填空题

Improve the Quality of Education
To improve the quality of education calls for improvement in the quality of education in all its aspects, aiming for a situation where people can achieve excellence. Everyone should be able to achieve learning outcomes that are recognized and can be measured, particularly with regard to literacy, numeracy(数字) and other skills essential for life.
Why this goal
Education must help learners live their lives with greater competence and greater confidence. It will only do this if it is of good quality--where the learning process is positive and helpful, and where real learning takes place. For children, it is not merely a matter of attending school, but of learning in ways that make sense, and learning things that are relevant and useful. Today’s world is complex and knowledge is growing at a fast pace--learning must go on throughout life. Both children and adults need to know how to cope with change, with many different relationships, with lots of information, and with diversity and difference.
So teaching and learning must give learners the tools for life--education must lead to outcomes that are meaningful where learners feel confident in using the knowledge and skills they have acquired. Education is also about developing behavior based on positive values--understanding and respect for other people of all kinds, for their rights, for the past and the future. This is education of high quality--only education of this kind will lead to the many social and economic benefits which countries and individuals hope for.
Importance of quality education in learning
Learners--whether children or adults--quickly react to the quality of education. Where the quality of schooling is high, for example, parents are motivated not only to send their children to school, but also to keep them there. Adult learners soon lose interest in educational opportunities ff they do not result in relevant and useful knowledge. The quality of education is therefore a factor in ensuring that education is accessible and meaningful to everyone.
What happens in the learning environment is also important. When the school is a safe environment and is well-equipped, when teachers are well-trained and highly motivated, learners are more likely to be able to achieve learning goals and successfully complete schooling.
An education of high quality also means that individuals will develop their potential--education will make a difference to the chances they have in life. In society as a whole, quality education supports positive social change. It will enable people to progress through effective learning outcomes--gaining the knowledge, competencies, skills and behaviors which are essential for development.
Current challenges
Measuring quality: this is a key challenge, so that we can say with more certainty where and how the quality of education is improving. We need better indicators and more of them, so that the different aspects of quality can be assessed.
Increasing the relevance of education: irrelevant education means little to the learner and does not lead to new opportunities in life. Education must be made relevant to the circumstances of the learner--for example, exploring the local culture and way of life and using local languages. It must also be made relevant to the opportunities that are available--knowledge that can lead to further learning and to productive work, whether locally, in the capital city or elsewhere.
Quality for everyone: this will mean special approaches for disadvantaged children and adults, such as those in conflict zones and emergency situations, those with disabilities, those in remote areas, orphans, abandoned children, and those affected by HIV and AIDS. Many of these will not be able to receive a quality education without special measures and attention to address their needs.
Reforming the education system: improving quality means doing things differently, since current education systems in many places do not provide quality learning. We must try every means to improve the quality of teachers, reform teaching methods and create better school environments.
What governments should do
Increase the relevance of education by adjusting learning processes, curriculum content and school management to take account of the context of learning;
Stress democratic citizenship, respect and human rights as the most important values of education and take measures so that they are developed at the school level and in other learning environments;
Emphasize sustainable development as the most important social outcome of education, and link this to curriculum development and teacher training;
Take special measures to reach vulnerable groups; this may include school feeding programs, itinerant (巡回的) teachers, health support, materials and instruction in minority languages, measures for the disabled;
Improve the school environment with special attention to the needs of girls in respect of safety, sanitation and the attitudes of teachers;
Strengthen the training, status and payment of teachers in order to improve teacher performance and motivation;
Invest in books, materials and equipment to provide a stimulating learning environment--at the very least, every child in school should have access to a book which they can read for themselves;
Develop accountable management systems, particularly at school level, under a clear legal framework and with appropriate capacity-building so that local information can feed into decisions and planning;
Continue research into measuring quality, developing appropriate indicators and building local capacity to collect and interpret local data.
What funding agencies should do
Support research for a better understanding and measurement of quality, in the diverse national and sub-national contexts, through research studies and capacity-building;
Support the initial and in-service training of teachers as key guarantees of quality and support studies into what quality means for vulnerable groups;
Act as a catalyst for dialogue at local and national levels, and between them, on developing accountable management systems;
Facilitate exchange and lesson-learning between different countries and regions of the world, for teachers, school administrators and other education practitioners.
What UNESCO is doing
UNESCO supports the promotion of quality education by emphasizing the values that support it. It does this through:
The Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, which aims to make sure that education presents ideas and values about building a sustainable future--one in which individuals and communities can develop in full respect of each other, of the world we live in and of future generations.
The Associated Schools Project Network, which gives schoolchildren the chance to learn about the wider world and how the United Nations works. It also gives them the chance to be in touch with others in different parts of the world. This builds respect for diversity and difference and teaches teamwork and communication skills.
Education for human rights and peace, with materials and events to make sure that quality education is a force for solidarity and non-violence in today’s world.
The cultural and linguistic diversity program, which shows the importance of respecting diversity and of building education on the richness of different cultures and languages; it also promotes the use of local languages as the best vehicles of learning when children start school and adults learn literacy for the first time. To meet the challenge of reforming the education system, we need to take measures to train teachers and adopt better teaching methods.