The thematic roundtables on health, nutrition, and early child care also made clear that learning does not take place in isolation. Societies must ensure that all learners receive the nutrition, health care, and physical and emotional support required to participate actively in, and benefit from, education. The illustrative roundtables presenting the country plans of Ecuador, Jordan and the Philippines were note-worthy for their comprehensive emphasis on health, nutrition and early child care programmes and targets, as part of a comprehensive basic education system including schooling and nonformal education. These multi-sectoral country plans all dealt with basic education in the new broader sense.