INTERNATIONAL AGENDA EDUCATION 2030: AN UNCERTAIN CONSENSUS OR A TOOL TO MOBILIZE EDUCATION ACTORS IN THE 21ST CENTURY?

Abstract

Analysis of the global education agenda: Education 2030 reveals the importance of international influences on national education policy. It’s conception is the product of a joint effort by several influential organizations. An examination of the principal international guidelines of the agenda highlights the mixing of humanist and neoliberal education ideas that has led to an uncertain agenda where contradictory tendencies interact. We posit that the concept of global citizenship education appears to be an innovative proposition for the international development of education. Finally, we analyze how the agenda can be used in African education contexts, where there is the danger of accelerating the establishment of a multi-tiered education system. It could also, with help from progressive educators and structural reforms by the state, open up the access to a liberating, quality basic education for all in Africa.