The New Path for Education Begins in Paris

All roads lead to Paris this week, where world leaders and civil society organisations are set to adopt a new global framework for education, in the hopes of accomplishing the unfinished business of education for all before 2030.The Education 2030 High-Level Meeting being held in the French capital over the next week is a follow-up to the World Education Forum last May in Incheon, South Korea. It was in Korea where world leaders and civil society groups acknowledged that despite tremendous progress made in expanding educational opportunities worldwide over the past 15 years, the Education for All (EFA) goals and education-related development goals remained an unfinished business. Education 2030 is a renewed hope to attend to this unfinished business, addressing current and future global and national education challenges.This is in line with providing guidance towards the accomplishment of the Education 2030 agenda, the Education 2030 Framework for Action aims to mobilise all stakeholders around a new ambitious education goal and targets, and proposes ways of implementing, coordinating, financing and reviewing the 2030 education agenda; globally, regionally and nationally- guaranteeing equal educational opportunity for all.According to Fred Van Leeuwen, Education International’s General Secretary, “This framework has to succeed, and its success will depend on political will, financing and total commitment by governments and other partners”. He went on to say that, “Teachers and education unions have an important role to play to ensure the full implementation of the new education goal and targets, so we hope to see a change of attitude and the inclusion of the teachers’ voice into the new policy.”The event will showcase ministers and high-level representatives of government delegations, heads of international agencies, representatives of multi- and bilateral organisations, civil society, the teaching profession, academia, youth and the private sector, who all look to jointly adopt the Education 2030 Framework for Action.