News

Under the leadership of APCEIU, the Meeting of UNESCO Category 2 Centres in Education on UNESCO's Medium-Term Strategy for 2022-2029 (41 C/4) was held virtually on Wednesday, 17 March 2021. UNESCO is currently preparing the draft Medium-Term Strategy for 2022-2029 (41 C/4), which will be adopted by its Member States during the 41^st UNESCO General Conference scheduled for November this year. The Member States are paying special attention to 41 C/4 as the document sets UNESCO's future activity goals and identifies key areas of work. It also presents the direction of education, especially during the current pandemic situation.

To further improve the UNESCO's draft 41 C/4, APCEIU and 11 UNESCO Category 2 Centres in Education have been working on drafting recommendations over the past two months where each Centre provided recommendations based on their respective expertise. The UNESCO Category 2 Centres in Education, together with Ms Astrid Gillet, Chief of Education Sector Executive Office of UNESCO, were then gathered in the meeting held on 17 March 2021.

During the meeting, the participating Centres had the opportunity to reaffirm the details of draft 41 C/4 and shared their respective opinions regarding the recommendations that have been prepared collectively. The participating Centres also examined the various topics covered in draft 41 C/4, ranging from global citizenship education, early childhood education, environmental education, adult education, higher education, and vocational education, and discussed what efforts were needed to implement each recommendation. Following the robust discussion, the participating Centres unanimously adopted the final recommendation (The adopted recommendation is attached to this article).

The recommendation adopted over the meeting has been submitted formally by APCEIU as the Category 2 Centres in Education representative to UNESCO. UNESCO will then reflect the recommendations to its medium and long-term strategies. The meeting has been very fruitful as it has not just gathered the UNESCO Category 2 Centres in Education to work together in preparing recommendations but also laid an important foundation for continued cooperation in the future.   

List of participating organizations:

• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
• Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU)
• Regional Centre for Adult Education (ASFEC Sers Ellayan)
• Early Childhood Development Regional Centre (ECDRC)
• International Centre for Higher Education Innovation (ICHEI)
• Institute of Early Childhood Development (IECD)
• Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (IEPA)
• International Mother Language Institute (IMLI)
• International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education (INRULED)
• Office for Climate Education (OCE)
• Regional Centre for Educational Planning (RCEP)
• Regional Centre for Quality and Excellence in Education (RCQE)
• South Asian Centre for Teacher Development (SACTD)

URL:

http://www.unescoapceiu.org/post/4147