Education for All as a Key Step of the Recovery

Spotlight Session at the UN's ECOSOC Partnership Forum, co-organised by the NGO Major Group, African Regional Mechanism for Major Groups & other Stakeholders, Indigenous Peoples Major Group, Education & Academia Stakeholder Group, Together 2030 and the National Development Planning Commission of Ghana. Featured speakers: Dr Richard Osei Bofah, Deputy Director, Development Policy and Planning, National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Ghana Avilinia Reyes García, Network of Indigenous Youth of Latin America and the Caribbean Rawan Abukhadrah, World Vision Syria emergency response Katarina Popovic, International Council for Adult Education Hagar Monsif, Maat for Peace Co-moderators: Oli Henman, Action for Sustainable Development & Rosario del Pilar Diaz Garavito, The Millennials Movement The COVID-19 pandemic has created the most severe disruption to global education in history, affecting nearly 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries and all continents. Closures of schools and other learning spaces have impacted 94 per cent of the world’s student population, up to 99 per cent in low and lower-middle income countries. At the same time, education has moved into the “virtual world”, using digital and ICT tools to bridge the gaps in learning. But the prolonged pandemic has raised further and more serious issues, such as the ‘digital divide’, disruption of the provision of essential services to children and communities, reduction in access to nutritious food, challenges for many parents to work, and an increase in the risk of violence against women and girls. In addition, education curriculums should support gender equality, anti-discrimination and wider anti-extremist approaches to support future generations to build upon what has been achieved so far regarding access for all. This session aims to provide different perspectives on the current challenges facing the education system in light of the COVID-19 pandemic; as well as good practices on the engagement of stakeholders and resilient models for providing quality free education for all to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.