We live in a world characterised by greater universal aspirations to full participation in the life of societies. What is more, in every society there is a constantly growing need to take full advantage of its reserves of intelligence, talent and energy. Here the need to improve the quality of education is emphasised.

Clearly, any assessment of quality involves a value judgement that is coloured by what one expects of education. A good quality education should meet three essential criteria: it should be democratic; it should be socially effective; and it should be motivated by a humanism that does not allow it to be subordinated exclusively to the criterion of productivity. This calls for a critical appraisal of the highly debatable tendency to give priority to allegedly practical knowledge as opposed to mind-broadening subjects, topics for thought, artistic expression or the philosophical approach.

The link between education and work formed another theme which was frequently brought up. There is grave concern regarding the wide discrepancies between education and employment.

UNESCO, for a long time now, has made a point of studying the interactions between education, work and employment as part of its action in the field of planning. It has to be said that it is very difficult to plan education strictly in accordance with employment forecasts, in view of the growing diversity of modern economies and the extremely rapid changes to which they are subject. It has been shown that greater flexibility in the structures and functioning of education provides the best guarantee against the danger that it will be ill-adapted to rapid change.