UNESCO in brief

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Part of The Philippine Educator

Title: UNESCO in brief
Language: English
Year: 1947
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Fulltext: UNESCO IN BRIEF By Pedro T. Orata National Commission on Edu.cationar_ Scientific and Cultural MatteT ORIGIN The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, for short, was established on November 16, 1945, when, in London, representatives of 43 nations signed a final act approving the constitution. The constitution came into force a year later, on November 4, 1946, the date of its acceptance by the twentieth signatory government. Credit has been given to the Chinese delegation which, in a formal proposal in the London Conference of Allied Ministers of Education in 1942', had proposed educational and other forms of cultural cooperation among the nations of the world. The groundwork had been laid by the Allied Ministers' Conference which met intermittently in London for a period of about a year and a half. The preliminary work for establishing the organization was done at the United Nations Conference in San Francisco. Earlier, the French government had made extensive plans for the development of an international body for intellectual cooperation. At the San Francisco Conference the French delegation recommended that the United Nations call a conference to draw up a Statute of an International Organization on Cultural Cooperation. The basic idea behind this proposal is the same as that underlying the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation, which formed the executive organ of the League of Nations International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation. The Institute was inaugurated on January 16, 1926. MEMBERSHIP There are today fifty-seven members of the United Nations. Of these, thirty, including the Philippines, are members of UNESCO. They are Aus- -, tralia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, China, Czechoslovakia, Denmark. Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Greece, Haiti, India, Lebanon, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru. Philippines, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Union of South Africa, United Kingdom, ?nited States, and Venezuela. Signifl:antly enough, Russia and twentySIX other ··nation-members of the UN have not joined the UNESCO. PURPOSES AND FUNCTIONS The two major purposes of UNESCO are: first, to contribute to peace a. nd security, and, second, to advance the common welfare .of mankind. The means ~hosen are education, science, and culture. These purposes are well brought forth in the preamble of the UNESCO constitution. FOR MODERN OPTICAL NErDs-sEE KEEPSAXE OPnCAL-eO Escolta 9 10 THE PlltLil'PINE EDUCATOR The philosophy of Unesco "will thus largely resolve itself into a philosophy of human progress. It must seek to discover in what progress consist and what are the conditions for realizing it in practice. It must have a wide evolutionary background against which to judge the rightness or wrongness of the direction in which we propose to move. It must be humanist in the broadest sense of that word, to include all the possibilities of human nature and its development, spiritual and aesthetic as well as practical and intellectual. It must be scientific, not only because science is one of the distinctive attributes of humanity and because scientific research and its application constitute by far the 'most important means of improving human welfare. It must be a global philosophy, universalist and world-wide, not only because Unesco is an international organization, but also because progress clearly depends on forging unified mechanism for the entire community of man on earth." (Unesco Prep. Com. Report, p. 7.) To realize the foregoing purposes Unesco will: 1. Collaborate in the work of advancing mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples through ali means of mass communication; 2. Give fresh impulse to popular education and to the spread of culture; 3. Maintain, increase, and diffuse knowledge. .. . ,., itl~ ORGANIZATION Unesco brings together three major groups: First, educators, including not only teachers, scholars and professors, but also persons engaged in such informal aspects of education as the radio, motion pictures, and the press; Second, scientists of the world in every field of endeavor; Third, the cultural group who will place emphasis on languages, literature, the arts, and the various means of communication. Unesco operates through a General Conference, an Executive Board and a Secretariat. The General Confcrencq meet annually. It consists of representatives of all members of the organization, each being entitled to send five delegates. It determines the policies and the main lines of work of Unesco. It may summon international conferences on education, the sciences and humanities, and the spreading of knowledge . The tirst Conference was held in Paris from November 19 to December 10, 1946. The second Conference is now being held in Mexico City. The Philippines were represented in both of this meetings. The Executive Board is responsible for the execution of the program adopted by the General Conference. It meets twice a year and consists of eighteen members elected by the General Conference to serve a tenn of three years. The Secretariat consists of a Director-General and such staff as may be required. The DirectorGeneral is nominated by the Executive Board and appointed by the General Conference. The first and present Director-General is Dr. Julian Huxley from the United Kingdom, an e~i nent scientist. He was appointed by the General Conference in November 1946 to serve a tenn of two years. BUDGET The first session of the General Conference approved a budget of $6,000,000 for 1947 and authorized a revolving fund of $3,000,000. UNESCO IN ACTION Functionally the various projects and activities of the Unesco would fall under one or other of three main heads. "First, those which would promote peace and security directly (naturally within the limits of Unesco's compeTHE PHILil'l'Il>E EDOC..I.TOll 11 tence). Secondly, those which would promote hwnan welfare directly (in other ways than by promoting peace e.nd security), by means of the applications of the sciences and the arts. And thirdly, those which would encourage education, science or cultur~> directly, hl. the belief that they would ultimately promote either peace and security, or hwnan weLfare, or both." {Unesco Com. Report, p.6) . Actually, Unesco's activities for 1947 &re divided into three groups, namely: overall projects, sectional projects, and continuing activities, and described as follows: Guide for Lecturers and Teachers, p. 137-139.) Overall Projects These include projects for: (1) Educational Reconstruction and Rehabilitation (2') International Under5tanding (3) Fundamental Education EducationaL Rcconstructicm and Rehabilitation In this field Unesco will stimulate ar1d coordinate the action of individuals and or~,;anizations. A council of Voluntary Organizations will cooperate with Unesco. Unesco ,.,ill act as a central agency in a world-wide fund-raising campaign to help rehabilitate educational, scientific and cultural institutions in wardevastated areas. It will act as a clearing-house for :ellowship and scholarship grants to specialLc:ts in educational, scientific and cultural affairs from war-devastated cour.trie:; for residence and study in non-devastated countries. It will stimulate the granting of fellowships in non-devastated countries, and will make arrangements for the selection end travel of Fellows. Unesco will also stimulate the setting up by voluntary organizations of fi~d workshops in devastated areas, and will co-operate with student or• ganizations in promoting the establ.Wlment of youth service camps. It will act as a clearing house for the various types of educational. .scientific and technical equipment ~eded in war-devastated countries. International Understanding Work proposed under this headina covers such projects as; (1) revision of text books (2) formation o! international study centers (3) the study of educatio:1 for international understanding ( 4) formation of internationa( re· lations clubs end teache::s' seminars. Fundamental Education This is a long-term project, including primary education, work with adult illiterates, education for health, for economic and cultural development, tor international understanding and citizenship. In this, as in other fields. Unesco will work in cooperation with r:stional commissions. Secticmal Pro;ecu Examples of these are Librarie!-projects for a bibliographical and docwnentary service, and for stjmulating the growth of publia libraries. National Sci~es--Creation of an International Institute of the Hylean Amazon, and the establishment of field offices to assist local scientist in raising living standards of non-indu.~ trialized peoples in China, India, the Middle East and Latin America. Social Science!-A study of tensions crucial to peace, and a study of the educational, scientific and cultural aspects of home and community planning. Arts and Letter!-A survey of the condition of the arts and artists, and FOR MODERN OPTICAL NEEDs-SEE KEEPSA!E OPTIC~O Eacolta 12 THE PHILIPPn\E EiJUCATOil assista!lce in the creation of an I:!ternational Theatre Institute. Mass Communication--Circulation between countries of information that will help to develop the use of mass media for education, science and culture, and the encouragement of the production of fiLrns, broadcasts and articles on subjects important to Unesco's work. Cont inuing Projects ThPse include: (1) cooperation w:tli governmental and non-governmental organizations, including in some cases the making of grants-in-aid; (2) the preparation of inventories of research resources; (3) plans for year-books in specific technical fields; ( 4) the collection, analysis and distribution of information essential to developing more e<ffective communication between the peoples cf the world in specific branches of educational, scientific and cultural knowledge; (5) the removal of barrjers to such communication; (6) development of documentary services and the establis.b..ment of. clearing houses of information. EDUCATION PROJECTS FOR 1947 It is possible here only to list t!'le "P>ojects to be Undertaken in 1947" in the field of education. (School and ~ocicty, 65: 23, January 11, 1947.) 1. Establishment of a small committee of experts to make a general inquiry on the education provided in primary and secondary schools in various countries to foster international understanding. 2. Collaboration with schools, colleges, and out-of-school agencies in sponsoring the establishment of clubs which should stress citizenship in the community, nation, and world. 3. Encot;.rag.i.<"lg voluntary organizations to establish reconstruct.'.on camps for youth in war-deVast&ted countries. 4. A conference of leaders in adult education to exchange information about methods and technique in their fields. .'5. A conference to make a survey of existing arrangements for training jn international relations in intitutions of higher learning. 6. An international eC!ucatiohal seminar in the summer of 1947. 7. A further study of the problems of an international university. 8. A conference on the teaching of national history in connection wjth a long-range program for the analysis and revision of textbooks. 9. Establishment, in collaboration with the World Health Organization and the Food and Agricultural Organization, of. an expert committee on health education. 10. A study of the relations between vocational training and general education. 11. An internatio:1al conference to be attended by representative administrators of school systems, educational psychologists. physicia!1S, vocationalguidance experts, and economist, on education and guidance in secondary and higher education. 12. A study of the problems of handicapped children, special attention being given to the classi!fication of hanilicapped children. 13 Establishment of a conur.ittee on educational statistics. 14. Publication of an internatior.al educational yearbook. 15. Publication of .an international educational newsletter or review. This enumeration is far from eomplete. Nevertheless, t..~e impression has been created in the minds of some peoples that the Unesco is venturing (Continued on page 15) THE PH.lLIPl'INE EDUCATOU 13 PRESIDENTIAL · ... (Cont~nued from page 2) In the interpellation by members of the Toastmasters' Club, this question was directed to us: "You say that the PPSTA will work for what the teachers want in a peaceful way through petitions. Suppose you do not get what you want through this procedure, what >v.ill be your next move?" We answered: ''We believe that in a democratic set-up, people will listen to reason. It would seem th:It intelligent people should be able to get together :md discuss their problems in an objective dispass:onate way. If, for instance, we should find that there is money somewhere which the government could use to improve the schools and the teachers' welfare, would it not be possible for us to hold a conference with the authorities concerned and tell them that since the money is not being used, could it be spent ·for the improvement of the school$ and the teachers' welfare? Is the situation so bad and so hopeless that the authorities concerned will not listen to reason when they can see very well that a solution to our problem is in their hands? It is for us to help po,int the way; we cannot jwt <tSk and ask." And another question wa::; posed. "What guarantee i::; there that the teachers we now have, those who have iitayed and have refused to seek greener pastures, as you say, can teach our children well, and what guarantee do we have that our children are learning from them? And we replied, "There is no guarantee either way. This much I know, however, that hundreds of the teachers who have stayed did so purely out or love for the work they are doing for our children, and th!y are lloing their JOb efficiently. There is no guarantee for effective teaching and learning until the public comes to know their schools and demand that better trained teachers be made available. It is for the people to appraise the work ot the schools and they must pay the teachers more. It will be the constant endeavor of the PPSTA to open the eyes of the public to the kind of ~chool system that we now have." 5. The next annual meeting of the PPSTA will be in June, 1948, in Manila. A.-ticle VI of the Constitution says that the Representative Assembly of the Association shall be composed of delegates represent;ng duly affiliated Division Teachers Association or Division Chapter in the Representative Assembly. There are still very few Division Associations actually and officially affiliated with the PPSTA. It is desired that the n :vision Associations be organized right away, so that they can send delegates to the PPSTA convention. 6. Which reminds us about the principle enunciated in the Preamble of the UNESCO constitution that ''wars are started in the minds of men." Personally we believe that wars start with stomach trouble, probably more so from empty stomachs. Vlhen the economy of" the country is such that the ~ople do not have the means of keeping body &nd soul together, they lose their concience, they rebel a~ainst the existing order of things, a."ld they go to war. What it high pressure politics but maneuvering for the most advantageous · posibms in the struggle for economic stability and power? Economic spheres of influence are the objective of all these machinations of the stronger nation to ingratiate themrelves in the heart of weaker nations which have raw materials needed by world trade and industry. In this (Conti nued on page 23) FOR MODERN OPTICAL NEEDS- SEE n:E?SJ!.f.:E Oi"i"!Cill..----50 Escoltcr THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR. 15 DECEMBER 7, 1941, THE AMOUNT EQUIVALENT TO THEIR RESPECTIVE SALARl:ES FROM JANUARY 1, 1942 TO JANUARY ~0. 1945. of any teacher who may die during the term of service; life penston after service of thirty years in addition to whatever benefits ihe teacher gets from hls government insurance. These rights and privileges, they believe, will not only give justice, so long denied, to teachers and teacher-nurses but it will surely attract men and women of hlgh moral, cultural ,and intellectual qualities to join the army of missioners for peace and progress whose sacred task is to lay' and fortify the basic foundations of light and truth, of freedom and justice. On the question of backpay, Dr. Manuel T. Cases, Congressman !rom the district of La Union, asserted that the 57,000 teachers before the war as well as thousands of other government employees in the national, municipal and provincial rosters are entitled to their t!rree years' salar-Y. Dr. Cases advocates the payment of the back pay to all government employees in the form of negotiable bonds redeemable in ten years. Dr. Cases has a b1ll filed in the House of Representatives entitled AN ACT TO PAY PRE-WAR EMPLOYEES SERVING THE COMMON· WEALTH GOVERNMENT UP TO UNESCO IN BRIEF ... (Continued from page 12) in too many fields, thereby duplicating the efforts of already well established organizations. Be that as it may, it is the purpose of Unesco "to promote the evolutionary adventure of humanity and to help to keep to the right direction for achieving true progress. In that adventure and that progress, Let us hope that th& m!xt CGllgt'e:ss will be more incli~ toward the cau.e of the teachers and teacher-nurses and other poorly paid govenunent e.-nployees. Write to your respective Congressmen to support this Back Pay Bill so that, in the words of Dr. Cases, ''not only the big shots but also~ the small fry will be the recipients of the charity of Juan de la Cruz. Juan de la Cruz has no business giving lollipops to the big boys and say later that there is none left for the small potatoes. Let Juan be buried in debt, ff there is no other way out, in orderto serve all, instead of saving in order to serve only the few. This is only one among the many teachings and implieations of DEMOCRACY, the way .I. life we have chosen to follow, a concept which mea. ns freedom of religfon and of expression and security from want and fear. May fhe Spirit of Democracy continue to keep burning its sacred flame in the hearts of our people so that peace, order, justice and. progr:es:s will bless our lives."' education and learning, the science~ and the arts, are one and the same, same time, means . and ends, methocb for achieving growth and also the flower and fruit of that growth. Unesco is the first large-scale organization to be set up to promote this adventure of humanity as a whole, concentratine on the mental and spiritual aspects, but not neglecting their practical applications." (Unesco Com. Report. p. 11.) FOR MODERN OPTICAL NEEDS-SEE KEEPSAKE OPTICAL--80 Escolta