The global geopolitical landscape has shifted to a multi-conceptual framework where traditional, singular ideas about how to best look after world affairs have splintered into multiple approaches and conflicting agendas. Innovations and transitions that we want to promote to address educational challenges are at the same time triggering new risks, including the creation of new social divisions.
This high-level panel reflected on how education can be transformed through creating and reinforcing connections without jeopardizing the dimensions of inclusion, equity and quality that are set into SDG4. The calls for transforming education are out there.
Speakers focused on three dimensions: making connections in education to improve and co-create knowledge, making connections for education to continue fulfilling its enabling potential, and finally making connections through education to provide a basis for social justice, address inequalities and belief in necessary institutions.
Speakers touched upon the different perspectives that transformation involves, including challenges and opportunities from a gender perspective, a youth perspective, a duty-bearer perspective, etc.
Synopsis
Panellists underlined the need for a far more ambitious transformation concerning education and emphasised the importance of investing in the sector to secure a lasting global recovery. The need to empower young people to actively take ownership of what, where and how they learn was discussed, as was the need to rethink how we teach. The Global Gateway was highlighted as an opportunity to advance gender equality, with the urgent requirement to eliminate all forms of exclusion in education being stressed. The importance of ensuring both a digital transformation and comprehensive connectivity was also underlined. The session closed with the Youth Sounding Board issuing a challenge to governments to show ambition when rewriting the rules.
