Transforming Education: Over 140 Ministers of Education at UNESCO HQ to draw roadmap

Paris, 24 June – UNESCO is to host the Transforming Education Pre-Summit, a meeting of Ministers of Education, policy and business leaders and youth activists, who come together to build a roadmap to transform education globally.

• When: 28-30 June, 10.00-18.00
• Where: UNESCO Headquarters, 7 Place de Fontenoy, 75007 Paris
• Media Accreditation: Please Pre-Register here
• Programme of the event
• The event will be livestreamed here

Key opportunity to reflect on educational inequalities

This meeting is a precursor to the Transforming Education Summit (TES), to be held in September at the UN General Assembly in New York. This high-level summit was convened by the UN Secretary General to radically change our approach to education systems after COVID-19 – especially for the most marginalised learners who are facing severe learning losses.

The meeting will focus on 5 key areas of transformation: Schools, Life-long quality learning, Teachers, Connectivity and Financing education.

A Youth-led Global Engagement Day will precede the pre-Summit on 28 June bringing together youth from around the world to center young voices in the conversation and provide opportunities for their perspectives on Transforming education to be heard and acted on.

All voices will be heard

Heads of State of Ethiopia and Sierra Leone; 140 Ministers and Vice-Ministers of Education; UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay; EU Commissioner for International Cooperation Jutta Urpilainen; Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed; UNICEF Executive Director Catherine M. Russell; Summit Special Advisor Leonardo Garnier; Co-chair of the Advisory Committee David Sengeh; Youth activists; Champions of education, and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Salif Traore (A’salfo – Lead singer of Magic System) will all participate.

Mid-point in the Sustainable Development Goals Agenda

This is the moment to reverse the historical slide resulting from pandemic, climate and conflict disruptions, and to seek transformational changes around schooling, learning, teaching, technology, and financing of education.

This meeting comes at a critical time when government spending on education everywhere is not keeping up with the growing crisis in learning. An estimated 40 percent of low- and lower-middle income countries have reduced their spending on education with the onset of the pandemic in 2020, with an average decline in real spending of 13.5 percent.  Further, in 2020, 43 bilateral donors decreased their aid to education, while households in the poorest countries are picking up 39% of the total cost of education compared to just 16% in high-income countries[1].

As the world slowly and painfully emerges from the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, which deeply affected education, and exactly midway through the 15-year period allocated to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the time is right to take stock of where the world is with the Sustainable Education Goal—and to act.

The pre-summit aims to prioritize quality education as a global public good, just like clean air and water, health and safety.

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For accreditation, please complete this online form.

For media enquiries or to arrange interviews, please contact:

• Clare O’Hagan, Head of Press, UNESCO: o-hagan@unesco.org;  +33 (0) 7 89366539

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Spokespersons at the Pre-Summit

Ms. Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General

Ms. Jutta Urpilainen, EU Commissioner for International Cooperation

Ms. Amina Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General

Mr. David Sengeh, Minister of Education, Sierra Leone

Ms. Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO (host)

Ms. Catherine Russell, Executive Director, UNICEF

Mr. Leonardo Garnier, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General for the Transforming Education Summit

Mr. Jamie Frost, Winner of Global Teachers Prize 2020, COVID hero award

Ms. Kenisha Arora, Youth Representative – Education Sustainable Goal High-Level Steering Committee