes to assess the impact of spending on them. Youth for Education, the youth group of the Arab Campaign for Education for All, adopted the issue of learning loss, while representatives of the Youth Academy for Democracy advocated for spending on lifelong learning and continuous training after university education to prepare young people for the labor market. In addition, youth from the Netherlands Institute for Democracy adopted the issue of education digitalization.
At the end of the session, recommendations were collected from the participating youth groups, along with recommendations from the audience, and the conference concluded with the reading of the session’s final statement.
