Futures of Education Launch at United Nations!
On Wednesday, September 25th, Killer Snails was invited to join the United Nations General Assembly High-level panel "The Futures of Education: Learning to Become."
We were thrilled to be there as UNESCO launched the Futures of Education global initiative. We heard from President Sahle-Work Zewde of Ethiopia, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa of Portugal, President Rumen Radev of Bulgaria and the Prime Ministers of Norway and Andorra, Erna Solberg, and Xavier Espot respectively. UNESCO plays an important role in defining the purpose of education around the world. As one of the panelists said, “The biggest weakness in our education system is that our vulnerable communities (poor & marginalized) haven’t had the opportunity to build the capacity to imagine, anticipate and aspire. We need to build the capacity to create new knowledge.”
Another interesting fact we learned is that environmental education is fully integrated in Finnish education- starting in Kindergarten all the way through high school. We had the opportunity to meet Susan Hopgood, President of Education International which represents 32 million teachers around the globe. They had a world congress to set a course for the next 4 years. As Susan said, “Imagining the future is only a start, we need to plan the details in the here and now.”
Three major points of takeaway from the UNGA panel on discussing the future of education:
- Everyone must be included. Cannot speak of education without mentioning all the people left behind.
- We must address the education crises and ensure that we are developing more and better teachers who can help our children confidently approach the future.
- We must provide everyone with a quality education. We need inclusive technologies with platforms that are accessible for all.