Malaysian Model United Nations
Forum:
Human Rights Council 2
Issue:
Improving school attendance rates in Less Economically Developed
Countries
Student Officer: Jina Hur
Position:
Deputy President of the Human Rights Council 2
Introduction
In many Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs), children have to work in order to
support their families. LEDCs rely heavily on primary industries so children often participate in the
workforce. Girls, at a very young age, begin to carry out household tasks, tend to their siblings, and
assume the motherly role while the parents work outside the household. Over 76 percent of the world’s
primary-school-age children that are not enrolled in school come from LEDCs. Global education
standards can be analyzed based off of the education component of the Human Development Index
(HDI). It is measured by the average number of years of schooling received by adults 25 years and older,
and the years of education a child of school entrance age can expect to receive. 1 is the highest possible
score that indicates perfect education attainment, and MEDCs possess a minimum score of 0.8 or above.
Around 70% of the nations included in the education index do not meet this minimum score. In order to
improve school attendance rates in LEDCs to acceptable global standards, the United Nations must
make provisions to ensure a better future for children across the globe.
Definition of Key Terms
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the monetary value of all the finished goods and services
produced within a country’s borders in a specific time period. GDP is the sum of private
consumption (consumer spending) in a nation’s economy, government spending, interstate
businesses’ spending on capital, and the nation’s total net exports. GDP is an indicator of the
economic health of a country and its standard of living.
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Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER)
Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) is the total enrollment in a specific level of education that does not
account for age, and it is represented as a percentage of the population in the age group
corresponding to a specific level of education.
Gross Intake Rate (GIR)
Gross Intake Rate (GIR) is the total number of new students in a grade of primary education
without specificity in age. It is expressed as a percentage of the population at the official school
entrance age for that grade.
Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs)
Less Economically Developed Countries are countries that lack a stable and strong economy,
infrastructure, and an industrial base. LEDCs often have a relatively low standard of living due to
low incomes, the lack of sustainable development, and the vicious cycle of poverty. LEDCs rely
primarily on agriculture as a source of income, and in most LEDCs industrial practices contribute
to less than 10% of the nation’s GDP.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
UNESCO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that contributes to peace and security by
promoting international collaboration in terms of education, science, and culture. UNESCO aims
to further integrate universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights into the
international society. UNESCO pursues five major programs, which are education, natural
sciences, social/human sciences, culture, and communication/information.
Background Information
Key issues
Child labor
Child labor is a global issue, but occurs most often in LEDCs. The work often exerts
physical, social, and psychological stress while also hampering access to education. More than
210 million children of ages 5-14 are economically active worldwide, most of them working in the
agricultural sectors. Work-related injuries are most commonly seen in child labor, with
approximately 6 million injuries occurring annually, thereby resulting in 2.5 million disabilities and
32,000 fatalities every year. These factors prevent children from receiving a quality education or
an education at all.
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Financial resources
Most people in LEDCs cannot afford the cost of school fees, books, materials, school
uniforms, or transportation to school. This is the major factor as to why attendance rates are low
and dropout rates are high. These developing countries also do not have the financial resources
to maintain schools, provide necessary materials, attract and train quality teachers, and build new
schools in various areas. The state governments on average spend 5.1 percent of Gross National
Income (GNI) on education. Most LEDCs can barely spend 3 percent of their GNI on education.
This results in many shortcomings in their schools including poor classroom conditions and poor
quality of education.
Areas of concern
Sub-Saharan Africa
Only one out of five children in sub-Saharan Africa have the luxury of attending early
education. Of the 57 million children around the world who do not attend school, more than half
live in sub-Saharan Africa. Even when these children attend school, only 56 percent of them
complete a full primary school education. Sub-Saharan Africa has a rapidly growing population
with a regional fertility rate of 5.1 (global average being 2.4) and a projected population size of
1.5 billion by 2030. Educational opportunities must increase in order to serve the growing
demands. Gender and income inequality is another major issue that contributes to low
attendance rates. In Malawi, 52 percent of girls are not learning basic competencies compared to
44 percent of boys; in Tanzania, 10 percent of rural children are not learning compared to only 4
percent of urban children; and in Botswana, 7 percent of the wealthy are not learning compared
to 30 percent of the poor.
South and West Asia
South and West Asia is home to half of the world’s 774 million adults who lack basic literacy skills
mainly due to the lack of financial resources and the inescapable depths of poverty. The region also
inhabits 17 million out-of-school children, 66% being girls. India and Pakistan account for three quarters
of the region’s out-of-school-children. More than half these children have never been to school and will
never enroll without additional incentives. Schools in these countries are often in unsafe environments or
in areas prone to natural and manmade disasters. Recently, for instance, a Pakistani school was attack
by extremist group, Taliban, leaving 126 students dead. Damage to educational infrastructures along
with unwillingness of parents to send their children to schools with unsafe conditions hampers
attendance rates. In some regions there is violent debate about the content of the curriculum, the
question of gender segregation for schooling, and even the question of whether girls should attend
school at all.
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Timeline of Events
Date
Description of event
June 19-25, 1949
International Conference on Adult Education
August 22-31, 1960
Second International Conference on Adult Education – Proposes a campaign to
eradicate illiteracy
August 7, 1972
March 19-29, 1985
Third International Conference on Adult Education
Fourth International Conference on Adult Education – Adopts a Declaration on
the Recognition of the Right to Learn
World Conference on Education for All – Adopts the World Declaration on
March 5-9, 1990
Education for All
July 14-18, 1997
Fifth International Conference on Adult Education
October 5, 1998
World Conference on Higher Education
April 26-28, 2000
World Education Forum – Adopts the Dakar Framework for Action, which
commits governments to achieve basic education for all by 2015
April 28, 2000
Millennium Summit - Established Millennium Declaration & Millennium
Development Goals
April 14-16, 2014
World Literacy Summit
May 26-31, 2014
Unite for Quality Education Conference
September 24, 2014
Global Education First Initiative, Quality Education for the World We Want
November 4-8, 2014
UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development
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UN Involvement, Relevant Resolutions, Treaties and Events
•
Resolution on United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, 20 December
2002 (A/RES/57/254)
•
Resolution on Supporting the United Nations International School in Enhancing International
Education and Promoting Multicultural Interaction, 18 December 2008 (A/RES/63/198)
•
Resolution on the Right to Education in Emergency Situations, 9 July 2010 (A/RES/64/290)
•
Resolution on United Nations Literacy Decade: Education For All, 21 December 2010
(A/RES/65/183)
•
Resolution on Literacy for Life: Shaping Future Agendas, 18 December 2013 (A/RES/68/132)
•
Resolution on Education For All, 30 January 1998 (A/RES/52/84)
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