29 June: Pre-Summit Ministerial Segment I Side Meetings
8:30 – 10:00 Room X
Adult Learning and Education as a Lever for Transformation
UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning and Kingdom of Morocco
From 15 to 17 June 2022, participants from across the globe came together for the Seventh International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VII) in Marrakech, Morocco. They took stock of achievements in adult learning and education, discussed challenges, and developed a new framework for action to make adult learning and education a reality around the world – the Marrakech Framework for Action.
CONFINTEA VII is one of the key conferences preparing the ground for the Transforming Education Summit (TES) and the renewal of the commitment by member states to education and lifelong learning as a pre-eminent public good. The Marrakech Framework for Action will guide Member States in their policies and actions in adult learning and education over the next decade which is particularly relevant for the TES Action Track 2, focusing on learning and skills for life, work and sustainable development.
Moderated by Ms Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General, UNESCO, the meeting hosted by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning together with the Kingdom of Morocco, will present outcomes of CONFINTEA and discuss how the implementation of the Marrakech Framework for Action can contribute to transforming education over the next decade. The event will particularly focus on the call of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for the formal recognition of a universal entitlement to lifelong learning and reskilling, translated into practice through legislation, policy and effective lifelong learning systems (Our Common Agenda, 2021, p.28).
Speakers: Minister of Education of the Kingdom of Morocco; David Atchoarena, Director, UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning; Abdessamih Mahmoud, Director, National Agency against Illiteracy (Morocco); Ministers/Permanent Delegates representing each region; Permanent Delegate of the Kingdom of Morocco.
Hybrid
8:30 – 10:00 Room VIII
Private Sector Roundtable
Generation Unlimited, Global Business Coalition for Education, Global Education Coalition, UN Global Compact
As the world is experiencing a global learning crisis leaving SDG 4 well off track, conventional education systems are struggling to deliver the values, knowledge, skills, and outlooks needed for children, young people, and adults. The role of the Private Sector is becoming more and more important as governments looks to transform their education systems.
Private Sector engagement in education and training already has a long tradition, including collaboration for work-based learning, digital learning, financing, research, and innovation. Private Sector involvement during the pandemic proved key in advancing solutions by sharing new methods and tools to address education challenges and brought significant contributions and results to education and to the creation and sustainability of local eco-systems. As the world emerges from the Covid-19 crisis, it is clearer now than ever that the Private Sector can play an important role in achieving SDG 4, and success requires multistakeholder partnerships between public and private sectors, civil societies, media, and academia.
This Round Table will bring together a diverse range of Private Sector actors for an open discussion of what educational transformation looks like, how we could achieve this and contribution from the sector. The panel will be moderated by Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, CEO of the LEGO Foundation, in an open floor format, where quick-paced conversations can take place with three rounds of questions. All participants are encouraged and welcomed to take the floor and provide short responses in each round.
The overall ambition is to explore the following questions:
- What does ‘Transforming Education’ look like to you, and what role should the Private Sector have?
- Looking at education today, to transform it, what should we keep and what should we discard or do differently?
- From your perspective, if there was one thing that could unlock education transformation what would it be?
In-person
8:30 - 10:30 Room VI
Advancing Foundational Learning in the Post-COVID Era
WB, UNICEF, GATES, FCDO, USAID
This event will center on the question: how can countries accelerate and sustain foundational learning in a context of high learning losses? The session will create a shared understanding of the actions countries can take to advance foundational learning, and offer lessons learned by countries that have led successful programs to improve reading and math. Expert speakers will put forth evidence-based principles for policymaking, and a small panel of Ministers of education will share lessons, challenges and key insights for future action.
Before COVID-19, low- and middle-income countries were already experiencing a deep learning crisis: an estimated 57% of children in these countries could not read and understand a simple text by age ten. COVID-19 disruptions have only exacerbated the issue, causing this figure to rise to an estimated 70%. This event will center on the question: how can countries accelerate and sustain foundational learning in a context of high learning losses? The session will create a shared understanding of the actions countries can take to advance foundational learning, and offer lessons learned by countries that have led successful programs to improve reading and math. Expert speakers will put forth evidence-based principles for policymaking, and a small panel of Ministers of education will share lessons, challenges and key insights for future action. Discussions will center on policy options for effective instruction and sustainable implementation at scale in the post-COVID era, for instance: targeting instruction to students’ learning levels in the learning trajectory; prioritizing foundational learning (literacy and numeracy) in the curriculum to ensure adequate amounts of instruction for accelerated recovery; supporting teachers with continuous professional development; ensuring that children are taught in their home language first; and following the science of reading by focusing instruction on the critical subskills for learning to read. The presentations and discussion will be anchored around the principles of the Literacy Policy Package, a framework of critical policies to promote literacy for all children, as well as the policy actions presented in the Guide for Learning Recovery and Acceleration — a new publication by the World Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, FCDO, UNICEF, USAID and UNESCO that offers a menu of evidence-based policy options for addressing COVID-19 learning losses and building forward better.
Speakers: Jaime Saavedra, Global Director for Education, World Bank; Sara Ruto, Chief Administrative Secretary, Ministry of Education of Kenya; Lant Pritchett, Research Director of RISE Programme, University of Oxford; Jonathan Stern, Research and Evaluation Lead, RTI; Robert Jenkins, Global Director of Education and Adolescent Development, UNICEF; Invited Ministers of Education: Minister Devendra Paudel, Minister of Education, Nepal; Minister Matsie Angelina Motshekga, Minister of Education, South Africa; Minister Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister of Education, Ghana
Hybrid
8:30 - 9:45 Room XI
Innovative financing to unlock critical education investments
Education Commission and UN Special Envoy for Global Education
Fifty lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) are home to the largest number of out-of-school children and youth, as well as the largest number of children not learning of any income group. The International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd) has been designed to address the critical needs of LMICs at this urgent time. By maximizing scarce donor resources in an unprecedented way, IFFEd allows LMICs to finance education priorities more affordably, without having to make difficult trade-offs. This session will showcase a moderated panel discussion by key IFFEd partners to introduce IFFEd to a broad audience ahead of the launch at TES in September 2022.
Fifty lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) are home to more than 700 million children and youth the largest number of out-of-school children, and the largest number not learning of any income group. Even under the most optimistic pre-pandemic scenarios of increased domestic budgets and more efficient spending, it was estimated that LMICs will face a financial shortfall to address these challenges, likely rising to 80 percent of the total global financing gap by 2030. The pandemic has further compounded fiscal pressures, forcing some governments to cut education investments at exactly the time they are most needed for recovery and growth.
The financing gap in LMICs is much too large to be solved by traditional grant aid, which is not even enough to address the needs of the poorest countries. A global financing compact is needed to resolve underlying tension for both lower income and lower-middle-income countries.
The International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd) has been designed to address the critical needs of LMICs at this urgent time. By maximizing scarce donor resources in an unprecedented way, IFFEd allows LMICs to finance education priorities more affordably, without having to make difficult trade-offs. IFFEd is currently under final development with a core group of donor, MDB and recipient partners, and will launch at the Transforming Education Summit this September 2022 as called for by the UN Secretary-General and other global leaders.
The session objective is to introduce IFFEd to a broad audience ahead of the anticipated IFFEd launch at TES in September 2022, leveraging direct perspectives from key IFFEd partners
The session would be a moderated panel discussion by key IFFEd partners, including representatives of sovereign and philanthropic donors, MDBs and potential partner countries. This will be followed by open discussion (Q&A) with participants.
Speakers: Amina Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary General; Gordon Brown, UN Special Envoy for Global Education; Liesbet Steer, Executive Director, Education Commission (panel moderator); panel members: Dipu Moni, Minister of Education, Bangladesh; Tarek Shawki, Minister of Education Egypt; Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Nigeria; Mr. Usman Sharifkhodjaev, First Deputy Minister of Public Education, Uzbekistan; Helen Grant, UK Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Girls Education, UK; Woochong Um, Managing Director General, ADB (virtual); Fabio Segura, co-CEO, Jacobs Foundation.
Hybrid
8:30 - 10:30 Room IX
Consultation with Young People on the Youth Declaration on Transforming Education
Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth
Hybrid
9:00 – 10:00 Room VII
Transforming Education: the need to expand the international legal framework
Right to Education Initiative, UNESCO, OMEP, Human Rights Watch, CLADE, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, ActionAid, and Global Campaign for Education
Education has drastically changed since the adoption of the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education (1960) and other UN treaties that guarantee the right to education.
The development of distance learning and the use of edtech, accentuated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the increasing human movement, and the alarming impacts of climate change are rapidly transforming the education landscape. In addition, SDG4 gave a new impetus to lifelong learning which is recognised by the Futures of education Report as taking place across different times and spaces. At the same time, major challenges remain, including huge inequalities across all levels of education.
As UNESCO is reflecting on the evolving dimensions of the right to education, this side-meeting proposes to focus on the need to expand the international legal framework to address the existing and emerging education challenges in order to build the foundation for the transformation of education, highlighting areas that are required to be urgently addressed. Its specific objective is to foster this dialogue in the context of transformation of education.
For more information
Speakers: UNESCO, Right to education Initiative, UN SR, OMEP, HRW, CLADE, GCE, ActionAid
Hybrid
13:00 - 14:00 Room XII
Transforming the Present, Securing Futures: Education and empowerment of marginalized adolescent girls
Government of United Kingdom and Rwanda, UNICEF, World Humanitarian Forum, and UNESCO
This side event will bring global education leaders together to highlight urgent actions and to drive transformative leadership and accountability to improve education outcomes for marginalised adolescent girls.
We are far from achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 4 target of 12 years of quality and inclusive education for every child. Adolescent girls, particularly those living in low-income countries and fragile contexts, face monumental barriers to accessing quality education. Girls facing intersecting forms of discrimination, such as those living in poverty or rural areas, girls with disabilities, and girls who are displaced, among others, face compounded multiple barriers and require whole-system efforts to secure their right to education. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the challenges with increases in child marriage, early and unintended pregnancy, and gender-based violence. In this context, we are making a global call for urgent and at-scale action across three areas:
- Identify out-of-school girls and support their return to learning;
- Fit-for-purpose learning pathways for girls that addresses the foundational learning crisis and leads to skills for employment;
- Make schools safe, promote health and well-being.
We know that focused leadership can make real change and this side event will mobilise education leaders around five enablers:
- Leadership: Build connections between Ministers, Young People, First Ladies, Education UN, Civil Society and Private Sector.
- Accountability: Use the global commitment to transform education through the Transforming Education Summit and other commitments, goals, and targets to drive action.
- Innovation: Share scalable and transferable multisectoral, digital, cost-effective solutions and innovations to accelerate impact.
- Data: Improve the quality and use of national and sub-national data on out-of-school children and the learning progress of the most marginalised children and young people.
- Financing: Invest to get learning back on track for millions of girls across low-income countries and fragile contexts.
The meeting aims to:
- Build alliances amongst governments, international partners, civil society and the private sector to secure accountable transformative action and investment for girls in low-income countries and fragile contexts;
- Set out scalable impactful solutions that countries are taking forward; and
- Set the stage for the main TES in September 2022 to convene a platform for Ministers and partners to advancing girls’ education.
Speakers: Mr. Robert Jenkins, Global Director, Education and Adolescent Development, UNICEF; Ms. Catherine Russell, Executive Director, UNICEF; Hon. Min. Mr. Gaspard Twagirayezu, Minister of State in charge of Primary and Secondary Education, Rwanda; Ms. Helen Grant, MP, UK Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Girls’ Education; Ibu Suharti Sutar, Secretary General of Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, Indonesia; Hon. Min. Mal. Adamu Adamu, Minister of Education, Nigeria; H.E. Ms. Fatima Maada Bio, First Lady of Sierra Leone (Video Message); Youth Leader [TBC]; Ms. María Juliana Ruiz, First Lady of Colombia; Honourable Minister Ibrahim Nanatou, Minister of National Education, Niger; Mme Delphine Ô, Generation Equality Forum; Ambassador, France [TBC]; Ms. Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO; Ms. Feraye Ozfescioglu, Chief Executive Officer, World Humanitarian Forum; Ms. Catherine Russell, Executive Director, UNICEF.
Hybrid
13:30 - 14:30 Room X
Fostering Ethics Education to Contribute to Global Citizenship and Peaceful and Inclusive Societies
Arigatou International, Indonesia National Commission for UNESCO, Kenya National Commission for UNESCO and Children Representatives
Hybrid
13:30-15:00 Room VIII
Towards a Coalition for Action on Digital Public Resources for Education
UNICEF, Executive Office of the Secretary-General, Government of Singapore, EdTech Hub, UNESCO, AT4 Members
The meeting is a deep dive into the recommendation of the Digital Learning TES background paper on the need for free, high quality digital learning resources. The main objective of the meeting is to determine the way forward for a ‘Coalition for Action’ on Digital Public Resources for Education: moving from policy and plans to implementation, and addressing key bottlenecks that have hindered progress thus far.
This meeting is a deep dive into the recommendation of the Digital Learning TES background paper on the need for free, high quality digital learning resources. The main objective of the meeting is to determine the way forward for a ‘Coalition for Action’ on Digital Public Resources for Education, moving from policy and plans to implementation, and addressing key bottlenecks that have hindered progress thus far. Digital technologies in education can contribute to wider systemic efforts to improve learning for all and help address the learning crisis, which has been greatly exacerbated by the pandemic. Digital public resources for education in particular can decrease the cost of education, and catalyse more equitable, collaborative and effective approaches to teaching and learning. However, while much progress has been made over the past 20 years towards advancing this agenda, huge gaps remain - for example, the dearth of freely accessible, public educational resources such as reading books or videos in most of the world’s languages, and tools which promote more active and collaborative teaching, learning and problem-solving.
Objectives
- Establish a Coalition for Action on Digital Public Resources for Education, to move from policy to action and implementation, and address the key bottlenecks that have hindered progress. This Coalition will include Champion Countries, as well as international organisations and experts working in this area.
- Reflect on progress to date, and discuss how the key bottlenecks can be addressed. This would build upon previous work including the international standard-setting instruments adopted by UN agencies and Member States.
- Identify a set of realistic goals for Digital Public Resources. How can we collaborate to address the gap in availability of openly licensed, high quality literacy, numeracy and science resources across different languages, as well as collaborative learning and teaching tools?
Speakers: Dr Leonardo Garnier, SG Special Adviser, Transforming Education Summit; Mr Siew Hoong Wong, Advisor, Ministry of Education, Singapore; HE Dr Tariq Al Gurg, CEO, Dubai Cares; Robert Jenkins, UNICEF Director of Education and Adolescent Development; Dr Sobhi Tawil, Director Future of Learning and Innovation, UNESCO; Ms Precious Agaecheta, Youth Ambassador, ONE Campaign; African Union; GenU; Mr Taha Bawa, Co-founder and CEO of Goodwall, Forbes 30 Under 30, World Economic Forum Global Shaper; Ms Urmila Sarkar, Global Head of Programmes, Generation Unlimited; Dr Cable Green, Director of Open Knowledge, Creative Commons; Ms Purvi Shah, Sr. Director, StoryWeaver & Strategy at Pratham Books; Ms Rebecca McDonald, Founder and CEO, Library For All; Mr Christer Gunderson, CTO, Global Digital Library; Ms Verna Lalbeharie, Executive Director, EdTech Hub; Dr Frank van Cappelle - Global Lead, Digital Learning, UNICEF
Hybrid
13:30 - 15:30 Room VI
Public vs Private Transformative Solutions for Education
Action Aid, Right to Education Initiative, Oxfam, UNESCO, and UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education
The Transformative Education Summit and Pre-Summit offer a unique opportunity to rethink education, to take stock of what works and does not, to discuss potential solutions to chronic and recent problems in education. This side meeting aims to critically analyse the increasing role of private providers in education, and to discuss different approaches to improve public education to increase inclusion and equity, offering a gender-transformative education to meet SDG4. It will explore actionable solutions to reduce teacher shortages and improve access and quality of education through adequate and sustainable financing, and equity and efficiency of spending on education. By engaging different constituencies, from UN agencies, to INGOs, teacher unions, and other education experts from around the world, this side meeting will provide a space for reflection and discussion of transformative solutions for education. As such, it will inform the work of action tracks 1, 3, and 5.
Dr. Boly Barry, Dr. Antoninis, and representatives from ActionAid, Oxfam, Education International, and Right to Education Initiative and TaxEd Alliance will critically analyse the increasing role of private providers in education, and discuss different approaches to improve public education to increase inclusion and equity, offering a gender-transformative education to meet SDG4. The panel will explore actionable solutions to reduce teacher shortages and improve access and quality of education through adequate and sustainable financing, and equity and efficiency of spending on education.
Speakers: Dr. Boly Barry, UNSR; Dr. Manos Antoninis, GEMR UNESCO; Delphine Dorsi, RTE initiative; Antonia Wulff/ Manuela Mendonca, EI; Dr. Maria Ron Balsera, TaxEd Alliance; Kira Boe/ Ingrid Mikkelsen, Oxfam.
Hybrid
13:30 - 15:30 Room VII
High Level Dialogue - Ending Violence in Schools
The Global Partnership for Education, Safe to Learn, the Government of Namibia, the Government of Italy, the Government of the UK, GPE Youth Leaders, End Violence Partnership, Uganda National Teachers Union, Education Cannot Wait, Together for Girls and the Brave Movement
Safe to Learn, the Global Partnership for Education and the Government of Namibia are co-convening a “high-level dialogue to drive action towards ending violence in schools”. The invite-only side meeting will be available to watch online via webcast.
Hosted by Ranja Diab and Diana Ayala, Global Partnership for Education Youth Leaders from France and Honduras, the side meeting will bring together Ministers, leaders, experts and advocates for a dynamic discussion highlighting new ideas and solutions to end violence in and through schools and what political action can be taken by the global education community at the Transforming Education Summit in September. The meeting will launch a new high-level Safe to Learn Essay Collection.
Speakers: Joy Phumaphi, Board Co-Chair of the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children; H.E. Ms Ester Anna-Lisa Nghipondoka, Minister of Education, Arts and Culture Namibia; H.E. Mr Patrizio Bianchi, Minister of Public Education Italy; Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO; H.E. Dr Wajih Mousa Owais, Minister Of Education and Minister Of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Jordan; Helen Grant MP, UK Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Girls' Education; Charles North, CEO of the Global Partnership for Education; Dr Daniela Ligiéro, CEO of Together for Girls and Director of the Brave Movement; Shamah Bulangis, Co-Chair, Transform Education hosted by UNGEI.
Hybrid
13:30 - 15:00 Room IX
Transforming Education Through Regional Collaboration: A team Europe perspective
French Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the European Commission
Drawing on examples of cooperation and partnerships by the European Union and its Member States, as Team Europe, the event will put the spotlight on promising game-changing opportunities and solutions through a regional lens in the context of the Transforming Education Summit in September and beyond. The event will bring together education and foreign affairs/development cooperation ministers from EU Member States and partner countries, as well as youth representatives.
The high level roundtable will underline the added value of Team Europe regional approach and bring education and foreign/development ministers together to present added value based on EU and MS flagships on education under the new the Global Gateway strategy. This part will be guided by the different action tracks of the Summit.
Speakers: Mr Pap Ndiaye, Ministre de l’Education nationale et de la Jeunesse de France; Mr Didier Lenoir, Ambassadeur, Représentant permanent de l’UE auprès de l’UNESCO et de l’OCDE; Ms Stefania Giannini, Sous-directrice générale pour l’éducation de l’UNESCO; Ms Li Andersson, Ministre de l’Education de la Finlande; Mr Manuel Banzo, Vice-ministre de l’Education et du Développement humain du Mozambique; Mr Patrizio Bianchi, de l’Education, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche de l’Italie; Ms Mariatou Koné, Ministre de l’Education nationale et de l’Alphabétisation de la Côte d’Ivoire; Ms Nesmy Manigat, Ministre de l’Education nationale et de la Formation professionnelle d’Haïti; Ms Martina Darmanin, Représentante de la jeunesse, Présidente de l’Union des Etudiants d’Europe; M. Nhial Deng, Représentant de la jeunesse, Jeune défenseur des droits réfugiés, engagé auprès de Plan international; Mr Hambani Masheleni, Chef de la division Education, Département de l’Education, de la Science, de la Technologie et de l’Innovation de la Commission de l’Union Africaine; Didier Lenoir, Ambassadeur, Représentant permanent de l’UE auprès de l’UNESCO et de l’OCDE; Michel Miraillet, Directeur général de la mondialisation au Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères de la France
Hybrid
13:30 - 15:30 Room XI
Transforming Education Starts with Teachers
Education International, International Labour Organization, International Teacher Task Force, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNICEF, and the World Bank
The transformation of education requires an empowered education workforce which are professionalised, trained, motivated and supported. This entails having an adequate number of qualified teachers who are provided with quality initial training and continuous professional development throughout their careers; the improved status and working conditions of teaching personnel, including the recognition of their leadership and potential for innovation.
This ambition will not be realized without comprehensive teacher policies which are developed with teachers and their representative organizations, which are fully costed and part of education sector plans.
Join us for a panel discussion which will explore a new global initiative to support the transformation of teaching by means of participatory policymaking and teacher professional development. It will examine what works and what needs to happen to support comprehensive policy development and implementation, including financing.
Speakers: representatives of Ministries of Education, representatives of Nigeria, Romania and South Africa, as well as the ILO, the World Bank, Education International, UNESCO and the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030.
Hybrid