OUR COMMON FUTURE IN EDUCATION: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE POST-2015 WORLD AGENDA FOR EDUCATION

The year 2015 became acquired focus at the Dakar World Education Forum in 2000, when the World set to achieve the six ambitious Education for All targets within fifteen years. Among the targets was the promise that by 2015, ‘‘All children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality’’ (Unesco ,2000). 2015 marked the deadline for the achievement of both Education for All (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s). As the close of the plan period came to an end the World Education Forum was held in Incheon, Republic of South Korea between 18th and 21st May 2015. This was aimed at reviewing the progress made following the World Education Forum of Dakar in 2000.The participants of the forum made an assessment of the finished and the unfinished business of the EFA, and set the post-2015 Education agenda which was to guide the education agenda up to the year 2030. This came to be referred to as the Post-2015 World Education Agenda. The forum that was built on the legacy of Jomtien (Thailand) 1990 and the Dakar (Senegal) 2000 asserted that education is a human right and a public good. It charted the new course that is tailored to times of rapid change and committed to ensuring that all children, young people and adults are empowered with knowledge and skills they need to live in dignity and contribute to their societies as responsible global citizens. The outcome of the forum was the adoption of the Incheon Declaration, ‘‘Education 2030: Towards an inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all’’. The participants of the forum, member states and the international community demonstrated their commitment to a single, renewed education agenda that is holistic, ambitious and inspirational, leaving no one behind (World Education Forum, 2015)