International Day of Education

24 January is commemorated as the International Day of Education in celebration of the role of education for peace and development.

Background

On 3 December 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted with consensus a resolution proclaiming 24 January as International Day of Education, in celebration of the role of education for peace and development.

The adoption of the resolution 73/25 “International Day of Education”, co-authored by Nigeria and 58 other Member States, demonstrated the unwavering political will to support transformative actions for inclusive, equitable and quality education for all.

By doing so, the international community reiterated that education plays a key role in building sustainable and resilient societies, and contributes to the achievement of all other Sustainable Development Goals.

With a view to enhance international cooperation in supporting the efforts towards the realization of Sustainable Development Goal 4, the resolution called on all stakeholders including Member States, organizations of the UN system, and civil society, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, the private sector, individuals and other relevant stakeholders to observe the International Day of Education.

UNESCO, as the specialized United Nations agency for education, facilitates the annual observance of the Day in close collaboration with main education actors.

Education key to development

Education is a human right

The right to education is enshrined in article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The declaration calls for free and compulsory elementary education. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989, goes further to stipulate that countries shall make higher education accessible to all.

Education is key to sustainable development

When it adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in September 2015, the international community recognized that education is essential for the success of all 17 of its goals. Sustainable Development Goal 4, in particular, aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” by 2030.

Challenges to achieving universal education

Without inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all, countries will not succeed in achieving gender equality and breaking the cycle of poverty that is leaving millions of children, youth and adults behind.

Today, 250 million children and youth are out of school, and 763 million adults are illiterate. Their right to education is being violated and it is unacceptable. It's time to transform education. 

Theme for 2024 - Learning for lasting peace

The sixth International Day of Education will be celebrated on 24 January 2024 under the theme “learning for lasting peace”.  The world is seeing a surge of violent conflicts paralleled by an alarming rise of discrimination, racism, xenophobia, and hate speech. The impact of this violence transcends any boundary based on geography, gender, race, religion, politics, offline and online.

An active commitment to peace is more urgent today than ever: Education is central to this endeavor, as underlined by the UNESCO Recommendation on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Sustainable Development. Learning for peace must be transformative, and help empower learners with the necessary knowledge, values, attitudes and skills and behaviours to become agents of peace in their communities. 

A transformed and well-resourced education system can be an effective long-term preventative tool that protect, build and sustain peace before, during and after conflict. Before conflict, such an education can lay the preventative foundations that make conflicts difficult to erupt by helping all learners realize their fundamental human right to accessible and equitable quality education. This is fundamental, especially when more than 250 million children and youth are out of school globally, and most of those in school are not acquiring the basic skills. Additionally, 44 million teachers are needed to achieve universal primary and secondary education by 2030. These challenges are compounded further by the lack of adequate resources for education. More than 70% of countries allocate less than 4% of GDP to educationvii.

Objectives of the Day

• Mobilize Member States and partners to maintain education at the top of the political agenda and deliver on their TES and Education 2030 commitments;  
• Generate visibility at the local and global levels on the importance of education in strengthening and sustaining peace, as outlined in SDG4 Target 4.7, and other global education efforts; 
• Advocate for higher levels of domestic and international financing for education in general, and education for peace in particular, especially through innovative and multistakeholder mechanisms and partnerships;
• Highlight and celebrate the peacemaking role of youth and educators in and through education towards just, inclusive and peaceful societies;
• Provide a platform to discuss priorities and challenges for education for peace in contexts of increased protracted global crisis and conflicts;
• Rally influencers and the wider civil society to push forward the movement to bring education into the center of local, national, regional and global peacebuilding efforts;
• Raise awareness for effective approaches in education for peace and mobilize commitment for their implementation. 

Source : UN