A/HRC/20/21 implications for a conceptual framework13 concerning quality education. Knowledge and skills in reading, mathematics and scientific literacy, predominant in quality appraisals, is no doubt crucial. Its conceptual moorings lie in the “basic learning needs” as defined in the World Declaration on Education for All (1990) and reaffirmed at the World Education Forum (2000). This is emerging as a priority in national education development strategies. 17. The concept of “basic learning needs” includes skills in technical education and vocational training as an important component of basic education, and as an integral part of generalized secondary education.14 Learning achievements in technical education is emerging as a priority for development and for evaluations of quality in education.15 18. Achieving knowledge and skills in mathematical and scientific literacy and languages should not be treated as being an exclusive reference for the quality of education.16 Universally recognized human rights values and democratic principles should be embedded in every education system. The acquisition of knowledge about human rights values should be at the forefront of any discourse on quality education. 19. Many countries17 stress the importance of humanist values in education. Education is invaluable for creating a better world by promoting the values of a culture of peace, mutual understanding and international solidarity, and its achievements in this regard denotes its quality. Overall, there can be no task nobler than giving every child a better future, and quality education is indispensable in serving this cause. 20. The concept of the “four pillars of education” (learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be)18 provides the basis for a broader conceptual understanding of quality education. A well-qualified, motivated and well-looked-after teaching force is another central aspect of this holistic conceptual framework. Quality hinges upon giving teachers the necessary ability to impart knowledge, values and skills, and upon valorizing their status. Moreover, quality education cannot be successfully 13 14 15 16 17 18 6 “Beyond the conceptual maze: The notion of quality in education” (see footnote 6 above). The Education Development Plan in Brazil states that the National Program for the Integration of Vocational Education should guide the integration of secondary education in the State and federal secondary education systems. The system of technical education and vocational training in Switzerland and Germany also deserve special consideration. Regarding technical education and vocational training, see, inter alia, Bahrain, Belgium, Mauritius, Poland and Slovakia. The main objective of the Vocational Training Service (DBO) in Belgium is to create the best possible qualification and development opportunities for students/ participants in vocational education, as part of the concept of lifelong learning. National guidelines on vocational education in Poland are also noteworthy. The European framework of key competences for lifelong learning identifies learning to learn and social and civic competences as important and linked, along with the need to develop indicators for European Union member States to measure progress made. The development and measurement of these competences invoke and require values which promote democracy and human rights. See also Bryony Hoskins and Ulf Fredriksson, “Learning to learn: What is it and can it be measured?” JRC Scientific and Technical Reports, European Communities, 2008. The objectives of education in many countries show comparable approaches; for example, the objective of the Universal Basic Education Programme in Nigeria is to “ensure the acquisition of appropriate levels of literacy, numeracy, communicative and life skills as well as the ethical, moral and civic values needed for laying a solid foundation for life-long learning”. See responses to the questionnaire by Colombia, France, Greece, Portugal, Tunisia and Uruguay. In France, education imparts values including humanist culture; in the Russian Federation, the principles laid down in the Education Law include “the humanistic nature of education” and the “public character of education.” “Learning: The treasure within,” Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century, Highlights, UNESCO, 1996, p. 12.