YOUTH:AN UNCERTAINFUTURE

● HERITAGESAVINGTHEINTANGIBLE

● CULTURESTUDENTSLEARN ABOUT THESLAVE TRADE

● EDUCATIONCALLS TO REFORMVOCATIONAL EDUCATION

● MEDIALATIN AMERICANNEWSPAPERSON EDUCATION

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CONTENTS

YOUTH

An Uncertain FutureYoung people suffer the most fromcontemporary social ills. UNESCO helps themlook for answers.........................................................4

HERITAGE

Hidden TreasuresLanguages, crafts, traditions and music arejust some of the intangible treasures UNESCOis fighting to save......................................................11

IN BRIEFNews from UNESCO's different sectors andregions along with new publications andaudiovisual materials......................................................16

CULTURE AND EDUCATION

Slavery - breaking the silenceTeachers worldwide are being encouraged toreveal the slave trade in all its tragedy to theirstudents......................................................20

EDUCATION

Learning to DoA conference in Seoul emphasises theimportance of technical and vocationaleducation......................................................21

MEDIA

Baiting the NewshoundsLatin America’s press has a role to play inresolving the region’s education crisis......................................................23

The workforce is there - but where are the jobs?

The slavetrade goesback into thehistorybooks

Learning different skills at school

is a monthly magazine published bythe United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization. English and French editions areproduced at Paris headquarters; theSpanish edition in cooperation withthe UNESCO Centre of Catalonia,Mallorca 285,08037 Barcelona,Spain; the Chinese edition incooperation with the XinhuaNewsagency, 57 XuanwumenXidajie, Beijing, China; and thePortuguese edition in cooperationwith the National Commission forUNESCO, Avenida Infante Santo N° 42 - 5°, 1300 Lisbon Portugal.

Director of Publication : René Lefort. Editor-in-chief :Sue Williams.Assistant Managing Editor :Christine Mouillère Associate Editors : Nadia Khouri-Dagher, Cristina L'Homme, Ann-Louise Martin, Chloë Fox.Spanish edition : Luis. Garcia (Barcelona), Liliana Sampedro (Paris). Lay-out, illustrations, infography: Fiona Ryan-Jacqueron, Gisèle Traiano.Printing:Maulde & RenouDistributionUNESCO's specialized services

Visit us at: http://www.unesco.org/sources

TO SUBSCRIBE : Free subscription can be obtained forprofessionals, associations, NGOs IGOs andother organizations working in UNESCO'sfields of competence by writing to UNESCO Sources: Subscriptions31 rue François Bonvin75732 Paris cedex 15. Tel. (33 01) 45 68 45.37.Fax : (+33 01) 45 68 56 54.

UNESCO

UNESCO

This magazine is destined for use as an informationsource and is not an official UNESCO document. ISSN1014-6989.All articles are free of copyright restrictions and can bereproduced, in which case the editors would appreciate a copy.Photos carrying no copyright mark © may be obtained by themedia on demand.

Cover photo: © SIPA PRESS/Attias

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YOUTH:AN UNCERTAINFUTURE

● HERITAGESAVINGTHEINTANGIBLE

● CULTURESTUDENTSLEARN ABOUT THESLAVE TRADE

● EDUCATIONCALLS TO REFORMVOCATIONAL EDUCATION

● MEDIALATIN AMERICANNEWSPAPERSON EDUCATION

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3No 102 - juin 1998

EDITORIAL

beginning to share it. But will theyreach the same conclusion as to thetreatment required?For some, the solution lies in furtherincreasing the reach of the market,while refining and multiplying itsmechanisms: in other words, introdu-cing measures specifically targetingexcluded parts of the population to help

them back into the mains-tream. It is primarily aneconomic approach, dri-ven by forces external tothe people it is destined tohelp.The adversaries of thisline of thinking are, howe-ver, convinced that theacceleration of theseexternal economic me-chanisms is largely toblame for the deepeningof the gulf between richand poor. Filling it,theycounter, means empowe-ring these people espe-cially through democrati-zation, education and the

acquisition of scientific knowledge.Only through such action will theycease to be the marginalized objects ofa history written by others and becomeits veritable co-authors.However, the Executive Board stres-sed that governments must not renegeon the regulatory role they have toplay in the market place. The politicalwill to intervene is acondition sine qua non

for success.

René Lefort

UNESCO’s mandate topromote peace andhuman rights is as rele-vant and vital today as

when it was established some 50 yearsago. And it will remain an absolutepriority for tomorrow as well. That’sthe message from the latest meeting ofUNESCO’s Executive Board, in itswork on the draft pro-gramme and budget for2000-2001, and in its reflec-tions on the profile theorganization should adoptfor the 21st century.Less than two hours fromthe organization’s head-quarters, war was raging inEurope for the first time inhalf a century. And another100 or so armed conflictscontinue to wreak havocelsewhere in the world.Human rights abuses bli-thely continue, perhaps alittle less now in the politi-cal and civil domains, butever increasingly when itcomes to economic and social rights. The Board is convinced that fundamen-tal origins of these wars and violations,are firmly rooted in the ever-widening gapbetween the “haves” and the “have-nots”.On the one hand, there are those whohave training, a job, a roof, social pro-tection and citizenship, and on the other,one and a half billion individuals who livein total deprivation.This diagnosis was made by UNESCOseveral years ago. But the world’s otherbig international organizations, andnotably financial institutions, are now

EDITORIAL

A QUESTION OFPOLITICAL WILL

“On the one

hand, there are

those who have

training, a job,

a roof, social

protection and

citizenship, and

on the other, one

and a half

billion

individuals who

live in total

deprivation

3No. 113 - June 1999

”

According to the WorldBank figures:

● in 1987 1.2 billionpeople lived on less than$1 a day

● in 1993 that numberwas closer to 1.3 billion

● and, if the proportionof people living inpoverty has remained thesame as in 1993, therecould be 1.5 billionpeople living in abjectpoverty as the centurycloses

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One of the 1.5 billion

There are people who completeeight years of schooling and stillcan’t find a job, because there justare no jobs. Either you try andimprove schooling so that it pro-

vides young people with the possibility ofbeing an independent-minded person whocan create his or her own job, or adapt to theircircumstances.” So says Benedict Faccini, anassistant programme specialist for UNESCO’sSpecial Project for Youth. This is the problemin a nutshell: too many young people are lea-ving school with expectations that cannot befulfilled. They face an extremely uncertainfuture: either due to inadequate or inappro-priate education, physical handicaps, poverty,or social exclusion due to religious or racialfactors.

Perched precariously between childhoodand adulthood, youth occupies a difficultmiddle ground. UNESCO has various pro-

4 June 1999 - No. 113

AN UNCERTAINFUTURE

YOUTH

Contemporary social ills hit youth hardest. Battling against problems such asunemployment, poverty and disease is a full time job that young people every-where need to be better armed to tackle

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grammes that try to reach these youngpeople, no matter what situation they findthemselves in. Widely diverse projects - fromthe International Youth Campaign for a 21stcentury Free of Drugs, to the Options forDeaf Youth in Myanmar project - seek toshore up the banks of uncertainty faced byso many.

With more than one billion people cur-rently aged 15-24, and the number of thoseunder 15 growing rapidly, the question oftheir futures is pressing. What kind ofchances do these kids face? Some 284 mil-lion children aged 12 to 17 are not in schoolsystems, and this figure will rise to an esti-mated 324 million by the year 2010. Existingeducation systems are failing to meet stu-dents’ needs, but changing them is easier saidthan done. “No sector seems more conserva-tive and chained to the past than that of edu-cation,” says Victor Ordonez, the director of

Young, willing and able -but no jobs to go to

”“

5No. 113 - June 1999

UNESCO’s Bangkok bureau and a leadingeducationalist.

Recent statistics from the InternationalLabour Organisation (ILO) show that youthsuffers the highest level of unemployment innearly every country in the world. In SouthAfrica, 25% of people under 25 and lookingfor work are unemployed. In Mozambique,more than 50% of under 25s are unemployed.

Unemployment is just one of the pro-blems though - disease and poverty are notfar behind. In Africa, young people are failingto win the war against AIDS. In a recentZambian study of 15-19 year olds, HIV infec-tion was reported in 12.3% of the girls and 4.5%of the boys. In Rwanda, more than 4% of boysand girls aged 12-14 tested positive for HIV.

Across the globe, the picture is the same.Contemporary social ills hit young peoplehardest and most often. And young men andwomen are not dealing well with the plethoraof problems before them. Youth suicide ratesin industrialised countries remain consis-tently high — more than 20% of suicides inAustralia are committed by men aged 18-24.Young people are also the biggest users andabusers of illicit drugs - 18% of youngAmerican adults are illicit drug users.

No work for everyoneMartine Bousquet, a programme specia-

list for the Special Youth Project believesthat UNESCO must offer serious alternativesto formal education; that the future of edu-cation is in offering tangible projects thatempower young people and allow them to sur-vive in societies where nothing is a given.

“Nothing is being done for these youngpeople,” Bousquet says. “There is no educa-

tion available for what they need. The fun-damental problem is, of course, the simplefact that there is no work for everyone.”

“With the marginalised, the question isone of empowerment,” she says. “We saythat they have to get themselves out of this:be active, not passive. UNESCO does nothave recipes, we can’t simply tell you peoplewhat to do. But we can help you organise,we can help you manage.”

Responsibility and self-esteemAnother way of empowering the young

is by giving them access to micro-finance.UNESCO seeks to act as a facilitator in thefield of micro credit by giving visibility totraditional skills, providing technical assis-tance, advocating microfinancial servicesand helping to provide access to markets.

“Poor youth is characterised by pro-blems that go well beyond the lack ofmoney,” says Sayeeda Rahman, a pro-gramme specialist in UNESCO’s Micro-Credits Unit.

“They suffer from a complex set of fac-tors that include lack of access to education,poor health and nutrition, inadequate hou-sing and sanitary activities, illiteracy and pol-luting environments,” she says.“Microfinance institutions can reach thesepeople and provide them with financial ser-vices in ways that promote responsibility,self-esteem and and financial self-suffi-ciency.”

Chloë Fox

With the

marginalised,

the question is

one of

empowerment

A helping handFrench engineer Hervé Beaudet dreamt up

the idea of sending alienated teenagersfrom rich countries to the Third World tohelp them regain a sense of purpose throughdiscovering the way of life and the ingenuityat work there. What inspired him was comingacross a group in India several years agowhich he says was “applying Gandhi’s philo-sophy and building villages using cheap localmaterials.”

He and some friends founded a group cal-led Wardha Development, named after a townof that name in Maharashtra state (wardhaalso means development in Hindi). The aimwas to involve French youths who were unem-ployed, delinquents, school dropouts or hadbeen sent to reformatories “in a programmeto build earthen houses using Indian tech-niques.” The project, backed by UNESCO,was set up with a group called AVVEJ (Using Kids from all over the world working together

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There’s rebellion in theirwords. Words as rough asthe world they come from;that’s what rap is allabout. It’s instant talent,the anti-hero from anystreet corner in any city.A plain, strong voice, not

loud, not false, a voicewhich jolts you becauseit’s talking about unhappi-ness, about the privatesuffering of a wholegeneration, about a youthwith no present and nofuture, whether they live inRio de Janeiro, in Harlem,Manila or Bamako.“The street gives youthings and takes thingsfrom you. Right in front ofthe door, the fact of justbeing who you are, if it’snot that, it’s this, if it’s not

this, it’s that – you arewhat you are and no one’sgonna change that.”Jérémie, alias Cool J,comes from both CentralAfrica and the suburbs ofParis. He’s a Tae KwonDo teacher, a member of

the French team and fivetimes national champion.He comes from a family ofrap artists and defends“original rap,” the pure,raw version which comesfrom the street andchanges as the streetchanges. It’s differentfrom the “other” rap,which you find “in showsand which claims to befrom the ghetto, sells itsmessage of suffering andthen once it’s made itforgets where it came

from,” he says. Hasmoney turned rap’s head?To counter this“deviation” and becausehe wants “to send amessage of hope to youngpeople having a bad time,to help them to get intosomething else,” Cool Jset up a project two yearsago to organise“underground” rappers todonate their royalties tohelp disadvantaged youngpeople around the world. These rap artists are the“street-smart guys, theyouths who fix how to getby in life and are always ina good, sharp mood.”Their numbers “comefrom their guts.” They talkabout codes of honour,about their identity, aboutthe solidarity with“brothers” which makesrappers into “one bigfamily,” about pride anddignity, about sport as ahealthy lifestyle. But they also talk aboutrebellion against a crueland unjust world, full ofinequalities whichmarginalise people.People are still beingbarred from night-clubsbecause they come fromthe suburbs, even thoughthat’s where the music

inside – their music –comes from. Sometimes luck has a lot todo with it. One of Cool J’smartial arts students worksat UNESCO where heproposed Cool J’s projectas part of the special youthprogramme. “Things justclicked,” says Cool J. UNESCO has sponsoredan album (put out by theDa L’As label) “Lascarsunivers” which came outin April and sold 50,000copies in the first month.The proceeds will go to aspecial UNESCO accountfor the world’sdisadvantaged children,and one where Cool J cansee how it’s being used.“It’s nice to be able toknow exactly what can bedone thanks to thismoney,” he says.A series of rap concertswill also be held in Africaand Canada, in poorneighbourhoods and slumswhose residents willbenefit from some of themoney. It’s one way for therappers to show that “youshouldn’t wait until you’rea millionaire before beinggenerous, before you helppeople out.”

Christina L’Homme

6 June 1999 - No. 113

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Rap, the art of rebellion

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Life to Educate Young People) and anothercalled Pra-Barnier, which care for margina-lised people in the Paris area and in theAuvergne region of France.

IdentityIn 1995, 14 teenagers – three girls and 11

boys – began preparing for the trip to India.The goal, says Beaudet, was “to show themthey are all important, because the first thingalienated youth lose is their identity – to tellthem that Sébastien, Marie-Madeleine andPascal are good people, even if not so longago they’d been told they were nobodies.”

The aim was also to show them they werenot going to do just any old job. That “theywere going to help provide people withhomes, that they were not going so theycould give orders but so they could workalongside others in a project.”

For two years, they went mountainhiking at weekends to test their ability tolive a communal life. At the same time, thepeople of Wardha were being prepared forthe arrival of these “complicated and diffi-cult” French adolescents whose lives hadbeen scarred by things like drug abuse, vio-lence, being abandoned and having babiesat the age of 14. “Most of them wereseriously damaged personalities,” saysBeaudet.

In November 1996, they went to Indiafor six weeks and built 14 houses (which costbetween $600 and $700 each). They got upat six in the morning, did yoga and thenwent to work on the building site under thesupervision of Indian masons and architectsand put their knowledge into practice,making bricks and building walls, windowsand roofs.

Building a future

Cool J, channelling energy into sport

7No. 113 - June 1999

Microcredit for youthin Peru

Banks the world over have the wrong ideaabout poor people. They are not consi-

dered dependable creditors,” says SayeedaRahman who works in the micro-financeunit of UNESCO. “It is a paradox because itis precisely the poor, self-employed to boot,who need loans to survive.” Even so, thebanks continue to lend only to the rich. But

a parallel informal system has now sprungup across the globe to cater to the needs ofthe poor (some 90 million of the world’s 1.3billion poor are concerned), and in particu-lar, youth who need a helping hand toconstruct and believe in their future.

In Bangladesh, UNESCO has set up seve-ral projects in the slums of Dhaka, the capi-tal. One such project, Nari Maitree (thewomen’s alliance) has helped 300 adoles-cents to undergo training and obtain micro-financing. These adolescents “represent themost vulnerable section of the population,”stresses Sayeeda Rahman, “because they arethreatened by forced marriages, sexual abuseand prostitution. By setting up their own littlebusiness, they can earn money and becomea valued asset of their families. A goodexample is the case of two girls who trainedto drive scooters to transport girls andwomen (only) to school every morning. Andthe people accepted this, an indication thatattitudes have changed.”

Things unimaginable only 25 years ago areconsidered normal today in the countrywhich saw the world’s first bank for the poor,the famous Grameen bank (see inset). In fact,these adolescents can now knock on otherdoors. Poor youth in general have no time

Working for survival: these children organise their lives

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”“�Stéphane often

talks about his

experience,

and is proud

of what he did

In the evening, they learned about Indianculture which they later recognised had “enri-ched” them. Today, Stéphane often talksabout his experience with his friends andsays he is “proud of what we did.” Indiachanged him, he says: “I became a calmer per-son, less materialistic, less egotistical. I rea-lised it was nicer working in a group than bymyself and I learned how to trust people. Icomplained less about my life, because thepeople in India don’t have very much.” Whenthe teenagers returned to France, they wan-ted to leave a record of their experience andput together a mobile exhibition which ope-ned at UNESCO headquarters in June 1997.

The idea of transferring technology frompoor countries to richer ones and organisinga human experience with alienated youngpeople is catching on. Last year, UNESCO andWardha Development set up a new project tobuild earthen houses using Indian methods,but this time it will be in the Crimea, withyoung Tartars at a camp at Sudak, on theBlack Sea. The Tartar youths are the childrenof parents who were deported by Stalin tocamps in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and who

returned to be dumped in refugee camps inpoverty-stricken Ukraine. The youths livelives of constant tension.

The culture shock and first impressionscaused problems there too, but after a coupleof months of toil, the interaction gave birthto a fine community centre.

Cristina L’Homme

8 June 1999 - No. 113

Technology changeslives

for learning. “Even if schooling is free, theyattend only if they can solve the problem ofthe daily meal,” says Sayeeda Rahman. “It’sonly then that one can convince them of theneed for education, it’s only then that theyare ready to learn more, about marketingfor example, to better their lives.”

In Peru, the NGO Colectivo Integral deDesarrollo (CID) which has been working inthe poor quarters of Lima since 1996, star-ted a competition called “make your businessa reality“ in a bid to set up self-employmentprojects for young people between 17 and 27.The aim is to stimulate their spirit of enter-prise through the creation of microbusi-nesses to enable them to generate resourcesand develop the local economy.

The competition was sponsored byUNESCO, the French association Secours

IT STARTED INBANGLADESHThe Grameen Bank inBangladesh was one ofthe original sources ofmicrofinance. In 1972,Professor MuhammadYunus reacted to thedraconian conditionsimposed upon poorborrowers - includinginterest rates of up to 100and 200% - and foundeda bank for those living inpoor rural areas. Theidea was to trust in thesepeoples’ capacity tocreate wealth, pay backthe loans, and even tosave. The bank lent smallsums to many people,and gave them thechance to establishaccounts, even if it wasonly one dollar. Grameen’s interest ratesare slightly higher thanthose of a commercialbank, but according toSayeeda Rahman ofUNESCO’s MicrofinanceUnit, this is under-standable. “It is not theidea of profit thatdetermines the interestrate but the fact thatlending $100 to oneperson costs less thanlending $100 to 10people. And at Grameen,the clients are alsoshareholders.”“The ‘normal’ banksthought that ProfessorYunus was crazy to getinvolved in somethinglike this,“ says Rahman.“They were wrong -these days he has abouttwo million clients, andthe rate of repayments is90% - which is muchhigher than anycommercial bank’sfigures,“ she says. At thebeginning of the 1980s,the BangladeshiParliament recognisedGrameen as an officialfinancial institution.

C.L.

So many aid networks seem to be nothingbut hot air and paperwork: a great deal

of talking and very little action. But Dr BoyanRadoykov, who is in charge of INFOYOUTH,is not interested in platitudes: he wants to pro-vide a service to young people in the best andmost practical way possible.

“Our main concern is to turn the know-ledge available on this network into directaction for young people,” Dr Radoykov says.“I like to know that young people all aroundthe world are doing something for them-

Catholique-Caritas France, the Peruvianindustry ministry and Inpares (instituto depaternidad responsable). The conditions ofthe competition are transmitted through theinternational network of facts and informa-tion on youth (Infoyouth, see next article),an association of entrepreneurs and schools.“We talked to them about the job problem inPeru, the possibilities open to them as wellas the risks,” explains Javier Bueno, CIDdirector. To take part in the competition, thesum invested in a microbusiness cannotexceed $6500: the participant has to put in30% of the total investment (not necessarilyin cash, but also in kind, like tools or furni-ture). Projects include handmade productsby women, a dance and Tae Kwan Do centre,pig rearing and funeral services. At the endof 1998, the laureate Maria Mercedes Rios,a primary school teacher, won $3200 for heridea “developing pedagogical material forprimary schools,” which consists of makingobjects in microporous plastic (cubes tolearn numbers and the alphabet, instrumentsfor psychomotor coordination). The com-petition enabled her to discover that shecould start her own business, something “Icould never have imagined as a school tea-cher. Today, I’m sure that if we are givenaccess to information we can be creativeand not remain stuck in just one sole pro-fession.” Over the last three years, two -thirds of finalists have set up their own busi-nesses.

C.L. and Adolfo Medrano in Lima

selves with the information provided byUNESCO.” The INFOYOUTH network ismanaged by UNESCO in cooperation withthe French government working in closepartnership with NGOs, governmental minis-tries and departments, communities and spe-cialists.

Information is one of the most impor-tant tools young people can have. In thecoming millenium, the information-rich willhave distinct advantages over the informa-tion-poor. The gap between the countries of

It’s been a hard day’s night...

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9No. 113 - June 1999

”“For many

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Making sure they don’t miss the information train

the North and the South is growing in this res-pect: in the world, at the end of 1998, 147.8million people are online. In the South, manypeople may never see, let alone use, a com-puter in their life time.

How can young people in the South beginto bridge that gap? The task is a mighty one,and it was with this in mind - even before the“explosion” of internet use in 1995 - thatUNESCO set up its INFOYOUTH network in1991.

The largest network of its kindINFOYOUTH seeks to address two issues

worldwide: the increasing fragmentation ofinformation sources and networks on youth;and the urgent need to implement youth poli-cies on a national and international level.Eight years after its inception the result isclear: a network that is the largest “umbrella”network of its kind, providing informationservices, communications equipment andtraining to young people all around the world.

One example of INFOYOUTH’s activitiesin the field is in Honduras, in the aftermathof the devastating Hurricane Mitch. Whilebasic shelter and nutrition were on the top ofthe relief agencies’ list, other less urgent -but equally important issues - were left by thewayside.

“INFOYOUTH was in there straight away,”says Dr Radoykov. “We rebuilt trainingcentres and got access to the computers upand running. Previous to the hurricane therehad been a training course there for the mostdisadvantaged young people; the people wholived with less than $1 a day. In one of thesetowns, the mayor actually said that whilehousing and feeding the victims was unde-niably important, the reconstruction of thesetraining centres was crucial. He told me thatlocals had the feeling that something normaland positive about life was continuing as itdid before the hurricane, and that was ofinestimable psychological value.”

For many locals, these training centresrepresent a chance to learn skills that will helpthem to get better jobs and improve theirlives.

Another programme that INFOYOUTHhas just has approved is the computer recy-cling project. Instead of throwing away oldcomputers, INFOYOUTH will be asking theprivate sector and the public who log onto itssite (http://www.unesco.org/webworld/infoyouth) to give the old computers to thenetwork itself; they will then be distributedto communities that can use them. But howwill the computers be transported aroundthe world?

“Well, we have had a lot of interest frompeople who want to give and receive thesecomputers... so now all we have to do is finda very benevolent transport company,” smilesDr Radoykov.

It’s easy to talk about youth participating

in the formation of national youth policies -but how easy is it to carry out? Most govern-ments do not have direct access to youngpeople’s opinions and attitudes. INFO-YOUTH has helped Latin American govern-ments tap directly into the minds of youngpeople by founding and maintaining a web-site called Boletin Latinamericano de

Informaciones sobre Juventad (Latin-American Youth Information Bulletin). Thiswebsite (http://www.icd.org.uy/juventud/)contains a wealth of information includingeditorials, bulletin boards, opinions and com-mentaries. Online since March 1999, theBoletin Latinamericano is the only site ofit kind in Latin America.

Competing in the marketThe INFOYOUTH network helps improve

awareness and understanding of the pro-blems and expectations of young people indifferent types of societies; it backs innova-tive projects aimed at stimulating young peo-ple’s participation in the political, economicand cultural aspects of society. And perhapsmost importantly, it organises computer trai-ning activities for underprivileged youngpeople in order to improve their access toinformation, and give them a chance to com-pete in tomorrow’s information-rich world.

Chloë Fox

10 June 1999 - No. 113

One child in ten is born with a seriousimpairment - and those who are born

healthy may well acquire such an impair-ment during their childhood. So at least 10%children in both the North and South entertheir teens marked by “something different.”They may be blind or deaf; they may havedyslexia or autism; they may have lost alimb after stepping on a landmine or fallingfrom a swing. Whatever their special needs,most education systems around the worldare not well-equipped to deal with these dif-ferences. A lack of inclusion within theirsocieties and education systems leads tofurther exclusion and less hope for thefuture.

Changing attitudesThe Special Needs Education Unit of

UNESCO encourages governments, schoolsand communities to include young peoplewith special needs in the mainstream ofeveryday life. As Lena Saleh, chief of the unitsays, “the thrust of our work is reachingout so that this group of people come intothe mainstream. We want to make educa-tion systems all inclusive. We would likesociety and education systems to acceptdifference as normal, as part of life; to livewith and embrace these differences.”

One country where a UNESCO projecthas recently managed to change govermentattitudes is Myanmar. In April this year,UNESCO consultant Dr Owen Wrigley wentto Myanmar under the auspices of theSpecial Needs Education Unit to launch the“Improving Life Options for Deaf Youth inMyanmar Project.” With approval from theDepartment of Social Welfare, Dr Wrigleywas able to conduct a workshop on deaf-ness; invite an expert mission of deaf Thaisto meet with deaf youth in Mandalay andYangon; collect data from deaf representa-tives; and to carry out in-depth interviewswith deaf leaders.

Information poor“The presentations were of great inter-

est to the deaf, as no such information hadever been made available before,” Dr Wrigleysaid. “The groups I spoke to would be bestdescribed as information-poor.”

With no previous government support forthe deaf in either the Myanmar educationsystem or society at large, Dr Wrigley wasdelighted with the outcome of his visit:government permission to establish “DeafClubs.“

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Breaking the barrier of silence

Voice for deaf youth in Myanmar

“The prospect of establishing a NationalAssociation of the Deaf in Myanmar is notyet an option due to political restrictions,“he wrote in a report on the project, “but theformation of Deaf Clubs has emerged,somewhat surprisingly, as an acceptableactivity. I consider this decision to be a real“output” of this consultancy.”

The Deaf Clubs will include five focusgroup subjects that will seek to improve thelives of those who can participate. The fivesubjects are all particularly relevant to youth:personal life, home life, life after school,work life and job opportunities. All the dis-cussions will be conducted in Myanmar signlanguage, with Thai sign language whereneeded. Clubs will try and help participantsto look for work, as well as helping withwork experience placement.

“The tendancy is for developing countriesto provide very little to these young people,”says UNESCO programme specialist SaiVäyrynen. “It gets especially difficult afterprimary school: anything that is offered isoffered by NGOs. In all countries there aregood and bad practices. Inclusion is connec-ted to values; and in some countries thesevalues are not appreciated.” She and hercolleagues are more than pleased with DrWrigley’s outcome in Myanmar. ●

Chloë Fox

Young people blameinertia and indifference.They explain the need toescape the worldthrough drugs. They talkabout the death of abrother, of a closefriend, the pain indeliblyetched in their skin.“This tamed evil/ leavesno corner of the worlduntouched/ from Bogotato Panama/ hashish,dope, ecstasy/corrodingfragile spirits, so-calledcivilised countries, thethird world /all in thesame boat.“* Drugs can takeeverything from theirlives, and these youngpeople know it. So ananti-drugs charter hasbeen prepared byUNESCO, drawn upfollowing a youthconference at Head-quarters in 1998. TheInternational YouthCampaign for a 21stCentury Free of Drugs isa contract-like docu-ment that has alreadybeen signed by morethan 1.5 million youngpeople world-wide. Thesignatories agree toadhere to 12 principles,and work towards a drug-free world. The campaignhas been picked up bymedia and schools allover the world.

*Extract from the CD Free ofDrugs, a song inspired by thecampaign and produced at theinitiative of EnvironnementSans Frontière with UNESCOand the UNDCP (UnitedNations International DrugControl Program).

Talking about drugs

11No. 113 - June 1999

Imagine a world without legends; whereancient tales of epic voyages, battlesand seductions just didn’t exist.Wherethere were no performing arts, no folkfestivals, no sacred sites. No carnivals,

no craft. Where piped muzak was the norm,and the inhabitants wore clothes cut from thesame machine-made cloth, spoke the onelanguage and ate the same food.

A poor world it would be indeed.Some would say we are already there:

that the West’s economic dominance hasbrought about its cultural dominance, and cul-tural uniformity.

Few would dispute that there is sometruth in this. However, scratch the surface,look beyond the frequently cited clichés usedto describe this “global culture” - the CocaCola, Big Macs, blue jeans and the SpiceGirls, and there remain whole worlds withinworlds on our supposedly shrinking planet.

Their “identifying marks” come under thesomewhat fuzzy label of “intangible culturalheritage,” which covers all kinds of traditio-nal and popular knowledge, languages, oraltraditions, customs, music, dance, rituals,festivals, traditional medicine, table arts,together with handicraft and architecture.

For many populations this heritage is theessential source of their identity, the foun-dations and lifeblood of their communities.It could also be considered a wellspring fortheir development. Traditional knowledge,for example, has much to contribute to envi-ronmental protection and species conserva-tion, and, for the performing arts, traditionalcultural expression is an invaluable sourceof creativity and economic growth. The suc-cess of “world” music or the acrylic art ofAustralia’s aborigines are both outstandingexamples of this.

But unlike monuments of stone, “thesegenerally sound or visual events may beheard, perceived (only) while they last,” saysJ.H. Kwabena Nketia of the InternationalCentre for African Music and Dance in Ghana.“They cannot be touched or handled likeobjects outside their contexts or the memoryof those who create or perform them.” Inother words, there can be no “folklore”without the folk, and no traditional culturewithout living practitioners and participantsin a tradition. Linguists estimate, for example,

HERITAGE

Intangible heritage goes beyond the monuments. It includes traditions, languages,dance, handicrafts and music, carried in the hearts and minds of people. UNESCOworking to safeguard this fragile patrimony and give it a new lease on life

HIDDEN TREASUREthat 500 years ago there were some 15% morelanguages than the 5,000 to 7,000 spokentoday, and that over the next century another6% to 11% will become extinct.

In Africa, says Professor Nketia, thedownhill slide begun with colonization hassince accelerated under the pressure of rural-urban migrations, the impact of the mediaand global economics. “Accordingly while tra-ditional cultural forms still exist in somecommunities, there are others in which suchtraditions have been eroded, weakened orreplaced.”

And where “folklore” has been promoted,says Vlaska Ondrupova of the Institute forFolk Culture in the Czech Republic, it hasoften been for commercial ends, such as

A skill learned andrefined down the

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Victor Randrianary has been collectingexamples of traditional music in his

native Madagascar for the past 15 years. Hehas made a CD of it for the UNESCOCollection of Traditional Music of the World.

How did you become interested in

this?

I trained as a classical guitarist, sang in

Madagascar: wheremusic is life

churches and played the Madagascan zither,which we call the valiha. One day in 1984,among the Bara people in southernMadagascar, I discovered some musical ins-truments which fascinated me. First therewas a set of flutes and drums, called theparitakyo. I also came across xylophones onlegs and a set of whistles, the kiloloky, whichproduced a very rich and varied sound andrhythm, which you hardly ever find thesedays.

Each instrument has one sound and tomake a tune the notes have to follow one afterthe other – you make a doh, I make a ray, asif the whole tune was controlled by a centralbrain: it’s very difficult.

When the kiloloky accompanies a femalechoir, it’s amazing. They play voice games,they whistle, they dance. It’s a kind of musi-cal ecstasy, where you lose track of time —a very powerful experience of sharing withother people.

I said to myself: “This is wonderful! Howcome I’ve never seen any of this when I onlylive 100 km away? I have to do somethingto catalogue and preserve it all.”

boosting tourism, and “the internal, lessvisible value” has been seriously devalued.

How can we protect the wealth of cultu-ral diversity from being swamped by thehuge social, economic and political changestransforming the planet, and ensure that theynot only survive but prosper? What must bedone to prevent local communities frombecoming mere consumers of culture ratherthan its makers?

“It’s not a question of ‘freezing’ culture,”says Noriko Aikawa, the director ofUNESCO’s Intangible Heritage Section.“Culture is not static, it evolves and we needto remain aware of this. Nor must we try topreserve all the traditional and popular cul-tures. They cover too vast a domain for thatto be possible. Unhappy examples of tradi-tional cultures which fail to respect humanrights, democracy and justice also exist.”

UNESCO’s 1989 Recommendation forthe Safeguarding of Traditional Culture andFolklore sets guidelines for policies on thepreservation, protection and promotion ofintangible heritage. However, a growing bodyof opinion feels that it needs updating (seebox), in view of the changes that have resha-ped the world since the end of the Cold War

The xylophone on legs hasbeen given a new lease onlife

in 1989, including the emergence of groupsseeking their genuine cultural identity, and,in particular, the incredible technologicalprogress that has taken place.

Such a review is timely. Because thosesame forces that are undermining traditio-nal cultures may also provide us - if usedwisely - with the best means of conservingthem, revitalizing and promoting them.Modern technology allows, more than everbefore, the accurate audiovisual recordingof many cultural manifestations, so that theycan be transmitted from one generation tothe next. Modern communications and tou-rism can make them known to audiencesaround the world, providing recognition onan international scale. Such encounters bet-ween cultures - especially between the young- also provide fertile ground for new creationand artistic forms, such as ethno-technomusic. And the globalization of the economycould provide a wealth of new opportuni-ties for the development and well-being ofcommunities firmly anchored in the pastbut with their sights set clearly on thefuture.

Sue Williams

REVIEWING THERECOMMENDATIONIn 1995, UNESCOlaunched a series ofregional surveys tosystematically assessthe implementation of the 1989 Recommenda-tion on the Safeguard-ing of Traditional Cultureand Folklore. The resultsof these surveys will bepresented at a con-ference of experts in thedomain of intangibleheritage, to be held inWashington from June27-30, organized byUNESCO and the Smith-sonian Institution andsponsored by the Japa-nese government, theRockefeller Foundation,the National Endowmentfor the Humanities andthe National Endowmentfor the Arts (U.S.A), andthe World Bank.

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What are you working on right now?

Music is ever-present in Madagascar, espe-cially among the Antandoy people. There’srhythm, melody and tone in everything theydo. The women are always singing, whe-ther they’re going to fetch water or busycooking. When they’re pounding grain,there’s music. When they’re weaving mats,they sing accompanied by the sound of therustling straw. All ceremonies start and endwith music. It’s part of every game, every lei-sure activity.

The full moon’s a big occasion for musictoo. Under the light of the moon, children andgrown-ups start coming out of their housesand interacting through music until everyo-ne’s outside making music. The valiha

players can be heard, along with the specialnoises of the frogs and the cicadas. It’s anincredible panorama of sound.

Right now, I’m interested in a kind ofmusic played by children, called the galeha.They hit or pinch their throats to make sud-den sounds or a yodelling noise. The galeha

has very rich roots. It’s a sort of vocal contestbetween two people or two groups – thoughnever from the same family – who hurl insultsat each other. The words are very studied.The children call out the names of body partsof their opponents’ relatives, touch eachother and sometimes physically fight.

They learn about the tradition of honourby defending the honour of the insultedfamily and their own. It’s also a kind of ini-tiation ceremony. Only those children whocan perform the galeha and verbally defendthemselves are considered fit to be she-pherds: you can’t entrust a herd of oxen tosomeone who doesn’t know how to defendthemselves.

Are these traditions in danger of

dying out?

Not really, but they’re changing. TheBara people told me the names of famousvaliha players, of great musicians, yet intheir territory, there are only two valihas

left, when once it was the national instru-ment. Xylophones on legs are becomingscarce. Antandoy children don’t yodel muchany more.

But maybe they’ve created somethingelse. For example, among the Sakalavapeople, the galeha didn’t exist. But theAntandoy brought it with them when theymigrated and Sakalava children do it now.

How can people be made aware of

traditional music in a country where

several ethnic groups live together?

You’re not necessarily going to like musicif you’ve never heard it before. But if themusic of a xylophone on legs is heard onthe radio, the villagers who are used to hea-ring it will be moved and delighted.Nowadays, Madagascans like Céline Dion.

The UNESCO Collection ofTraditional Music of the World,one of the leading lights of theintangible heritage programme,has been revamped. Twenty five ofthe 110 recordings have beenselected for re-release with a newpackage and a low price tag.

Created in 1961 by Alain Danielou,a French specialist of Indiancultures, it set out to introduce thepopular and learned musicaltraditions from different culturalareas to a broad public. TheUNESCO collection was a pioneerin the field, preceding the boomduring the 70s for the music of Asiaand, in the 80s the rise of Africanmusic.The recordings, most ofwhich were made in-situ providean invaluable resource for today’screators, musicologists andtraditional music lovers, especiallyas some of the music recorded inthe Collection no longer exists. It is the third best-selling collectionof its type in the world, and hasreceived several majorinternational awards in recognitionof its achievements.

She’s someone they’re not familiar with butthey’ve gradually got used to her. After hea-ring the sound of the xylophone from thesouth, the people from the north will likewiseeventually get accustomed to it. If traditio-nal music was broadcast, I think peoplewould get used to it too. It’s a political deci-sion, really, to broadcast it.

Are you optimistic about the future

of music in Madagascar?

The kind of thing that makes me hopefulis when I go to villages where no-one’s playedthe xylophone on legs for 30 years, and theystart making these instruments again andthe kids ask “what’s that?” and begin playingthem. Ethno-musicology isn’t just about stu-dying music, it’s about making people awareand helping to revive forgotten customs.

Sending musicians abroad helps. Whenthere’s no-one to listen to you playing, youget discouraged. When musicians know theycan be appreciated helps them to keep going.When a group I sent to Europe got back fromtheir trip, all their friends said: “We’re goingto start playing music again.”

What kind of recording equipment

do you have?

I’ve got a portable DAT (digital audiotape) and I record on cassettes. I’d’ve likedto have three or four microphones, or atleast two, and a mixing panel. But I’ve onlygot very basic equipment and I have to workto get a good quality recording. That’s wherea musical ear is very important.

Interview by Nadia Khouri-Dagher

“”

Among the

Antandoy...

all ceremonies

start and end

with music

One of 110

14 June 1999 - No. 113

Takeshi Kitamura: modesty and patience

In the summer of 1972, archaeologists in MaWang Tui, in China’s Hunan province, dug

up the mummified body of a young noble-woman who lived at the time of the Handynasty (206 BC to 220 AD). Her corpse wasdressed in silk and in ra, a kind of intricategauze material which was very fashionablein Japan until the 15th century.

Takeshi Kitamura, a Japanese masterweaver, saw these examples of ra in an exhi-bition in Kyoto the following year. “Thesecret of its manufacture had been lost andit could not be made using modern tech-niques,” he said. “I studied the antique frag-ments in depth and eventually managed toreproduce them with new equipment.” Inrecognition of his skills, the government gaveKitamura, already acclaimed as one of Japan’sgreatest weavers and the winner of severalprizes, the title of “living human treasure,” acategory which Japan invented in 1955 andwhich UNESCO would like to see all coun-tries adopt (see box).

Fabrics in Japan, as everywhere else inAsia, have a value which textiles have lost inthe West. “In ancient times, textiles were dis-tributed through what is often called the SilkRoad. They were as highly esteemed as pre-cious stones or gold,” says Ken Kirihata, whoteaches at Otemae College, near Kobe(Japan). Kitamura managed not only to res-tore ancient pieces of ra but also revived acraft using a wooden loom to once moreproduce ra.

“The loom setting used by Kitamura iscomplicated beyond all imagination,” saysKirihata. “The delicacy of the finished silkgauze inspires images of the tradition ofancient China and at the same time elicits afresh and modern impression.” Kitamurahas also mastered another difficult techniquefrom the Han period: tate-nishiki (wrap-pat-terned brocades), “which no-one else couldhope to imitate.”

Kitamura, who has more the modesty ofa craftsman than the vanity of an artist, sayshe has “continued to work in weaving withoutreally liking it.” Because Kitamura is a pro-fessional craftsman and weaving is nothingmore than his job, he doesn’t say: ‘I can’twait to weave, says Ruiko Kato, a formersenior curator of the National Museum ofModern Art in Kyoto.

He started working as an apprentice whenhe was 15, to help his family, in the textileindustry of Kyoto’s Nishijin-ori district.However, he set about the arduous task ofmastering the various techniques and wor-ked in several workshops. “It takes a long

time to acquire the requisite experience,” hesays. “Creativity cannot come until later.”

Kitamura is pessimistic about the futureof craftsmanship in Japan. “In a consumersociety, it is very difficult to make traditio-nal crafts pay,” he says. “Weaving, for example,is a difficult trade. It’s not very remunerativeand it continues to need support.”

The Japanese Traditional HandicraftsAssociation has launched a training pro-gramme for 10 young weavers to learn the ra

technique from Kitamura. “Once, techniquesand styles were passed on to just one personwithin the family, and it was important to pre-serve the secret,” he says. “But there aredrawbacks to the new scheme. It is restric-tive to confine the learning experience tojust one technique. Also, weaving is a skill you

learn by doing, and the time available forthat may be too short.”

But the man who illustrates the crafts-man’s humility and patience is not above atouch of professional jealousy. One of the ra

kimonos he made is on display at London’sVictoria and Albert Museum and otherexamples of his work can be seen inmuseums in Japan. “It would be a good ideato devise some form of patent,” he says,“otherwise one’s work can be copied.” Butto copy them, you would have to have spent,like Kitamura, more than 50 years learningvarious complex weaving techniques.

Nadia Khouri-Dagher, with Lidia

Panzeri in Venice

LIVINGHUMANTREASURESUNESCO is hoping everycountry in the world willtake up the idea of “livinghuman treasures”.Member-states adopteda resolution to that effectin 1993. As with theWorld Heritage List,which picks outexceptional sites, the listof “human treasures”will seek exceptionalcraftsmen and women.This statute would qualifythem for grants to traintalented young people.Japan, came up with theidea in 1955, and SouthKorea, adopted it in 1962.France introduced thecategory of “mastercraftsperson” in 1994 andmany other countriesactively support craftactivities.

A living human treasure

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A storyteller’suniverse The Square of Djemaa el Fna in

Marrakesh is a monument. Not a vast

stone edifice that has weathered the centu-

ries, but rather a “cultural space”, whose

ever-changing inhabitants serve as keepers

of a tradition that enchants all those who

enter within: a monument to humanity’s

oral heritage, argues Spanish writer Juan

Goytisolo.

Its bards, performers, acrobats, come-dians, story-tellers are, more or less, equal innumber and quality as the day I arrived....Ifwe compare its appearance with photographstaken at the beginning of the Protectorate(1912-1930), the differences are few: buil-dings are more solid, still modest; an increasein wheeled transport; a vertigionous prolife-ration of bicycles; identical hackney carriagesand traps. The groups around horse-tradersstill mix with those story-tellers, framed bythe steam wafting hospitality from thecooking pots. The immutable minaret of theKoutubia surveys the glories of the dead andthe helter-skelter of the living.

In honour of GATT, Djemma el Fna wastarmacked, swept, spruced up: the stalls thatpunctually invaded its space ... migrated tomore favourable climes. The Square lost alittle of its hassle and hullabaloo, but retai-ned its authenticity.

Death brought natural losses to the ranksof its most distinguished offspring. First wentBakshish the clown with the tassled bonnet,whose daily performances drew to the insu-lar orb of his halca, a tightly packed ring ofon-lookers, adults and children. Then,Mamadh, the bike artist, springing fromhandle-bars to seat, spinning swiftly round inhis magical balancing act. Two years ago itknocked on the door of Saruh (the Rocket),majestic seer, reciter of tasty stories of hisown creation...

More recently, I was informed of the acci-dental death of Tabib al Hacharat (the InsectDoctor) ...(whose) verbal humour, tales of fan-

tasy, wordplay, palindromes, were uncons-ciously linked to Al Hariri’s Makamat ... Hisparodies of the television news, recipe for thebiggest hotpot in the world, spiced by ritualquestions to his audience, are models ofinventive wit.

...But the most serious loss ... was thesurprise closing down of café Matich: Djemaael Fna has yet to come to terms with theblow. Its strategic position on the busiestcorner of the Square made it the hub of hubs,its real heart. An eagle eye from there encom-passed the whole realm and treasured itssecrets: quarrels, encounters, greetings, con-tricks, furtive groping or gleeful poking, tale-telling, insults, itinerant hum of the blind,gestures of charity. Jostling of crowds, imme-diacy of bodies, space in perpetual move-ment comprising the boundless plot of a filmwithout end. Seedbed of stories, hive of anec-dotes, pageant of morality tales crowned bya clothes-peg were the daily diet of the addic-ted...

Like nostalgic emigrésOnce the café closed down, we habitués

scattered like a diaspora of insects deprivedof their nest. The gnaua gather at night onthe inhospitable asphalt or meet up in the bac-kroom of an old fonduk on Derb Dabachi. therest of us come to terms as best we can, reli-ving episodes and moments of its mythicalpast splendours, like nostaligic emigrés in themakeshift shelters of exile.

But Djemaa el Fna resists the combinedonslaught of time and an obtuse grubbymodernity. New talents emerge and anaudience hungry for stories crowds glee-fully around its bards and performers. Thespace’s incredible vitality and digestive capa-city glues together what is scattered, tem-porarily suspends differences of class or hie-rarchy. This year the nights of Ramadanassembled tens of thousands in its centreand roadways, around the portable cookers,and raucous bargaining over shoes, clothes,toys and bric-a-brac. In the glow of the oillamps, I thought I noticed the presence ofJuan Ruiz, Chaucer, Ibn Zayid, Al Hariri, aswell as countless goliads and dervishes. Thedazzling incandescence of the word prolongsits miraculous reign. But sometimes I amworried by the vulnerability of it all and mylips tremble fearfully with a single question:“For how long?”

Extracts from Xema-el Fna, Patrimonio

oral de la humanidad by Juan Goytisolo(Galaxia Gutenberg/Circulo de Lectores,1997) ●

UNESCO’s new distinc-tion - the Masterpiecesof oral and intangibleheritage of humanity,honours the most re-markable “culturalspaces” (defined as aplace hosting popularand traditional culturalactivities) and popularand traditional forms ofexpression. Formally adopted byUNESCO executiveboard last November,the idea originated at ameeting of Moroccanintellectuals and JuanGoytisolo, the Spanishauthor, and supportedby Carlos Fuentes,organized by UNESCO’sheld in Marrakesh inJune 1997. “Masterpieces” selec-ted by an internationaljury, will be proclaimedby UNESCO’s Director-General every twoyears.

A label ofexcellence

Djemma el Fna, tarmacked and spruced upbut still magic

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IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF

CULTURE OF PEACE

CULTURE

What is Peace?“Peace is much more than theabsence of conflict. It involves,above all, democracy and deve-lopment.” These were the wordsof UNESCO Director-GeneralFederico Mayor at the opening ofa culture of peace conference inMoscow this May.

30 years later...“The temples of Abu Simbel havebecome a lighthouse...we all havemanaged by our care and sym-pathy towards human heritageto save something more thanmere stones. Stones are mean-gingless without our creative-ness,” said Sarwat Okasha, for-mer minister for culture in Egypt,on June 2 at an event held atheadquarters commemoratingthe 30th anniversary of theInternational Campaign for theSafeguarding of the NubianTemples. This campaign, which resultedin the temples being dismantledand reassembled out of the reachof the Aswan Dam, was the firstmajor world heritage preserva-tion campaign conducted underthe aegis of UNESCO, and resul-ted largely from the determina-tion of Okasha and FrenchEgyptologist Christiane DerochesNoblecourt. “If UNESCO’s repu-tation was made on the occasionof this campaign, it owes this topersonalities such as yourselves,”said Federico Mayor, UNESCO’sDirector-General, in a special tri-bute to them. “You have enoughenthusiasm to move mountains- as has been proven.”

TO SAVE THE BOLSHOIUNESCO launched an interna-tional campaign on May 13 tosave the renowned but crum-bling Bolshoi Theatre inMoscow. The organization hasbeen working with the Bolshoisince 1993, when the Russiangovernment asked for help tomodernise it. A steering com-mittee headed by Greek patronAlexandra C. Vovolini-Laskaridisand comprising representativesof the Bolshoi, the Russiangovernment, the city of Moscowand the directors of several ofthe world’s grand opera houses,has been set up to guide the cam-paign. A honorary committee hasalso been established to pro-mote the Bolshoi’s cause, brin-ging together personalities fromthe arts such as Maurice Béjart,Montserrat Caballé, CarolineCarlson, Carlo Fontana, JamesGalway, John Neumeier and SirPeter Ustinov.An exhibition on the famoustheatre will be inaugurated inthe U.K in July and will travelwith the Bolshoi troupe whene-ver it goes on tour, in a bid toalert public opinion and mobi-lise funds for the theatre’s res-toration and repair.

Literature’sfuture?Writers Philippe Sollers(France), Vassilis Vassilikos(Greece) and Ramakanta Rath(India) discussed the role of lite-rature in tomorrow’s world in adebate What Future forLiterature? - the 7th in the seriesof 21st Century Talks - atHeadquarters on May 20.Philippe Sollers, author ofFemmes, Portrait du joueur, andLes Surprises de Fragonard, war-ned of a possible “alliance bet-ween harsh, brutal censorshipwhich leads to the courtroom,

Moscow’s Red Square

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Moving mountains and savingthe Nubian Temples

Philippe Sollers

Representatives of Russia’s cul-tural and scientific community aswell as guest personalities and 59mayors from different parts ofthe world attended theInternational Forum “For aCulture of Peace and Dialogueamong Civilizations in the ThirdMillenium.” The forum aimed to draw theattention of public opinion to thefact that a culture of peaceand dialogue between differentcultures and civilizations re-quires the acquisition of a gene-ral culture - cultural, civic andsocial awareness - and civilsociety therefore plays a pri-mordial role in establishing theconditions allowing for the deve-lopment of this culture of peaceand dialogue.

to death sentences, to the assas-sination of writers, and the cen-sorship practised in the so-calleddeveloped countries and whichstrikes not at books but at thealleged absence of readers.”For Rath, the author of KateDinara and Shri Radha, the wri-ter has become totally irreleventto society. Particularly damagingto literature, he said, is the factthat language is parting com-pany with the way it was tradi-tionally used by the communityand is “being used to express notwhat you believe in but what youwould like others to believe in.”Vassilis Vassilikos, who wrote Zand Rêves diurnes, pointed outthat “As long as human beingswill speak they will want to

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express themselves through theword” but expressed concernthat “our technological civiliza-

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“It is difficult to getsupport for peace-

building, while it is soeasy to raise billions ofdollars for destruction”

Federico Mayorthe director-general

of UNESCO

“People areexploited only

because they are notconscious of their ownpower... Only peoplewho are aware canprovide the dynamismfor change”

Narayan Desai,(India)

Non violent activist at a

UNESCO culture of peace

conference in Moscow

“More than anyother social

institution education isfundamentally aboutknowledge, informationand communication.Although it certainlymakes use of materialtools and sometimesresults in the productionof material goods, theseare ancillary to thefundamental process ofeducation: people usingknowledge to createmore knowledgeablepeople”

Vincent Mosco,professor of

Communications,University of Carleton,

Canada in his Point of View,

available athttp//www.unesco.org/

webworld

“The mostimportant thing

UNESCO means to meis courage, because ithas always seemed tome to be the one UnitedNations organizationthat will take up issuesthat others are afraid totouch”

Michael KirbyAustralian Justice

on accepting the 1999Human Rights Education

Prize

17No. 113 - June 1999

IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF

EDUCATION

Statistics Make aDifferenceEducation reform in the ArabStates has been slowed down inthe past by a lack of reliable edu-cation statistics. A new UNESCOproject in Beirut is providing theregion’s education ministrieswith systems to collect, store andanalyse data, and subsequentlyuse that data to make informeddecisions.“Lack of sound databases ofreliable statistics is compromi-sing the reform of educationsystems,” says Victor Billeh,director of UNESCO Beirut office.“It could well compromise eco-nomic growth.” To combat theproblem, the office has launcheda new initiative to provide edu-cation ministers with systems tocollect store and analyse easy-to-understand information.The initiative was recently pre-sented to decision-makers andtechnicians from 13 Arab Statesin a regional training workshopusing educational informationsystems developed in Jordan,Lebanon and Oman. During thefour-day meeting, they analysedtheir systems in detail and com-pared their own practices withthose of other countries. All were

exposed to modern technologiesfor data management and repor-ting.

A NEW RAPIDRESPONSE FORCEUNESCO signed a Memorandumof Understanding with theNorwegian Refugee Council onMay 28, which gives the orga-nization access to the NRC’sstandby emergency force of over600 professionals available togo into crisis areas at 72 hoursnotice.With a budget of over $37.5 mil-lion, the NRC is one of Norway’slargest private aid organizations,specialising in humantiarianrelief for people displaced byhuman-made crises.“We are working in four conti-nents very closely with UnitedNations agencies, “ said OlaMetliaas, the secretary-generalof the NRC at the signing cere-mony. “We are looking forwardto to working with you in theBalkans.”While UNESCO’s mission doesnot include provision of food,shelter or medical aid, it is hea-vily involved in providing edu-cation for refugees (see SourcesNo. 112), and has already worked

UNESCO andPapua New GuineaOn May 7 UNESCO and PapuaNew Guinea signed an agree-ment to reinforce their coope-ration. Papua New Guinea willreinforce its participation invarious education and scientificprogrammes. The education sideincludes: Associated Schools,education for women and chil-dren, Learning Without Fron-tiers, literacy programmes, pro-jects about population and theenvironment, and teacher trai-ning. On the science agendaPapua New Guinea will play agreater role in UNESCO’s Manand the Biosphere programme,intergovernmental geologicalprogrammes, hydrology pro-grammes and on Intergovern-mental Oceanographic Commis-sion. Two UNESCO chairs willalso be created, in engineeringand anthropology. Papua NewGuinea, situated north ofAustralia, has a population offour million.

LATIN AMERICAN ARTOne of the largest exhibitions of Latin American and Caribbeancontemporary art ever held in Paris took place at Headquarters inJune. “On the threshold of the 21st Century: The Plastic Arts inLatin America and the Caribbean,“ included paintings, sculpturesand installations by 94 artists from 23 countries.The exhibition, organised by the Group of Latin American andCaribbean Member States of UNESCO (GRULAC), paid tribute torenowned artists such as Wifredo Lam, Oswaldo Guayasamin,Fernando Botero, Cicero Dias, Roberto Matta, Armando Morales,Jesús Soto, and Antonio Seguí. It also featured the new generationof artists active in the region.

EXHIBITION

Fernando Botero: the dressmaker

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closely with the NRC in reliefoperations in Somalia, Rwanda,Tanzania and Angola.

SOUND AND VISION

18 June 1999 - No. 113

IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF

MAILBOX

BOOKS

Cultural Rights and Wrongsedited by Halina NiecUNESCO Publishing 1998pp 206; price FF150“The ‘global village’ is actuallyclosed; it is a circle of theaffluent.” So says Kishore Singh,a specialist on the Culture ofPeace programme at UNESCO.He is just one of twelve peoplewho have contributed to CulturalRights and Wrongs. This bookreflects a wide range of opinionson the current state and futuredevelopment of cultural rights.Released to mark the FiftiethAnniversary of the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights,this volume addresses mattersof the gravest concern for indi-genous peoples, authors andartists, speakers of minority lan-guages and others. What are cultural rights? Wouldtheir better definition and enfor-cement improve the lot of humanbeings in many prejudicial situa-tions, beyond the protection theyalready have from existing humanrights instruments? Why are “cul-tural” rights so much more diffi-

cult to define than other humanrights? This collection of essaysby distinguished authors repre-senting all five continents showsthe differences in views of cul-tural rights, and the differentapproaches taken to them byscholars, legislators and citizens.Biodiversity, the freedom of theartist and linguistic rights arejust some of the very differentsubjects tackled.

OPERAS ANDGAMELANS OFINDONESIAIndonesia. Java. Music of the Theatre.Recorded byJacques Brunet. AuvidisUNESCO, 91 FFThe Javanese culture is renow-ned for the incredible diversity ofperforming arts, from dance toshadow-puppets. The 19th cen-tury was a particularly produc-tive period. The Sultans, strip-ped of their political powers bythe Dutch colonial rulers, focu-sed their attention on the cultu-ral and artistic domains. The poe-try, dance and music of thisperiod is still greatly appreciatedtoday. Music of the Theatre offerstwo works from the end of the19th century: an opera - TheDemons of Ramayana, written bycomposer, Prince Danuredjo VII;and an operetta, Diversions ofthe Heart, created by PrinceMangkunagara IV.This latter recording includes

elderly artists who practise acomplicated vocal style whichhas virtually died out today. It isplayed on one of the country’smost beautiful gamelans - one ofthe 27 remaining in the palace ofMangkunagara IV.Javanese theatre is founded firstand foremost on music. There arethree elements, firstly the ins-trumental music of the gamelan,the narration sung by the dalang,and the vocal part representedeither by dancer-singers or a cho-rus. This CD captures the essenceof these three elements.

MAJOR UNESCOACTIVITIESLACK LINKAGECharles M. GottschalkU.S.A.As a retired UNESCOstaff member and cur-rently a free-lanceconsultant in energy, Iregularly read your veryuseful monthlyUNESCO Sources. I was surprised, afterreading the March 1999issue, to find an articleby Prof. Inge Johansen

entitled The Full Cost ofEnergy to find an experton energy failing tomention one of themajor and most widelyrecognized globalrenewable energy pro-grammes initiated andsupported by UNESCOthrough its Div. ofEngineering andTechnology, viz. theWorld SolarProgramme 1996-2005(WSP). This programmewhich focuses on thedeveloping countries,

could have providedmuch more accuratestatistics on rene-wables than thosecited by Prof.Johansen. The WSPgoverning body, theWorld SolarCommission, has itsSecretariat at UNESCO.The WSP has dealtwith ethical issues ofapplying and promotingrenewable energies, aswell as with culturaland sociological ones.I sincerely hope that

the new UNESCOWorld Commission onthe Ethics of Scienceand Technology(COMEST) which wasmandated to detectearly signs of risksituations in thedomain of energy,among others, was bet-ter informed at its firstmeeting in April ‘99 ofUNESCO’s own energyinvolvement.

In its April edition (No.111),Sources wrongly indicatedthat one of the winners of the1998 Félix Houphouët BoignyPeace Prize - the PrimeMinister of BangladeshShiekh Hasena Wazed - was aman, who had been awardedthe prize for “bringing aboutnational conflict in his coun-try”. Our apologies to SheikHasena, a woman who hascontributed immesurably tothe resolution of conflict andthe restoration of peace inher country.

19No. 113 - June 1999

IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF

PERIODICALS

SOCIALES SCIENCES

Regional Conflictsand GlobalisationThe Management of SocialTransformations Programme(MOST) has launched the firstissue of its Journal on CulturalPluralism. Dedicated to the ques-tion of religious pluralism, itnotably includes contributionsconcerning the rise of religiousconflicts around the world. Theupcoming numbers of this newquarterly will be focus on suc-

●●● To find out more«Exploring religious pluralism», MOST Journal on Cultural Pluralism,vol.1, n°1. www.unesco.org/most

cessful examples of religious plu-ralism in certain regions. TheMOST Journal on CulturalPluralism welcomes experts’ideas and contributions forfuture publication.

SCIENCE

“OUR EARTH - OUR FUTURE - JUST SAVE IT!”...is the theme adopted to cele-brate this year’s WorldEnvironment Day on June 5.To mark the occasion, FedericoMayor, UNESCO’s Director-General urged people every-where “take action now to pro-tect and clean up our air, landand water - then we will set inmotion the only process whichcan really ensure that presentand future generations enjoy ahealthy environment: a processof active, responsible, personaland collective stewardship.“Protecting the environment isfirst and foremost a matter ofawareness and commitment,” hesaid. “We have to adopt attitudesand policies which drasticallylimit pollution and the many otherforms of damage which threatennatural resources, biodiversityand the climate... Together, wecan make the new century a newstart for the environment.”

THE UNESCOCOURIERThe number of people living incities has doubled since 1975 andwill double again between nowand the year 2015. This month’sissue of the UNESCO Couriertakes a look at this unpreceden-ted urban revolution, whichmainly affects the Third Worldand is not just a question of num-bers. The appearance, organisa-tion, and even the function ofcities have been revolutionised.Traditionally, cities have beenplaces of meeting and exchange,

●●● To find out morewww.unesco.org/courier

but now they are splitting upinto enclaves divided by wallsbuilt by the well-off, and bysocial and ethnic barriers.Demographics, migrations, glo-balisation and street childrenform just a part of this widesubject. Other features in thisissue include laws in space anda feature on the rice revolu-tion.

PROSPECTSThe major subject for discussionin this issue of Prospects is tech-nical and vocational education. In a world where the demandfor education increasingly findsexpression in terms of qualifi-cations and skills that are reco-gnized by the labour market,technical education has becomea strategic component of edu-cational policy. Nine articles inthis issue look at the challengefacing TVE, in nine very diffe-rent ways. Reforms, training,economics and infrastructureare just some of the subjectswhich are touched upon.“Technical and vocational edu-cation is the component of edu-cation most directly concernedwith the acquisition of the know-ledge and skills required by allcitizens and workers in mostmanufacturing and serviceindustries. Although there isdebate about whether TVEcreates jobs, it is undisputed thatit can provide people with skillsrequired to give them betteropportunities for employmentand re-employment and to func-tion in modern societies, “ writesColin Power, UNESCO’s assis-tant director-general for educa-tion in an article about TVE inthe twenty-first century.

World HeritageReview“With ten life zones ranging fromlow montane dry forest to thesnowline, the ecology of the sanc-tuary of Machu Picchu is highlydiverse and complex.” Issue 11 ofthis quarterly magazine focuseson Machu Picchu, the Lost Cityof the Incas in Peru. Discoveredin this century in 1911, thisexceptional pre-Hispanic site isnow the greatest tourist attrac-tion in South America, and wasincluded on the World HeritageList in 1983. The article containssome stunning photographs that

illustrate the magnificence andbeauty of both the city and its sur-rounding landscape. Otherarticles in the issue cover NewZealand’s Tongariro NationalPark; the Royal Palace of Abomeyin Benin; and the Grande Île ofStrasbourg;

●●● To find out morePublications and periodicals are soldat UNESCO’s bookshop(Headquarters) and through nationaldistributors in most countries.For further information or directorders by mail, fax or Internet;UNESCO Publishing, 7 place deFontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP. Tel. (+33 1) 01 45 68 43 00 - Fax (33 1) 01 45 68 57 41. Internet:http://www.unesco.org/publishing

A new kit on the history of the slave trade aims

to open students’ eyes to one of humanity’s darkest chapters

20 June 1999 - No. 113

SLAVERY: BREAKING THESILENCE IN THE CLASSROOMSU

ntil lions have their ownhistorians, tales of the

hunt will always glorify thehunter,” says a Nigerianproverb. This is whyUNESCO’s ground-breakingGeneral History of Africaand General History of theCaribbean have been in-cluded in a new educationalresource kit relating to theTransatlantic Slave Trade.

The kit - which includesbooks, periodicals, postersand project publications -has recently arrived in morethan 100 UNESCO Asso-ciated Schools around theworld. In the absence oftextbooks, teachers and stu-dents will use this kit as rawmaterial to develop newapproaches to the complexand sensitive subject of slav-ery.

RESTORING THE MEMORYPrinted on the kitbags in

large white letters are thewords “Breaking the Si-lence,” the slogan of theTransatlantic Slave Trade(TST) Education projectwhich involves both UNES-CO’s education and culturesectors.

“The hope is that by beingstudied, the topic will acquirea universal quality and fea-ture in the history books ofevery country,” explainsDoudou Diene, the directorof Intercultural Projectsincluding the Slave Routeprogramme (see Sources No.99, March 1998). “Througheducation, the memory of theslave trade was erased.Through education, it can berestored again.”

“The three key words ofthe project are causes, con-sequences and contribu-tions,” explains ElizabethKhawajkie, international co-

CULTURE & EDUCATION

selves, compiled by Profes-sor Hilary Beckles, ViceChancellor of the Universityof the West Indies, and oneof the experts who advisedUNESCO on the project,with his colleague Dr VereneShepherd.

“Slaves not only foughtback; they wrote and spokeback,” says Beckles. “Theyunderstood and critiquedthe dominant European sci-entific and intellectualdogma on the subject ofslavery and race. Africanswrote important treatises,dictated autobiographicalaccounts, presented criticaloral testimony to Commis-sions of Inquiry, and madearrangements for the re-cording and publication of awide body of opinion.”

With the kits as a solidfoundation for study, ano-ther aim of the project is toestablish a dialogue be-tween students and teachersin Africa, the Americas/Caribbean and Europe. Adirectory of participants willenable schools to create anew triangle of cooperation,to share the results of theirwork and undertake pro-jects in common.

PILGRIMAGEProject activities under-

way include a triangularexchange on the UniversalDeclaration of HumanRights between students atthree Associated Schools inGhana, Norway and Trini-dad, who have been study-ing how the different arti-cles are applied in each oftheir countries.

“This is the first of manyTST-related projects in ourlittle triangle of partner-ship,” remarks Jon Moller,the Norwegian teacher coor-dinating the project. “Wewon’t stop until all the arti-cles are covered.” Two otherschools, in Dakar (Senegal)and Tenerife (Spain) havealso shared their work onthe theme of slavery.

Despite using internetsites and email, there is nomore valuable experiencethan meeting each otherface to face. The opportu-nity for this will arise at theTST/World Heritage YouthForum in Dakar, Senegalfrom 21 to 27 August.Together, students, teach-ers and experts will partic-ipate in the commemorativeceremonies on 23 August ,the International Day for theRemembrance of the SlaveTrade and its Abolition. Ahighlight will be the pil-

ordinator of the AssociatedSchools Project Network.“By studying the TST, youngpeople learn about the rootcauses of this tragedy and itsmultiple consequences -both the racism it generatedand the vast contributionmade by the African diasporato the societies where theyand their descendants set-tled, from music to architec-ture to traditional medicine.”

The resource kits will beused initially by teachersand their 14 -16-year-old stu-dents in over 100 secondaryschools at the three pointsof the “triangle” - Africa, theAmericas/Caribbean andEurope.

The material they willstudy includes an anthologyof works by slaves them-

The whole world needs to know their story

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Who ever heard of an unemployed plumber or television

technician? Vocational education may not be a panacea for all the

worlds unemployment ills, but it could provide part of the solution

EDUCATION

21No. 113 - June 1999

LEARNING TO DO

changes and it is the spreadof this kind of training whichwill help us meet that chal-lenge.”

University students inpoor countries routinelyfind themselves unem-ployed after graduating, orelse take a job for whichthey are overqualified orwhich is outside their field.In some African countries,the jobless rate in this groupis as high as 50%.

These days, young peoplein rich Western countries arenot spared this fate either.The time when higher edu-cation, which was reservedfor an elite, guaranteedwork, security and a presti-gious job has long passed.Young Westerners are nowvictims of this economicbreakdown, which is madeworse by the theoretical

grimage to the Slaves’ Houseon Gorée Island, where cap-tives were locked up beforepassing through the narrow“door of no return” to beshipped across the Atlanticto a life of servitude. It isone of the most poignantplaces associated with theslave trade. Doudou Dienesums it up: “ The fight forhuman rights is a fight forremembrance, for anytragedy hidden away canappear again in differentforms.”

Jean O’Sullivan

To find out more about the

ASPnet TST project, consult

http.//www.unesco.org/edu-

cation/educprog/asp

The world has to comeup with a “new vision”

of technical and professio-nal education. So concludedthe 715 delegates to thesecond UNESCO-sponsoredcongress on the subject,held in Seoul (Republic ofKorea) from April 26-30.

“So far, we have tendedto develop special subjectswithin classic school anduniversity structures,” saysQian Tang, the director ofUNESCO’s Section forTechnical and VocationalEducation. “We now realisewe must take a very muchbroader approach. We stillneed technical and profes-sional education, but weneed it everywhere and atall stages of a person’s life.Economics and societyrequire us to constantlyadapt to often brutal

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nature of courses and therace to obtain social status.

In countries like France,unemployment is higherthan 10% of the workforce,but industry sometimes hastrouble finding technicianswith suitable qualifications.“In Australia,” notes QianTang, “more and more gra-duates are turning to tech-nical and professional col-leges to get qualificationswhich will help them get ajob.”

This gives hope thatvocational education willget a better reputation inWestern countries, where itstill has a low status. Notmany families are keen ontheir children becomingplumbers even thoughplumbers can always findwork and earn a decentliving.

Also, in this changingworld, you have to have achanging education, onewhere people do not get putoff and drop out, and onewhich can help wage-ear-ners learn new techniquesand adjust to ever morerapid changes in the natureof work. If this is not done,after 10, 20 or 30 yearspeople will find themselvesout of the picture at an agewhen firms are unenthu-siastic about hiring them.For this, education itselfmust change and becomeless academic.

Even in Japan, whichhas always encouragedfierce competition andextremely rigid education(which has pushed someschoolchildren to suicideafter getting bad marks),things are changing. A new

●●● Olaudah Equiano was born in the village of Essaka in Iboland, Nigeria, around 1745. At about theage of 14, he and his sister were kidnapped by slave raiders. “One day, when all our people were gone out to their works as usual and only I and my dear sister were left to

mind the house, two men and a woman got over our walls, and in amoment seized us both, and without giving us time to cry out or makeresistance they stopped our mouths and ran off with us into the nearestwoods......The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast wasthe sea, and a slave ship which was then riding at anchor and waiting forits cargo. These filled me with astonishment, which was soon convertedto terror when I was carried on board. I was immediately handled andtossed up to see if I were sound by some of the crew, and I was nowpersuaded that I had gotten into a world of bad spirits and that they weregoing to kill me ...When I looked around the ship too and saw a largefurnace or copper boiling and a multitude of black people of everydescription chained together, every one of their countenances expressingdejection and sorrow, I no longer doubted of my fate, and quiteoverpowered with horror and anguish, I fell motionless on the deck andfainted......One day... two of my wearied countrymen who were chained together,

somehow made through the nettings and jumped into the sea: immediately another quite dejected fellow, whoon account of his illness was suffered to be out of irons, also followed their example ...Those of us that werethe most active were in a moment put down under the deck, and there was such a noise and confusionamongst the people of the ship as I never heard before, to stop her and get the boat out to go after the slaves.However two of the wretches were drowned, but they got the other and afterwards flogged him unmercifullyfor thus attempting to prefer death to slavery...”

Taken from Slaves’ Voices, an anthology of slaves writings included in the new education kit

FROM THE SLAVES THEMSELVES...

Struggling in dignity

and professional schools inthe countries of EasternEurope, which are lockedin a system that does nottrain young people or helpthem to avoid unemploy-ment. The educational setupis so rigid that at the age of13, children have to makesubject choices which areirreversible and will governthe rest of their lives, hesays.

“Students are taught spe-cific isolated skills whichoffer them little chance ofhorizontal mobility, eitherwithin education or in thejob market once they gra-duate. Students do not havethe skills really required byemployers,” says Dr Panta-lev. But this is true in a fewWestern countries too.

After a massive drive tointroduce computer skills toall students at all levelsduring the 1980s and 1990s,Israel has succeeded in mostschools, with an average ofone computer per ten stu-dents. But Dr Ami Ze’evi, theeducationalist behind thedrive, says that there is stilla pressing need to integratetechnological education intothe mainstream educationsystem.

“When students are loca-ted in separate frameworks,such as academic and voca-

22 June 1999 - No. 113

approach to secondary edu-cation is being tried out withcourse modules whichallow students to devisetheir own curricula by atten-ding courses which interestthem in different schools,and even to study outsideschools for a while.

CURIOSITYSome 43,500 young

Japanese signed up last yearfor this programme, whichstarted out in 1994 withfewer than 1,500 partici-pants. The scheme is not adead-end however becauseit does not exclude going touniversity. Everything isdone to help students deve-lop the skills they will needin their chosen profession.The aim is to allow teena-gers to build their ownfuture and map out theirneeds depending on whatthey want to do.

“Curiosity is the origin ofstudy,” says a Japanese edu-cation ministry brochurewhich praises these “uppersecondary schools of a newtype” that allow youngpeople to “select subjects

(they) want to study anddevelop (their) personalityand dreams.”

Other countries areunfortunately still far fromthis situation. Dr TazakoPantalev, the director of theBulgarian National Observa-tory, painted a gloomy pic-ture of the state of technical

tional schools, the weakerstudents are generally direc-ted to the vocational schoolsresulting in their acquiring astigma as inferiors, whichthen demolishes their moti-vation to learn,” he says.

OVERHAULSeveral of the delegates,

who attended the congressfrom all over the world alsostressed the role of techni-cal and professional educa-tion in drawing into societygroups like young people,women and marginalisedpeople.

Among the resolutionspassed by the congress wereones stating the need toencourage a healthier envi-ronment, world peace andthe inclusion of minorities insociety. But achieving this,the delegates stressed,requires a dynamic overhaulof technical and professio-nal education by opening itup to society and life ingeneral.

Karl Wertzberg

Seoul

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Learning to work with his head and his hands...

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KOREAN CASE STUDY●●●During the Seoul Congress, Korea’s astounding rate ofeconomic growth and industrial development in past decades wasshowcased as an example of the results which can be achieved througheducation, notably vocational education which was hailed as playing amajor role in the country’s transition from an agrarian society to a highlycompetitive industrial economy with a strong performance in hightechnology industries. Despite last year’s economic crisis in South EastAsia, the Korean economy is clearly picking up. None of this could havebeen achieved without an efficient workforce, well prepared to meetthe needs of production.Vocational education in Korea (total 1997 population 45.9 million)begins at high school. The schools provide general education as wellas vocational education in agriculture, technology, commerce, marineand fisheries. Vocational education is also provided at a higher level byspecialised universities and polytechnics . The Korean government hasalso initiated a university “Credit Bank System” which recogniseslearning and experience acquired outside full-time education with aview of obtaining a college degree. This system is, however, only opento high school graduates. Programmes are also operated jointly withindustry to enable industrial workers to obtain academic degrees.Another alternative to full time higher education is offered by the selfstudy system which provides exams and degrees to independentstudents. The government of Korea has enacted legislation promoting andregulating access to life-long education and non-formal education,particularly destined to help people in employment acquire qualificationthey were unable to acquire in their formal education.

K.W.

Education rarely makes headlines in Latin

America’s newspapers. A few committed

publications are trying to change this

23No. 113 - June 1999

The importance of edu-cation is not reflected

in media coverage of theissue,” says Martin Granov-sky, deputy director of theArgentinian daily Pagina

12. He was speaking at theseminar on media and edu-cation organised by UNES-CO in Buenos Aires and theEducation For All Forum(grouping several UN agen-cies) from May 10 to 14,which brought togethermore than a dozen LatinAmerican journalists fromthe written press.

One of the reasons for thescant coverage of education,says Juan Carlos Tedesco,director of UNESCO’s Inter-national Institute of Edu-cation Planning (IIEP) inBuenos Aires, is that it is notconsidered a priority topic.

“The recurrence of pro-blems without solutions isincompatible with the ele-ment of novelty, seen asindispensable to stimulateaudience interest,” saysNora Veiras of Pagina 12.

Topics dealing with educa-tion are equally neglectedbecause “specialising ineducation is not a lucrativeoption in the highly com-petitive journalism market,”

she adds. Hence the “vastheterogeneity” of journalistscovering the sector.

Another problem is thedifficulty of access to infor-mation. “We do give topbilling to reportages andeyewitness accounts,” saysAndrea Castillo Calderon ofPeru’s El Comercio, “butoften and for different rea-sons - lack of personnel, theeditorial line, lack of funds- the press doesn’t gobeyond the official version.”

The issue of transpa-rency and control of infor-mation also sparked heateddebate during a session withparents and teachers. “Whydon’t we have more infor-mation in newspapers?”queried one parent. “Whensurveys are carried out, theresults are not published.”

Nonetheless, regionalnewspapers have madegreat strides in recent yearsto improve coverage of anissue considered to be “stra-tegic for development anddemocracy.” Argentina’s La

Nacion recently published aseries of ten articles called“An X-ray of Education inArgentina” with contribu-tions from experts and glo-bal comparisons. For the

last six years, the Colom-bian daily El Tiempo andChile’s El Mercurio haverun education sections withspecialised journalists. InBrazil, the news that secon-dary education concerns only17% of the active populationprovoked enormous debatein the press.

Several newspapers havechosen to intervene moredirectly in the education pro-cess. Nueva Provincia

(Argentina) has set up a net-work of young readers andapart from distributingcopies in schools, also pub-lishes a newspaper produ-ced by children from 5 to14 years of age. Last year, El

Tiempo (Colombia), theUniversity of the Andes andthe Corona Foundation,launched the project “Edu-cation, a compromise foreverybody,” aimed atmaking education acces-sible to the poorest. TheHoy Foundation set up bythe Ecuadorian daily Hoy

was awarded the Inter-ame-rican Press Society Prize forits work: pedagogical work-shops, teacher training,introduction to reading. “InParaguay, where bookshave become almost luxury

BAITING THENEWSHOUNDS

MEDIA

items, the newspaper canbecome a tool for studyingdifferent subjects and canhelp set up a community ofnewspaper readers,” saysNatalia Daporta of ABC

Color (Paraguay). Can the media help

tackle the region’s educa-tion crisis? One-fourth ofLatin American childrendrop out before completingprimary school. In Bolivia,half a million children underthe age of 12 work. InVenezuela, 52% of the 15-18age group are not in school.The reasons for this crisisare beyond the control ofthe media: poverty, low tea-cher’s wages, and politicalinstability.

POLITICALLY CHARGED“In the 40s in Mexico,

education shared the frontpage along with news ofthe war in Europe and thePacific. The reason wasthat Mexico was imple-menting a profound re-form of its education sys-tem and the government’sambition was to wipe outilliteracy. Debates on edu-cation were politically char-ged,” says Hector Davalosof the Mexican dailyNovedades. At a time whenstates in Latin America areallowing the private sectorto take over education andeducation itself is seenmore in terms of its jobpotential rather than as aschool of citizenship, it isthe responsibility of thepress to, in HectorDavalos’ words, “rehabili-tate the concept” in thepublic eye.

Mariano de Vedia

in Buenos Aires with

Nadia Khouri Dagher

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Too many kids drop out tooearly in Latin America. Themedia could help drawattention to this situationand open debate on how tofix it

on UNESCO’s calendar

next month’s issue :

WOMEN AND ACULTURE OF PEACE

HIGH TECHNOLOGYFOR GRASSROOTSDEVELOPMENT

12 July AUSTRALIAN SITE ENDANGERED?The World Heritage Committee will meet at headquarters to discuss whether the Kakadu National Park in Australia’s Northern Territory should be inscribed on the list of sites in danger

12 to 16 July DISTANCE LEARNINGHow can distance learning change communities? Experts from around the world gather in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) to attend a conference on transforming community schools into open learning communities

12 to 30 July LESSONS IN THE SUNThe Engineering and Technology Division of UNESCO welcomes fifty technicians and engineers to their summer school, Solar Electricity for Rural and Remote Areas

20 July TALKING ABOUT YOUTHA meeting held at Headquarters, where permanent delegations from UNESCO’s member states will exchange information and ideas with observers from the youth sectors, the UNESCO Clubs and the Associated Schools Project

9 August INTERNATIONAL DAY OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

15 to 19 August ORAL HERITAGEIn Khon Kaen, (Thailand), more than 100 cultural heritage experts will attend an international satellite meeting, Collecting and Safeguarding Oral Traditions