Basic Education

Learning and the learner are at the heart of lifelong learning, itself a cyclical, episodic and continuous concept that involves both intended and unanticipated episodes of learning of both informal and formal nature. Basic education is a part of lifelong learning. The importance of valuing the learners' experiences in order to create both the curriculum and opportunities for learning is paramount: education for all as well as for all. Participation in learning builds self-confidence, citizenship and autonomy.

Basic Education is the compulsory and free formal and informal fundamental training or knowledge, skills and experiences that all children under school going age needs to acquire, from preschool to Junior High School. In other words, is the prerequisite to further education. The compulsory and free nature of Basic Education comes in, when all rules and regulations are well adhered to.

Throughout the world, the trend is towards the development of free market economies and globalization; this is accompanied by an awareness of the importance of education and training. For most of our countries, common characteristics include declining demographic trends. This in turn increases the importance of the quality of education, be it for children, youth or adults of all ages, and the need for education throughout life.

The foundation of basic education begins at birth. Early childhood education and care must be holistic and integrated to ensure the survival, growth and development of young child. In particular, more attention should be paid to young children under 3 years old, children in difficult and emergent situations and in rural areas for their participation in and access to quality early childhood programs.

The primary child caretakers are parents, and the family and community environment plays an important role. In this regard, an effort to link early childhood education and care with adult education deserves attention. The learning that parents and grandparents do enhances the learning that children do. In turn, the success or failure of learning at school has an impact on how adults learn later on in their lives. The vision, provision, policy and system of early childhood education and care can vary across countries, but there is a growing consensus that some form of early childhood programs focusing on the child's holistic development is essential to favour the social, psychological, affective and cognitive development of the young child.