Paris, April 1
This morning, Dr Renata O'Gorman, a spokesperson for the Chairperson of the UNESCO Executive Board, announced that UNESCO's General Conference had taken the decision to end the UN ESD Decade at the end of August 2012 – two years sooner than planned.
Dr O'Gorman said, ...
"Well, we've bowed to the inevitable, really. All the evaluation studies have pointed to the complete hopelessness of the situation and to the minimal impact that ESD has had on education systems, educational policy, and on teacher professional development all round the world.
We really regret abandoning environmental education. It was a terrible mistake, and we're really sorry for the 500 or so people on the planet who actually took ESD seriously".
A veteran UNESCO insider, who did not want to be named, said that it would probably now be focusing fully on Education for All [EFA], adding:
"... making sure young people can go to school seems more important than worrying about what they do when they get there".
The UK National Commission for UNESCO was unavailable for comment.
Responses
You know, you nearly had me that time!!