The third International Day of Education with the theme “Recover and Revitalize Education for the Covid-19 Generation”, was held on January 25, 2021 via Zoom, in celebration of the role of education for peace and development. This International Education Day aims to: a) highlight commitments and follow-up actions taken to protect education through the recovery, increase inclusion and combat drop-out; b) celebrate initiatives being led by governments, educators, organizations from global to grassroots efforts, as well as partnerships demonstrating the potential to recommit education to the principles of equity and relevance; c) highlight best practices in laws and policies on equitable finance for education that effectively and efficiently target the most disadvantaged via a tool featured on UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report website, PEER; and d) give voice to the COVID-19 generation to express their concerns and aspirations in the face of a future marked by an economic recession and climate change.
Ms. Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education was the moderator of the said event. She formally introduced Ms. Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General, who welcomed all the participants on this momentous occasion. Ms. Azoulay ended her speech by inviting everyone to promote education as a fundamental right and the most powerful aid to development that we have. Defending the future of this right means defending the right to the future.
Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education
Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General
Other speakers who also commenced the meeting were Mr. António Guterres, UN Secretary General through a video message and Mr. H.E. Volkan Bozkir, President of 75th UN General Assembly.
António Guterres, UN Secretary General (Left) and H.E. Volkan Bozkir, President of 75th UN General Assembly (Right)
This global event was planned with three main segments:
Panel 1- Celebrating Learning Heroes, which sheds light on heroes who kept education going in hard circumstance: a conversation on what worked, what failed and what they would do differently with hindsight;
Panel 2 – Promising Innovations to Transform Education, which illuminates on innovations, whether in terms of pedagogy, technology, partnership or on other fronts that pave the way towards more resilient and inclusive education systems; and Panel 3 – Financing the Education Transformation, which shows the effects of the pandemic on government education budgets, household and donor are expected to put significant strains on education.
The much-awaited moment of this event was the announcement of the 60 finalists (10 per language) and 6 laureates of an essay writing competition “The Little Prince”, an initiative organized by the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies (CRI).
This event was organized in partnership with UNESCO New York Office, UN Headquarters, including the Global Partnership for Education and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies, with the participation of partners from the Global Education Coalition and education stakeholders from over 70 countries.
The Literacy Coordinating Council is one with UNESCO and the world in celebrating the International Day of Education.