NGOs and community groups have joined worldwide in mobilizing against the worst forms of child labour and in support of the right to education and health for women and girls. Targets set in Copenhagen and five years earlier in Jomtien, have yet to be achieved. The number of illiterate adults remain about the same which is 800 million. Lifelong learning is becoming a necessity for all. Those denied access to basic education are also denied access to lifelong learning and inequity is thus perpetuated.
Education plays a major role in promoting social integration.
Even for those who have access to school, quality has diminished in many cases .more double shifts for example. In the wake of the structural adjustment of the last two decades, many countries are confronted by increased teacher absences, as teachers seek other jobs or get engaged in subsistence farming to support their families. An individual cannot develop to her or his full potential if one or the other is lacking. Children are largely dependent on adults not only for material needs but for moral and spiritual guidance. A child is influenced by and copies, not only other children but also the adults that surround her or him, whether it be in the family, at school, in the community or even via television, the Internet and the media in general.