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Through the Youth Declaration, young people all over the world committed to lead the way in transforming education. With the Global Youth Initiative young people are reiterating their support and commitment to the cause and are urging all world leaders to turn words into action by investing in concrete, transformative actions for education.

As part of their ambition to create a global movement for education, SDG4 youth leaders and global influencers are launching an Open Letter to call on governments and the international community to stand by their commitments and to prioritise investment in transforming education systems worldwide.

Global education has reached a tipping point.

‘The COVID-19 pandemic, the global food crisis, and climate change pose a grave threat to the future prospects of hundreds of millions of children around the world, particularly in lower-income countries. Ensuring that all children receive 12 years of quality education requires bold multilateral action.

ACCRA – The International Day of Education (24 January 2023) is a good time to reflect on education’s essential role in achieving a peaceful and prosperous world. The severe impact that the COVID-19 pandemic, the global food and fuel crises, and climate change have had on the learning experience of millions of children worldwide, especially those in lower-income countries, has underscored the need for new thinking’.

Read more of the joint editorial by GPE Board Chair H.E. Jakaya Kikwete and President Akufo-Addo of Ghana calling for more children to go to school and learn.

The Global Youth Initiative was developed by youth and student networks and other partners under the overall coordination of the SDG4 Youth Network, and is the first multi-stakeholder, global initiative aiming to ensure meaningful youth engagement and leadership in education policy-making.

‘There will be no transformation of education without the meaningful engagement and participation of young people.’

UN Secretary-General. 

Launched at the occasion of International Day of Education 2023, it will help taking forward the recommendations of the Youth Declaration on Transforming Education.

Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, has decided to dedicate the 2023 International Day of Education (24 January 2023) to Afghan girls and women.

‘No country in the world should bar women and girls from receiving an education. Education is a universal human right that must be respected. The international community has the responsibility to ensure that the rights of Afghan girls and women are restored without delay. The war against women must stop.’

Currently, 2.5 million (80%) of school-aged Afghan girls and young women are out of school, 1.2 million of whom were denied access to secondary schools and universities following the decision of the de facto authorities. Since August 2021, UNESCO has adapted its interventions to support the continuity of education in challenging circumstances.

See the UNESCO education webpage for more information.

World Vision is supporting the Palestinian Ministry of Education, village councils and local schools to ensure that all Palestinians children can benefit from a quality education.

This factsheet presents the most up-to-date statistic on the education of children with disabilities in the occupied Palestinian Territory, a description of World Vision comprehensive and integrated approach toward inclusive education and our recommendations to improve access to quality education for all Palestinian children.

See the World Vision webpage for more information.

STiR has recently completed a research study with Microsoft Research India. This study aimed to understand the applicability and experiences of lifelong learning, as understood through teacher metacognitive capacities, motivation, the ability of teachers to mitigate prevailing Covid-19-related challenges, and teachers’ beliefs and outlook for their futures.

The highlights of this study are given below:

1. Teachers perceive themselves as motivated and fundamentally adaptive (metacognitive).
2. All teachers associate themselves with being lifelong learners.
3. All teachers have pointed out the importance of motivation and learning in their teaching.
4. Their is no overlap between teachers’ feelings of burnout and their ability to think or act metacognitively (in Karnataka).

You can read the detailed study in full on the webpage.