The Conference

The World Conference on Education for All had three principal objectives:

1. to highlight the importance and impact of basic education, and renew commitment to make it available to all

2. to forge a global consensus on a frame-work for action to meet the basic learning needs of children, youth and adults;

3. to provide a forum for sharing experiences and research results to invigourate ongoing and planned programmes.

The structure of the Conference (see Programme, page 3) was designed to meet these objectives through:

· an Inaugural Session, followed by an Opening Plenary Session;

· a Plenary Commission for general discussion regarding the content of the two working documents (World Declaration on Education for All and Framework for Action to Meet Basic Learning Needs);

· a Drafting Committee which examined proposed amendments to the two working documents and reported its conclusions to the Plenary Commission at its final session;

· two series of autonomous roundtables on major issues concerning education for all: (i) 24 thematic roundtables dealing with issues which concern many countries, and (ii) 24 illustrative roundtables presenting the experiences and plans of particular countries and organizations; (see the list of roundtables in Annex B);

· some 70 exhibits on subjects relevant to the theme of the Conference; (see the list of exhibits in Annex C);

· a host country day, in which participants had the opportunity to visit educational and cultural institutions around Jomtien; and

· a Closing Plenary Session, at which the final text of the World Declaration and the Framework for Action, as approved by the Plenary Commission, were formally adopted by the Conference; (see the approved texts in Appendices 1 and 2).

Simultaneous interpretation into the six UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) was provided for the plenary sessions, the Plenary Commission, and the meetings of the Bureau and Drafting Committee. The working documents of the Conference were also available in these languages. The working languages of the round-tables were English and French, with provisions for interpretation from one or more of the other four languages into English and French.

Participation in the Conference was by invitation issued by the Inter-Agency Commission. Member States of the United Nations, UNESCO and the World Bank were invited to send a ministerial-level delegation of three to four persons. A number of intergovernmental bodies and nongovernmental and media organizations and institutes were invited to send one delegate each. In addition to the 900 delegates, the Conference Secretariat registered about 200 observers and accredited some 190 press correspondents; altogether, with Conference staff and programme personnel, over 1500 people from all parts of the world met in Jomtien. (See Box 1.2)

The King of Thailand was represented at the Inaugural Session on Monday morning, 5 March 1990, by H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, who officially opened the Conference, after a formal statement by the Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, H.E. General Tienchai Sirisumpan. The Executive Secretary of the Conference, Mr. Wadi D. Haddad, then presented the Education for All initiative and the theme film by that title.

At the Opening Plenary Session held immediately afterwards, a message from the Secretary-General of the United Nations was read by his representative, Mr. S.A.M.S. Kibria, Executive Secretary of ESCAP; and the Director-General of UNESCO, Mr. Federico Mayor, addressed the Conference on behalf of the four core Sponsors of the WCEFA. Three invited heads of state, each from a different region of the world, addressed the Conference: the President of Bangladesh, H.E. Mr. Hussain Muhammad Ershad; the President of Ecuadoro H.E. Mr. Rodrigo Borja Cevallos; and the President of Kenya, H.E. Mr. Daniel arap Moi. Chapter 2 provides a summary of the interventions during this plenary session.

The delegates then elected a President, eleven Vice-Presidents, and two Co-Rapporteurs-General; these officers, together with the executive heads of the four core Sponsors and the Executive Secretary of the Conference, constituted the Bureau of the Conference (see list in Annex E) to guide its work to a successful conclusion. The composition of the Bureau reflected the geographical representation of the delegates and included one Vice-President nominated by the non-governmental organizations present.

The 48 roundtables, scheduled four at a time during twelve 90-minute sessions, provided opportunities for participants to discuss issues and exchange experiences around a large number of technical topics and specific cases presented by panels of specialists using various audio-visual supports. A summary of the round-table discussions is given in Chapter 4. The exhibits, many of which also offered audio-visual presentations, provided supplementary information on these and other related topics.

The Plenary Commission sought to build consensus on the central issues involved in the Education for All initiative. It met for six sessions during the Conference, providing a forum for the heads of delegations to speak on these general issues and more specifically about the draft texts of the World Declaration and the Framework for Action. The Commission also heard major policy statements by the President of the World Bank, Mr. Barber Conable; the Executive Director of UNICEF, Mr. James Grant; and the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, Mr. William Draper III. In addition, the President of the Maldives addressed the Commission on 7 March. A synthesis of the interventions made in the Plenary Commission is presented in Chapter 3.

At its first session, the Plenary Commission elected a Remember Drafting Committee, its membership reflecting the various geographical and organizational constituencies represented at the Conference and including several rapporteurs of the regional consultations (see Annex E). The Co-RapporteursGeneral, the Executive Secretary of the Conference, and a representative of each of the four core Sponsors joined the Drafting Committee as ex-officio members. Under the rotating chairmanship of the Co-Rapporteurs-General, the Drafting Committee received and examined 67 proposed amendments to the texts of the World Declaration and the Framework for Action. The Drafting Committee reported back to the Commission at its final session, and the Commission approved the texts with the amendments recommended by the Drafting Committee.

These texts subsequently were adopted unanimously by the Conference at the Closing Plenary Session on 9 March 1990. At the invitation of the Acting President of the Conference, H.E. Mr. Josef Hromadka, Deputy Prime Minister of Czechslovakia, the participants affirmed their commitment to the principles and goals of the World Declaration and the Framework for Action by reading aloud the final paragraphs of the World Declaration. They also endorsed by acclamation a short statement on "Follow-up to the World Conference on Education for All" (Appendix 3) which had resulted from extensive discussions during the Conference, involving all groups of participants. Calls for action based on the consensus reached at the Conference, were made by three speakers: Dr. Anil Bordia (India), speaking on behalf of the Asia and Pacific countries; H.E. Mr. Alaziamina Nzege (Zaire) speaking on behalf of the African countries; and Ms. Evelyn Kurihara Philbrook, speaking on behalf of the NGOs present. Closing statements were then given by: the Minister of Education of Thailand, H.E. General Mana Ratanakoses; the Director-General of UNESCO; the Executive Director of UNICEF; the Executive Secretary of the Conference; and the Acting President of the Conference. Following the Vote of Thanks, proposed by the Minister of Education of Jamaican H.E. Senator Hon. Carlyle Dunkley, and a brief musical performance by a Thai dance group based on the WCEFA theme song, the Acting President formally closed the Conference.