Inclusive education, inclusive societies

Their call for action focused on four key goals: 1. every child in school; 2. every child learning well; 3. every child learning early and enrolling on time; and 4. every child supported by a well-governed, well-resourced education system.

Most of these countries have enrolment rates above 95 percent, yet significant sub-national disparities continue to deprive many children of their right to education. They may be child laborers, they may come from disadvantages socioeconomic backgrounds or minorities like the Roma. They can have disabilities, live in remote rural areas or belong to migrant populations.

Poverty and child labor often combine to cause exclusion. Low achievers are more likely to drop out of school, while gender is another important factor of exclusion: In Turkey, the gender gap is all but closed in primary enrolment, but after the age of 12, fewer girls are registered in school, UNICEF points out.

Across the CEE/CIS region, some 2.5 million children remain out of education, 1.6 million of them of pre-primary age. Adolescents drop out of secondary education in large numbers, while others fail to gain basic levels of educational attainment. UNICEF points out that even in the countries with the smallest gap, lowest achievers are at least six years behind their highest-achieving peers. Out of over 5.1 million children with disabilities in the region, 3.6 million are believed to be out of school, often because of social stigma that prevents parents from seeking help.

The aim of this regional approach, UNICEF Europe and Central Asia Regional Director Marie-Pierre Poirier told me, is to "create a vast movement of solidarity, in a constructive manner." Countries need to develop homegrown policies to address their specific challenges, but they can benefit from sharing their experiences with countries that face similar difficulties.

Inefficient bureaucracy and insufficient investment are common problems, as are unequal distribution of resources and overly centralized systems that leave too little autonomy to schools. Countries need to develop mechanisms to identify vulnerable children and devise solutions to support them. Training and retaining motivated teachers is obviously an important part of this strategy.

Early Childhood Education (ECE) is a crucial element: UNICEF encourages governments to invest in at least one year of pre-primary education. "There is a very strong correlation between early learning programs and successful primary education. The majority of children who drop out of primary school didn't benefit from ECE," says Poirier. "It is an extraordinary investment. Funds allocated to even one year of pre-primary schooling give a much greater return on investment than the amount you'd have to invest in corrective measures later on." In Turkey, 52 percent of pre-primary age children are still not enrolled in any educational institution.

Levelling the playing field to give disadvantaged children a more equitable chance of succeeding in school is now increasingly recognized as contributing to the sustainable development of the society as a whole. Beyond acquiring much-needed math and reading skills, education is also about learning social interaction, acquiring problem-solving skills and promoting responsible citizenship. "These are the skills that will make the difference in the modern world -- education is not just repeating what's written in a book, but finding answers when the book has yet to be written," says Poirier.

Ultimately, an education system reflects a government's vision for the country's future. Investing in a more inclusive education system produces a more peaceful, more equal and more cohesive society. Let's hope that Turkey, which played a leading role in organizing this conference, continues to focus on education equity and makes it a reality for every child in this country.