‘World’s biggest education conference’ enables schools to share their learning to a huge online audience
A showcase of 100 schools will gather online to share expertise and best practices during the inaugural World Education Week, to be held from 5-9th October.
The hand-picked schools will join together in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal on Quality Education (SDG 4) and share their expertise across a range of educational themes, such as enhancing employability and life-skills; deepening family and community engagement; the use of technology; a focus on wellbeing; and promoting the science of learning and teaching.
Each will share their wisdom to an online audience expected to reach 100,000 worldwide. The ambition driving World Education Week is to accelerate progress to achieve UN SDG 4, a commitment designed to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all.
The schools, chosen from every continent and from kindergartens to secondary level, have centred on the theme of ‘Learning Today’, and each school will host a virtual event to demonstrate how to bring change, based on their own innovations and successes
The ground-breaking event is led by Vikas Pota, a globally-respected leader and driving force in the education, international development, philanthropy and technology sectors. In launching the event, Mr Pota said:
“I am incredibly inspired by the schools that applied to take part in this year’s World Education Week. Their commitment to improving the life chances of their learners by nurturing expertise and wanting to share their experience with others, especially in these challenging times, says a lot about the global education community. They are our heroes and World Education Week provides us all an opportunity not just to learn from them, but to celebrate their successes, too.”
“By sharing the ways in which these schools have developed their expertise, we can encourage others to feel inspired to undertake the same journey to excellence. That is a real and tangible way in which World Education Week can accelerate progress on achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals”
The conference has won the backing of Andreas Schleicher, the Director for Education & Skills at the OECD, who said:
"What's exciting about World Education Week is the idea of schools around the world sharing their expertise with their peers. After a turbulent period in global education, this is a great way of building back better."
The project was also welcomed by Jaime Saavedra, the Global Director for Education at the World Bank:
"The sheer scale of educators around the globe combining to share expertise, excellence and wisdom in accelerating learning is hugely impressive. If all educators learn from the best educators of their countries and of the world we would make immense progress in ensuring inclusive, equitable and quality education for all. I welcome all to participate in World Education Week."
David Edwards, General Secretary of Education International - the global federation of teacher unions commented in support:
“Teachers have amazed the world by taking the lead in this time of crisis. World Education Week is showcasing schools adapting to unprecedented challenges and striving for excellence illustrates that continuing determination against the odds to serve our students. Next comes the hard part – making sure that governments and educators and communities take safe and innovative practices across the world as examples, to build back better a public sector guaranteeing a quality education for every student.”
World Education Week is an effort by thirty civil society organisations coming together after the record breaking T4 conference on 30th May that was attended by over 100,000 teachers.
The event will be hosted from the World Education Week website, with registration opening from September 1st.