Achieving Universal Basic Education ,By Raphael Ogar Oko

Throughout human history, efforts have been made to provide opportunities for people to be educated in order to become useful citizens to the society. In the late 20^th century, efforts were intensified leading to the proclamation of “Education for All” by the year 2000. Funding of education increased around the world and more schools were established as well as more teachers trained. Obviously, in many parts of the world, school enrolment increased. However, by the year 2000, not every child had access to basic education and many adults remain uneducated.

The United Nations Millennium Summit in the year 2000 led to the Millennium Declaration, which was later translated into the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with the achievement of universal basic education as one of the eight goals intended to be realized by the year 2015. As the world prepares for another United Nations Summit in September

To achieve universal basic education, we need to strengthen the family, which is the basic unit of the universe and promote freedom of education and not free education. We need to address issues leading to corruption and other ills reducing the capability of family parents to care for their children. We need to invest in families more than in schools. The universal institution where all human beings belong to is the family and not schools. We therefore need to move the federating units of our nation education policy delivery from the artificial states to the families.

We need to introduce a family centered education system and not a school centered education system. There is no human being that does not belong to a family but not all belong to a school. Schools can never provide education for all citizens of the world but families can do that. Education should not be focused on schooling.

The African Traditional system of education that was family centered provided education for every child that was born within the family. We simply need to formalize the African education system. How is it possible for every child to spend 9 months in the womb of a woman before birth but these children cannot get 9 years of education after birth? The present system of education is faulty and when BH raised that concern, we never listened to their message but threw the messengers and the message away together.

We need a new model of education that can provide opportunity for everyone. No nation can be sustainable if everything is free for every citizen. We need to fulfill a certain portion of responsibility as human beings. If we continue with the so called free education, we may even arrive at free scores in exams and free promotion until no one learns anything again as it will be free.

I am advocating an education system that is family centered. Surely, schools will disappear in the future as technology will deliver education directly to our homes. To educate is to parent and the place where parenting effectively takes place is the family and not the school. Schools are artificial families, which are now unable to provide the needed family guidance to learners and all sorts of criminality are coming from the schools.

Good children from homes become prostitutes, cultists, etc in schools. Something is fundamentally wrong with the present schooling system and our future is at risk. To save the situation, we need to grow beyond the school education system to the family centered education system where educators educate with the heart of parents, and students learn as children, making classrooms to be family homes. When we arrive at this destination, everyone without exception will have access to quality education. Technology will facilitate this but the family will be the delivery destination. This is why the world is seeking to become a global family. Universal basic education is only possible in the families and not in the schools