In education, the extent to which access and opportunities for children and adults are just and fair. This implies reduction of disparities based on gender, poverty, residence, ethnicity, language, and other characteristics.
UNESCO.2008. Education for All by 2015: will we make it? EFA global monitoring report, 2008. Paris: UNESCO.
This criterion refers to a universally accepted goal of schooling: the quest for fairness in access to educational opportunities, resources and outcomes by gender, social class, race, language origins and geographical location of students. Equity can be assessed in terms of inputs – do all students receive an appropriate amount of funding and resources from the state, commensurate with their needs? Do students with special needs get appropriate schooling? Equity can also be assessed in terms of outcomes – do all students finish their schooling with sufficient skills and a fair opportunity to progress in life? (Belfield and Levin, 2002: 46).
Belfield, Clive R., et Henry M. Levin. 2002. Education privatization: causes, consequences and planning implications. Fundamentals of Educational Planning 74. Paris: UNESCO-IIEP.