Universal Declaration of Balanced and Inclusive Education (UDBIE)
Balanced and Inclusive Education
The concept of Balanced and Inclusive Education is based on the need to address the historical and structural causes of inequalities and imbalances in our societies through education adapted to socio-cultural contexts and the aspirations of communities. Consequently, the OCE is mandated to “contribute to the equitable, just, and prosperous social transformation of societies by promoting balanced and inclusive education, in order to attain the fundamental rights to liberty, justice, dignity, sustainability, social cohesion, and material and immaterial security for the peoples of the world.”
(Article I.1 of OEC’s Constitutive Charter www.oec-oce.org).
Why the Universal Declaration of Balanced and Inclusive Education?
Balanced and Inclusive Education is an approach to educational quality and inclusivity that is responsive to the cultural, ethical, and social dimensions of the learning process, rendering education fulfilling for the individual and intrinsically relevant to society. By opening learning institutions to their communities, it strengthens social cohesion, forges equity, justice, and harmony. Learners, under the guidance of teacher-facilitators, become co-creators of their education – preparing them for the world, employability, and professional adaptability.
It responds to the needs of individuals and communities, as well as international, national, and local aspirations, necessities, priorities, realities, and challenges by anticipating human, social, and economic sustainable development. Accordingly, to commit to a balanced and inclusive education is to provide education systems with the means to be at the service of national development priorities and aspirations, as well as to become more efficient and capable of providing quality education for all, by dismantling the dynamics of exclusion and preventing the reproduction of inequality. As such, it is necessary to articulate not only a common language allowing stakeholders to share their experiences, but also a conceptual and technical framework enabling collaborations to actively address shared challenges and objectives.
The Universal Declaration of Balanced and Inclusive Education, is structured around 15 articles, each of which includes a paragraph affirming a set of rights, responsibilities and educational requirements, followed by two concrete commitments.
These 15 articles are grouped into 5 sections, which correlate to the 4 pillars of Balanced and Inclusive Education as elaborated in the Global Guide of Ethics, Principles, Policies, and Practices in Balanced and Inclusive Education (ERF, 2018) :
Intraculturalism
Transdisciplinarity
Dialecticism
Contextuality
