Distribution of what? How will we know if we have achieved Education for All by 2015?

In 1990 at the Jomtein Conference in Thailand organised by UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP and the World Bank the 157 governments present agreed to a Declaration, the World Declaration on Education for All that signalled their commitment to achieve Education for All (EFA) by 2000. EFA was not defined succinctly, but was laid out as comprising: universal access to education services ‘of quality’; equity with regard to removing disparities ‘in access to learning opportunities’ for certain groups (girls, women, ‘the underserved’ and the disabled) ; learning acquisition and outcome in ‘useful knowledge, reasoning ability, skills and values’. The acquisition of learning in a range of different settings was acknowledged, but emphasis placed on primary schooling for children of appropriate age. Partnerships to facilitate learning from early years to adulthood were stressed. (World Declaration, 1990).