Education: everyone’s interest; nobody’s priority?

Two recent events highlighted the dilemma we face as we strive to get priority for education in a time of fiscal constraint.

The first was the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Summit of Global Agenda Councils last month in Dubai.

The second was a trade union consultation last week with President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, as he takes up the chair of the G20 (as well as the G8) for 2011.

In Dubai, the Global Agenda Council on Education did some soul-searching on the fact that education did not get a high score on a priority rating exercise, nor it seemed in planning for the annual meeting in Davos. Yet there was a lot of inter-action with other Councils, and what came out was that everyone was interested in education, and everyone had an opinion to express.

President Sarkozy broke new ground by consulting with trade unions and others shortly after taking up the G20 chair, following the Seoul Summit. He stated that he wished to identify priorities for the G20 in an inter-dependant global economy, and then to address those priorities systematically through meetings of ministers and officials leading up to the next summit to be hosted by France in November 2011. He will also consult with other G20 leaders early in the process, starting with a meeting with US President Obama in early January.

When I asked if that included education ministers, he replied “why not? Perhaps they could be included in the meeting of labour and employment ministers” he added, turning to his Labour Minister, who looked less than enthusiastic. But then Mr. Sarkozy continued that he did not want to “banalize” the G20 “with meetings of G20 sports ministers, for example”. As soon as I got the chance, I challenged this view, stating that “far from being banal”, education was at the core of major questions facing G20 countries. Then we got to an issue that did seem to capture attention – youth unemployment.

In Dubai, the focus was on identifying systemic risks facing the global community – risks like new financial crises, climate change, food supply, shortage of water, epidemics, terrorism, new conflicts, even a renewed risk of nuclear weapons being used. Part of the process was to have exchanges between Global Agenda Councils aimed at pinning down these systemic risks. When Sharan Burrow and John Evans from the Council on Employment and Social Protection joined the Education Council for such an exchange, the risk that came out was that posed by the huge percentage of unemployed young people in many countries – young people who are neither in school, nor in vocational training, nor in the world of work. Very often they are engaged in illegal activities – drugs and other forms of trafficking, gang activities, even militias of different kinds, or yes, even terrorism. The risks for social cohesion are great. Youth unemployment is a veritable time bomb ticking away in all our societies. And the risk is not limited to any one country. It cuts across national borders, just like the risks of financial speculation or environmental risks, they are transnational.

Sharan and John were key players in setting up the meeting with President Sarkozy a few weeks later. Sharan referred to the huge risk of youth unemployment in her opening remarks. But, when we made the link with education towards the end of the meeting I felt – at last - that we were getting attention.

Everyone is interested in education. Like many other political leaders, Nicolas Sarkozy has made speeches, written letters, stressing the importance of education for future generations. But there have been too many “motherhood and apple-pie” speeches, and not enough real action.

Education is everyone’s interest, but nobody’s priority –until leaders recognize that there is also urgency to defuse the time bomb of out of school, out of work youth.

That is why EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen has written to President Sarkozy stating there is urgency, as well as a need for long-term work on education. That is a message we have to carry to every political leader for them to express more than interest, but to make education one of their highest political priorities.