The+Global+Education+Commission

(Our SPA honors world history class as we complete our solution to global education for all.) = **The Global Education Commission** =
 * Our proposed solution is the creation of a globally active system of education.**

We acknowledge that countries, regions, and towns have different values and varying forces present in the education of children. Thus, our system would include a basis of education that would be present in all the schools but would also leave significant room for tailoring the curriculum of these schools to the specific needs of each community. ** The Global Education Commission would be the central hub of this Global Education System **, with individualized branches or panels of experts familiar with the unique challenges each country faces. In each of these ** branches **, there would be ** specialists **—both foreign and native—who understand the nuances of that country’s society and would be able to work diplomatically and intellectually with governments to create a school that would serve the ideals of both the overarching organization and the individual country. We believe the principle of employing both foreign and native consultants in each branch is imperative. Each country should feel as if their system belongs to them and is inherently theirs in origin. The students (and teachers, parents, administrators...etc) ability to identify culturally with the system and curriculum will guarantee the success of the system in each country.

The Global Education Commission would be an ** independent organization **, but have the flexibility to work through and with the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union, and other consortiums of countries. Working from the unified vision we have discussed, the organization would include branches in each country/region of the world. Each of these branches would interact with the government to negotiate a curriculum and method of operation with the government. Although the curriculum would be open to negotiation and adjustment in order to remain relevant for the students, there would be core instruction necessary to the education of a global citizen in every school. The Global Education System would be open to funding from any group—both government/public funding as well as money from private organizations. However, it would be very important that the money be donated with “no strings attached.” That is to say, the groups donating money to the organization must understand that it cannot be used, for example, to teach classes based on that groups’ specific interest. All changes to curriculum would have to be considered and approved by the Educational Panel of a specific country. The core instruction would include a ** background of liberal arts training ** provided to each student, which would include instruction in native language as well in foreign language. ** A respectable option for relevant vocational education ** that would allow students to become successful specialists in vocational fields would also be a core part of the curriculum. Most importantly, these core items—especially the vocational training—would be fitted to the relevancy of individual countries. We have found one of the biggest problems in current education systems to be a lack of ** applicability ** of education in the modern economy, and the core curriculum would take a first step to avoid this.

To prevent the debilitating effects of overly complex bureaucracy that plague many existing educational systems, The Global Education Commission would be organized on the suggested principles J.F. Rischard puts forth in his book, // High Noon: 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them //. Through using these principles, the Commission would seek to evade the corruption and miscommunication that is debilitating to organizations today. The Global Education Commission would be a ** "flatter", "leaner" and more flexible organization **, taking on these characteristics to adapt to the three "new realities" of the new global economy. Rischard argues that human institutions all over the world are struggling to meet the challenges of the new global economy, which demand that organizations are more flexible, more time-efficient and maintain networks with other organizations. Using the people of the organization in fundamentally different ways is also essential to the "flat" organization. As Rischard explains, "In those flatter, more network-like organizations, people won't be merely information transmitters--they will be empowered assets, acting independently...As a result, such organizations will have a far more motivated base" (Richard 43).

Through maintaining information at the "bottom" of the organization, with the workers, the organization will be more readily able to adapt and remain relevant. The leaders, however, will continue to function in a unique role: "by instilling the basic vision, values, and objectives into the organization" (43). These leaders are the members of the panels who oversee education in each country, they are the administrators and school principles. These are the people most familiar with the day-to-day challenges and format of their work. They can and will instill the basic values and vision of the organization into their work.

Funding of this Global Education System was a key issue that had to be thoughtfully considered. The Global Education Commission would be ** funded both publicly and privately at local, national and global levels **. At the local level, education would be free with students paying off their school loans by working for them/paying them off after their education was complete (this would be considered and negotiated on an individual student level). At the national level, taxes would be levied and funding would stem from private and public taxes and incentives. At the global level, our “program” would allocate funds and help in raising capital. Individual governments would have the option to use the program. One of our key concerns was that the people of the governments who refused to participate in the Global Education System would suffer greatly. We decided, that the Global Education Commission cannot and will not force any governments to partake in the system. As the new global economy surges ahead, education is a important equalizer. Ultimately, we decided that many countries may have to learn from experience, observing what effects the Global Education System has on its neighboring countries and then deciding what relevancy the Global Education System holds in their country.

The first steps in implementing this global system of education would be to form the organization, with an advisory body consisting of members from different countries and representatives from the UN and other country consortiums. During this process, the organization would begin to look for stable funding from countries like the United States who have large government budgets and the ability to fund the new program. Once the organization had been formed, it would seek to ** gain the trust of governments and populations worldwide ** by making its goals and process public. Then, it would implement its ideals first by putting schools in areas where they do not exist, and afterwards improving schools by adding the core elements and vocational training to curriculums.

The Global Education Commission would then function through adherence to this 20 year plan. Through the use of this 20 year plan, the organization would function to:
 * 1) Identify key issues in the educational systems of each country
 * 2) Procure adequate funding Procure adequate funding
 * 3) Implement the individualized system in each country
 * 4) Maintain the relevancy of the system by a regular and relevant evaluation process