Thomas Östros Minister for Education and Science Thomas Östros, born in 1965, has been Minister for Education and Science of Sweden since 1998. During 1996-98 he was Minister for Fiscal Affairs of Sweden and before that Mr. Östros was Political Advisor at the Ministry of Finance. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration and also a Licentiate Degree in Economics. Östros is a member of the Social Democratic Party and has been member of the Parliament.

Quality education for a sustainable future

Quality is a dynamic concept that must constantly adapt to a world whose societies are undergoing profound social and economic transformation. Encouragement for future-oriented thinking and foresight is important. Despite different contexts, there are many common elements in the pursuit of a quality education, which should equip all people, both women and men, to be fully participating members of their own communities and also citizens of the world. Quality education therefore requires us to redefine the parameters of education in such a way as to cover certain basic knowledge, values, competencies and behaviours that are specifically attuned to globalisation but reflect the richness of our diversity in culture, and language. The challenge is to develop educational systems that balance local, national and global aspirations in the context of our common humanity to secure a sustainable future. But steering education systems towards greater quality is a complex endeavour involving a number of processes of change.

All the measures we undertake when trying to ensure economic growth in our societies must be permeated by a spirit of concern for nature and concern for our fellow human beings. This is sustainable development in its three dimensions: economic, environmental and social. Education is a prerequisite for achieving sustainable development. It must be based on the fundamental human right to education. Education for all as formulated in the Six Dakar Goals must be the foundation. But it is a question of content, of quality.

The social dimension of sustainable development is about person-to-person relationships. This includes education that seeks to strengthen human rights, ethics, democracy and equal opportunities for women and men; it also includes education in the fight for good health, and against HIV/AIDS.

Learning for sustainable development must be a specific point of focus from as early as pre-school. Not only must children and young people receive the necessary knowledge in different subjects at school - empathy and respect for other people’s different qualities, but equal value must also be a well-defined goal. This is what we call learning to live together.

Education for sustainable development presupposes, of course, good and relevant knowledge. At school, if girls and boys receive knowledge they can use, knowledge adapted to the conditions that prevail for work and for building a society of their own, then strong and sustainable social development can result.

Education is the most effective means of preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. But there are inhibiting sexual taboos that have led to one of the greatest catastrophes to affect mankind. Quality education to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS is one example of education for sustainable development that must have all possible support.

Quality education must be based on the participation and commitment of those taking part. It is only through genuine participation that the will to assume responsibility can grow in strength. The concept of participation must be introduced at an early stage and must become an integral part of everyday life in schools and in the field of education generally. Even small children can assume responsibility to some extent. Far too many education systems are based on the teacher alone assuming responsibility.

Education for sustainable development must have strong support in national curricula, that must be broad-based and flexibly designed entrusting teachers as professionals to carry out their important work at school. Assessing the outcome of the education system for students provides a more secure basis for evaluating the effect of change. The purpose of education policy is not so straightforward that we can simply say that more and longer courses are all that is necessary to solve the problems and challenges we are facing. It is not primarily a longer period of education that is needed, but instead a different profile, with different content and different working methods that is required.

The ICE conference may be seen as a preparatory step to all the dedicated work that must take place during the ten-year period from 2005 to 2014, proclaimed by the United Nations as the Decade for Education for Sustainable Development, a decade which begins in less than three months’ time. It is my great hope and my conviction that UNESCO, which has been given the task of producing programmes for the Decade, will carry out its assignment admirably. But this is not enough.

It is our collective responsibility as decision-makers, teachers, researchers and citizens to make a contribution to these efforts. All of us must take this opportunity to work together so that our national curricula and our educational systems, just like the UN system, are permeated by the fundamental ideas behind quality education for sustainable development.