By Alfred Koroma
Deputy UN Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed has stressed there is a need to reimagine and transform educational systems globally, if they are to be fit for purpose.
She also stressed on the need to examine the link between education, technology and demographic, and an action upon the opportunities and challenges they bring, calling for initiatives to get all learners “climate-ready” and connected to the internet and the world of digital innovation, which she said is especially important for girls and women from the Global South, who are the most excluded.
Despite global promises and progress, some 263 million children and young people are out of school, indicating that achieving quality education for all by 2030 is seriously off track, Madam Mohammed said on Monday at the ongoing session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD), taking place at UN Headquarters in New York. CPD was established nearly 80 years ago by the UN Economic and Social Commission (ECOSOC), one of the six main bodies of the global Organization. The 56th session of the Commission concludes on Friday.
“Ultimately, we need to reimagine and transform our educational systems if they are to be fit for purpose,” Ms. Mohamed stated. “We need to learn how to learn throughout our lives, and learn to live in peace with one another and with nature.”
She said countries are facing “a triple crisis in education – one ofequity andinclusion, quality and relevance, to equip current and future generations with the skills they need to thrive in a fast-changing world.”
She said manystudents simply are not learning, as nearly 70 per cent of children in poorer countries cannot understand a basic text by age 10, due to chronic factors such as poverty and malnutrition.
The UN Diplomat also focused her statement on the need to ensure inclusive education for women and girls, and to encourage them to pursue studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, the so-called STEM fields.
