Union Minister of Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan has announced that all G20 countries participating in India’s Education Working Group (EDWG) meetings have shown consensus on the technical issues discussed during India’s presidency. The countries have also agreed to an Outcome Document and Chair’s Summary which pertains to geopolitical issues.
The Minister further listed five key take aways from the G20 Educational Ministerial held during the fourth and last EDWG meeting in Pune, Maharashtra. It includes an agreement on education’s role in human dignity and empowerment, need for inclusive and equitable education, importance of vocational education and life long learning, and digital transformation and women led development towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Consensus has also been made on capacity building and training of teachers, investment needs, and strengthening of foundational literacy and numeracy among students.
“Friends, we have seen very high-level participation from the G20 and Guest countries. This is not only indicative of the impact of India’s G20 Presidency but is a reflection the global focus on education as a transformative pathway to achieve the Presidency’s goal of “One earth, One family, One future”,” the Minister said in a statement released on Thursday.
Furthermore, all the G20 members have fully endorsed and adopted outcomes pertaining to the four priorities identified by the Indian Presidency, the Minister said. The four priority areas discussed include – ensuring foundational literacy and numeracy especially in the context of blended learning, making tech-enabled learning more inclusive, qualitative and collaborative at every level, building capacities, promoting life-long learning in the context of the future of work, and strengthening research and promoting innovation through richer collaboration in education and training.
The G20 Ministers have also unanimously adopted the G20 Education Working Group Report and the G20 Education Working Group Compendium on Education Policies and Programmes in G20Countries, according to the statement. All the outcome documents of the Education Ministerial will be uploaded on the G20 website, the statement added.