As we commemorate the International Day of Education under the theme “Changing course, transforming education”, we need to reflect on the impact of two years of COVID-19 on our education systems, and on the challenges created for the empowerment of our children and youth.
For some it was the complete cut off from education. For others, it was the unequal access to digital tools and technology, in particular for persons with disabilities. For developing countries, these impacts were felt most acutely, and the effects on girls disproportionately high.
Nearly every child has suffered the emotional consequences as a result of being cut off and isolated at such a young age.
According to a UN Joint publication, today’s students could incur a loss of $17 trillion in lifetime earnings as a result of these constraints.
Going forward, we must embrace changes that protect and promote the rights of everyone to learn. The rights to quality and accessible education. The rights to adequate resources for learning.
This calls for us to close the digital divide; to find the loopholes where children fell through the cracks; to empower girls and boys, in particular those in rural and isolated areas; and to strengthen our support for persons living with disabilities, as well as other vulnerable groups.
As we accelerate efforts to achieve sustainable development goals and fulfill the ‘new social contract for education’, let us do so with impactful and relevant strategies that cater to the dynamics of education now and into the future.
In a world of increasing complexity, uncertainty, and precarity, knowledge, education and learning need to be reimagined.
We need an education system that could leverage humanity’s collective intelligence.
A system that advances, rather than subverts, our aspirations for inclusive education based on the principles of justice, equity and respect for human rights.
Let us chart this new course together for a resilient, gender-sensitive, and transformative education for all.
