(i) Developing a supportive policy context
By itself, basic education can help meet the intrinsic needs of
learners, assist them to meet other basic human needs, and promote social and
economic development. However, these latter two effects cannot be achieved in
isolation of other public efforts. The knowledge and skills concerning health
and nutrition, for example, are effective only when the concomitant resources
and means are provided. Without a primary health delivery system, access to
water, or availability of necessary foods, knowledge and skill alone will be
insufficient.
Similarly, it is not adequate to orient education to prepare
people for employment. Government and private enterprise must institute the
appropriate rules, incentives, and support that will encourage wider demand for
educated labour and more efficient utilization of it. More broadly, the effects
of basic education are determined by the interaction of the full complex of
government and private sectors - such diverse activities as agricultural
pricing, political participation, entrepreneurial regulation, cultural
practices, and infrastructure development all help determine the usefulness of
the education individuals receive. The planning and management of education must
consider the full range of learning opportunities needed and relate them
to the full range of other government and private activities necessary to make
the learning opportunities effective.
Supportive policies in the social, cultural, and economic
spheres are required in order to realize the full provision and utilization of
basic education for individual and societal improvement. Attaining basic
education for all depends on political will and commitment manifested in
appropriate fiscal measures, educational policy reforms and institutional
strengthening. Suitable economic, trade, labour, employment and health policies
will provide incentives for learners and enhance their contributions to societal
development. Similarly, public policy should ensure a strong intellectual and
scientific environment for basic education. This implies improving higher
education, developing scientific research, and utilizing them to enrich the
content and methods of basic education, particularly through the application of
contemporary technological and scientific
knowledge.
