UNESCO, 2013. β 65 pages.
ISBN 978-92-9223452-2 (print version)
ISBN 978-92-9223453-9 (electronic version)
Ensuring the right to education is at the very heart of UNESCO's mission, a right also affirmed and recognised by its Member States. Such education must also be a quality education. Thus. UNESCO emphasises not merely the right to education but also, in particular, the right to quality education for all.
UNESCO has a special mandate to assist countries and guide them towards achieving education for all. The backlog in meeting the target of basic education for all, coupled with new demands for the expansion of other levels of education, phces a formidable burden on countries. In addition, many countries face severe budget constraints and have little or no room for maneuvering. This is compounded by a lack of qualified, skilled teachers. For small communities, often located in remote, isolated, and poor regions of a country, schools with multigrade classes become a viable alternative.
However, while multigrade classrooms address the right to education by providing more students with or\ education, quality becomes harder for teachers to ensure when they need to work with more than one grade at the same time. Multigrade teachers may find their work particularly challenging when teaching a curriculum designed for monograde classes and when needing to react to the varied students' interests and abilities within their classrooms.
