A/HRC/20/21 conference, “Respecting cultural diversities in quality education of socially and differently disadvantaged children – the situation of the Roma,” held in Bratislava. 8. In July 2011, the Special Rapporteur gave a statement at the Annual Ministerial Review held during the High-Level Segment of the substantive session of the Economic and Social Council, which focused on internationally agreed goals and commitments with regard to education. 9. In August 2011, he participated in the first World Summit of African Descendants, in La Ceiba, Honduras, and emphasized the key role that the right to education can play in the empowerment of Afro-descendants. Participating in the Social Forum of the Human Rights Council in Geneva in October 2011, he stressed the pivotal role of the right to education in promoting the right to development. He also made opening remarks at a parallel event organized by UNESCO in New York in October 2011 for the release of the Global Education Digest 2011, focusing on secondary education, the next great challenge. 10. In December 2011, the Special Rapporteur participated in a colloquium devoted to indicators for parents‟ participation in education (IPPE) and quality education, organized in Madrid by a European consortium of universities and civil society institutions. 11. In January 2012, as part of a periodic dialogue, the Special Rapporteur exchanged views with the NGO Platform on the Right to Education, on the theme of the present report. In March 2012, he addressed the Right to Education Forum in New Delhi during the NGO Platform‟s national consultation on quality education. II. Widespread concern with the low quality of education 12. Concerns with the low quality of basic education have been expressed at the international, regional and national levels. Similar concerns have also been expressed consistently by the High-Level Group on EFA, with Governments‟ committing to improving the quality of education by moving the EFA agenda forward. In this context, the Global Compact on Learning initiative, for example, is driven by the need to respond to the learning crisis: “Beyond the 67 million children who are not attending primary school in low-income countries, there are countless children who are going through five years of education without learning basic reading, writing and math skills.” 2 13. Concerns with the low quality of education are underlined in different regions. In the Asia-Pacific region, a recent review of EFA goal 6, to improve the quality of education, noted that many children lack the most basic literacy and numeracy skills. Average student performances in reading and mathematics are near or below basic competency levels set by international standards3 and concerns are mounting over the perilous state of the quality of education. In Latin America and the Caribbean, a study on guaranteeing the quality of education for all found that “the state of education is replete with great challenges and urgency due to the fact that what is at stake is the present and future of millions of people.”4 In the Middle East and North Africa, improving quality of education is regarded as one of 2 3 4 4 “A Global Compact on Learning: Taking action on education in developing countries,” Event summary, Washington, D.C., Center for Universal Education, The Brookings Institution, June 2011.. “End-of-decade note on EFA Goal 6,” EFA Technical Working Group of Asia Pacific Region, December 2011. “The State of education in Latin America and the Caribbean: Guaranteeing quality education for all,” A regional report, reviewing and assessing the progress towards EFA within the framework of the Regional Education Project (EFA/PRELAC)-2007, UNESCO (Santiago, 2008), p. 6.