Education for All: where does religion come in?

Abstract

What roles do religions play in meeting global education challenges? This article explores five potential avenues for action: advocacy, service delivery, pluralism‐focused curricula to further religious literacy, theological training for social justice, and addressing values challenges in education. Despite growing contemporary advocacy by religious institutions – individual as well as interfaith – for global education objectives, the effort is suboptimal. Faith institutions play important but complex and often under‐appreciated roles in overall global education. Poor data and controversy about public and private roles in education can contribute to religion’s exclusion from many influential debates. Outstanding institutions that strive to increase access to education and exemplify quality can better serve as models of excellence. Faith leaders and institutions offer particular advantages in meeting the pivotal challenges of education for marginalised groups and conflict‐ridden societies. Education about religion is a thorny contemporary challenge, yet religious ‘illiteracy’ can be an obstacle to social harmony and enrichment. Religion is very much at issue as explicit and shared values are increasingly seen as critical to democratic societies and to reinforcing social cohesion.

Notes

1. See (Heyneman 2008a) for a thoughtful critique of background of Education for All and its flaws. Also see (Lewin 1993), a paper prepared for DFiD that outlines the ‘state of the art’ on relevant issues.

2. Two recent books make the point about the dearth of general knowledge about religion and its negative consequences particularly well: Albright (2007) and Prothero (2008).

3. See Sen (1999).

4. See EFA Global Monitoring Report, http://www.unesco.org/en/efareport and http://www.unesco.org/education/gmr2009/press/efagmr2009_Highlights.pdf for highlights and for main messages.

5. For general progress on MDGs, see http://www.mdgmonitor.org/. On education, see the EFA monitoring reports cited above.

6. See http://www.wcrp.org/resources/toolkits/faith-in-action for a WCRP ‘Toolkit’ on advancing the MDGs; and the Micah Challenge mission and work is summarised on their website at http://www.micahchallenge.org/. The Micah Challenge originated as an Evangelical Christian effort to highlight global social justice issues.

7. For the text, see: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html.

8. ‘Spiritual Counsel to the G8’, describes the 2009 such meeting in Italy: http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2009/06/spiritual_counsel_to_the_g8.html.

9. See http://www.theafricamonitor.com/.

10. See http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/wfdd.

11. Jubilee 2000 was an international coalition movement in more than 40 countries that called for the cancellation of third world debt by the year 2000. For more information, see: http://www.jubileeusa.org/.

12. See Tooley (2009) and http://research.ncl.ac.uk/egwest/.

13. An example of efforts to fill this gap is a recent World Bank publication (Barrera‐Osorio, Patrinos and Wodon 2009).

14. For background and relevant texts see .http://www.aidharmonization.org/

15. For example, see Grace and O’Keefe (2007).

16. Magis Americas (a non‐profit US organisation supporting Jesuit social endeavours) describes the Federation of Fe y Alegria, which serves 1.3 million students, as the largest and most successful education provider in Latin America and the Caribbean outside of public education systems. See http://www.magisamericas.org/donate/feyalegriabestpracticesvenezuela.pdf. The Harvard Business School has an interesting case study on the system, see: http://harvardbusiness.org/product/fe-y-alegria-one-or-many/an/SKE101-PDF-ENG.

17. Research on madrasa systems is limited. Interesting new material is being produced by three institutions. The Religions and Development Program undertaken with DFiD support by a consortium of universities led by the University of Birmingham has reviewed madrasas in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India, with findings highlighting the diversity of experience (see first published working paper: http://www.rad.bham.ac.uk/files/resourcesmodule/@random454f80f60b3f4/1211530945_working_paper_13___for_web.pdf). Also The World Bank Development Dialogue on Values and Ethics has a forthcoming volume on madrasas inter alia at: http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTABOUTUS/PARTNERS/EXTDEVDIALOGUE/0,,contentMDK:21955884~pagePK:64192523~piPK:64192458~theSitePK:537298,00.html. The International Center for Religion and Diplomacy, a Washington DC based think tank, has worked to support reforms of Pakistani madrasas, see: http://www.icrd.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=10&Itemid=149.

18. The latter refers to the paradigm shifting work of Paul Collier (2007).

19. Chapters in the author’s two books about development and faith describe the Fe y Alegria system: Development and Faith, Where Mind, Heart, and Soul Work Together (with Marisa Van Saanen), and Mind Heart and Soul in then Fight Against Poverty (with Lucy Keough), published by the World Bank, 2004 and 2007.

20. For general overview, see M. Hakan Yavuz and John L. Esposito (2003).

21. Aga Khan Education Services (AKES), a network of educational institutions, combines operation of over 300 schools and management of programs to enhance the quality of teachers, academic resources and learning environments in Asia and Africa. AKES seeks to respond creatively to the educational needs of children in the developing world in a way that will enable those children better to shape their future. Its central premise is that all children must have access to good schools, effective teachers and the best learning resources possible. AKES aims for communities to take responsibility for ensuring that their children receive quality education. AKES is part of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a group of private development agencies established by His Highness the Aga Khan, the 49th hereditary Imam (spiritual leader) of the Ismaili Muslims. See http://www.akdn.org/akes.

22. For a short summary, see http://www.partnershipsinaction.org/downloads/briefs/Brief_MADRASA.pdf.

23. See http://www.uwc.org/.

24. See http://www.hluce.org/hrlucerelintaff.aspx.

25. The World Council of Churches has taken leadership in one area, HIV/AIDS training. For one example, see http://www.oikoumene.org/uploads/tx_wecdiscussion/HIV-AIDS_1-_Teaching_and_Talking_about_Our_Sexuality.pdf.

26. See “The Peterson Lecture,” by his Highness the Aga Khan to the Annual Meeting of the International Baccalaureate marking its 40th Anniversary: www.ibo.org/council/peterson/agakhan/index.cfm