Planning Education With and For Youth

As a central stakeholder in education, young people should be involved in educational planning. This publication focuses on the rationale for and obstacles to youth involvement, as well as the eff orts of ministries of education to engage youth in their planning work.

It is based on discussions and recommendations that emerged from the high-level international policy forum on ‘Engaging youth in planning education for social transformation’ organized by the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) in Paris from 16 to 18 October 2012. This policy forum set out to explore the following broad themes: (i) youth engagement in planning education for confl ict transformation and peace building; (ii)  strengthening young people’s skills and opportunities for civic engagement within formal and non-formal education systems; and (iii) enhancing the relevance of education systems for young people in their transition to employment.

This publication draws on the exchanges during the pre-forum online debates, discussions among participants during the forum, and testimonials from practitioners and youth. It also draws on the fi ndings of the three background papers (Rosso, Bardak, and Zelloth, 2012; Shaw et al., 2012; Smith and Smith Ellison, 2012) presented during the forum, as well as the fi ndings of a desk-based literature review. The findings of a review of national education and youth policies, strategies, and plans from 54 countries are also included (see Part II).