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G20 Education Working Group Sets Stage for Future Educational Progress
تاريخ النشر:
2024/11/13
Under Brazil’s presidency of the G20, the G20 Education Working Group (EdWG) has focused on three priority topics: valuing education professionals, digital resources for education for sustainable development (ESD), and strengthening education systems through school-community engagement. The G20 EdWG’s meeting, held on 30 and 31 October 2024, in Fortaleza, Brazil, set the stage for future educational progress, aligning with UNESCO’s mission of promoting peace and sustainability through education.
8 November 2024
UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, Stefania Giannini, presented the official summary booklet of the Working Group’s activities, which was prepared collaboratively by UNESCO and the Ministry of Education of Brazil. She emphasized that “quality education is a pathway to social justice and sustainable development.” These two topics together form the backbone of Brazil’s overall G20 Presidency under the heading Building a Just World and a Sustainable Planet.
Brazilian Minister of Education, Camilo Sobreira de Santana, echoed this sentiment: “We stand united in our conviction that education is a transformative force, capable of empowering individuals, strengthening communities and addressing global challenges.”
Over the course of the meeting, G20 members and representants of countries and international organizations demonstrated their commitment to advancing the G20 Presidency’s agenda by sharing relevant national and global efforts related to the three above-mentioned priority topics.
The back-to-back 2024 Global Education Meeting (GEM) held immediately after the Working Group sessions allowed countries to also assess progress towards achieving SDG 4, reaffirming their commitment to inclusive, quality education and lifelong learning for all.
Strengthening school-community engagement
The G20 EdWG meeting focuses, among others, on school-community engagement through a creative virtual exhibition of videos from G20 countries, supported by UNICEF as knowledge partner. The videos emphasized the lifelong and lifewide interpretation of school featuring also learning spaces outside of the walls of a traditional school building and focusing on subjects such as the preservation of cultural heritage, technical skills development, adult literacy, agriculture, cooking, arts, environmental and community service work.
“Schools are not just places for academic learning; they are environments where students learn to connect, collaborate, and contribute to their communities,” said Stefania Giannini as she spoke about the Happy Schools initiative. This initiative advocates for improving education quality by prioritizing joyful learning and the holistic well-being of the entire school community – students, teachers, leaders, parents and school staff. Such efforts are pivotal in addressing issues like bullying, burnout, attrition, low achievement and early-school leaving.
The UNESCO Associated Schools Network (ASPNet), spanning 180 countries with over 10,000 member institutions, was also recognized for fostering community-centered learning and encouraging schools to tackle global challenges with local actions.
Leveraging digital resources for education for sustainable development
As official knowledge partner on the topic of digital education as a driver for sustainable development, UNESCO also addressed both the digital divide and the growing environmental footprint of technology.
"The intersection of digital and green transitions is a critical frontier in education, where we can empower students with both digital and environmental literacy."
Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education
Digital divides remain substantial, with only 40% of primary schools connected to the internet worldwide, limiting access to online educational resources.
Stefania Giannini highlighted several global initiatives steered by UNESCO supporting countries to advance holistic and sustainable digital transformation of education, such as the multistakeholder alliance entitled the Digital Transformation Collaborative and the Gateways to Public Digital Learning initiative. The latter, a collaboration between UNESCO, UNICEF and 16 countries, serves as a peer learning space for countries to support each other’s efforts to provide high-quality public digital learning solutions.
The G20 Education Working Group recognized the importance of emerging applications of AI in education in quality-assured educational content with a strong emphasis on ethical standards. UNESCO supported this dialogue through its AI competency frameworks for teachers and students, which promote the development of critical skills, including understanding AI’s ethical and environmental implications. These frameworks are intended to cultivate responsible digital citizenship, empowering students to make informed decisions in an increasingly digital world.
Camilo Sobreira de Santana, Brazilian Minister of Education, and Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education
© UNESCO/Aurélio Alves
The way forward: multilateralism
In preparation for South Africa’s G20 Presidency in 2025, Stefania Giannini underscored the role of multilateral cooperation in addressing ongoing challenges, stating, “Education is at the heart of sustainable development, and multilateralism is the key to achieving our shared educational goals. By fostering collaboration across nations, we can create a world where education drives social, economic and environmental transformation.”
Since its establishment in 2018 during Argentina’s G20 Presidency, the EdWG has served as a key platform for harnessing the power of multilateralism to address equity and quality in education, build skills for life and work as well as improve education financing. South Africa, as the next country slated to chair the G20, has announced its intention to keep the Education Working Group active.