– As delivered –
Statement by H.E. Tijjani Muhammad Bande, President of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
12 November 2019
Ministers,
Esteemed members of the SDG-Education 2030 Steering Committee on Education,
It is an honour to address you on the fortieth anniversary of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵESCO General Conference. I thank you for your kind invitation.
Quality education is a key priority of my presidency for the seventy-fourth session of the General Assembly.
I know that you have made remarkable efforts into ensuring quality education in your constituencies. I also know that donors have tried to allocate aid in the most efficient and effective ways. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵESCO has led the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ¡¯s efforts to improve education for the people we serve. However, we must do more.
Current estimates show that some 265 million children are out of school at this very moment, and this figure is projected to fall to 220 million by 2030. That this number of human beings will be illiterate in 2030 is a scandal. We must remove all barriers to education. We must ensure, at a minimum, universal access to basic education for every child, everywhere.
While access is one problem, another major problem is quality. More than half of the students who are enrolled in school are not meeting minimum proficiency standards in reading and mathematics. The situation is more dire in poorer countries and in countries in conflict.
Excellencies,
In an ever-changing and more complex world, we have a duty to educate all our children. We need to prepare young people to join the workforce and to also equip them with the necessary analytical and critical thinking abilities.
The question then is how we guarantee quality education?
One answer is to develop strong curricula and an effective monitoring and evaluation of learning. This will enable us to respond to the needs of students, and the wider world.
Of course, because I am a teacher, I believe in the truism that ¡°no educational system can rise above the quality of its teacher¡±.? We must do more to ensure that we have adequately qualified teachers.
Excellencies, distinguish members,
As we all know, digital culture and literacy have changed the way we live, work, play and learn. To make gains, we must invest in infrastructure, including the full integration of Information and Communications Technology in teaching. ICT can improve quality and inclusive education for both teachers and students.
At the same time, we must not forget about the basics. For example, school lunch programmes have been integral in keeping children in school. Also, the school bus schemes in some parts of the world provide a safe route to school for all children; in particular for girls and children with disabilities.
Today, over 130 million girls are out of school, and over one billion girls and young women lack the skills they need to succeed in a rapidly developing world. One reason for the drop-out of girls from school is inadequacy of sanitation, we do have the resources to address this. We should do so.
We must also encourage and equally enable girls to study and have careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). According to the World Bank, ensuring that girls complete at least twelve years of education would add $30 trillion to the global economy. Including girls in education is not just the right thing to do, it is also the smart thing to do.
Excellencies,
Education is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and as such it is our responsibility to guarantee that it is upheld in all contexts. Yet today, one in five children around the world live in countries affected by conflict or disaster. We cannot lose these generations because of lack of access to quality education.
We have to meet children where they are: whether that is in camps, or in host countries. This means offering classes in mother tongue languages; second chance learning programmes; vocational training; and a host of other approaches.
It is the responsibility of governments to include everyone. We cannot afford to forget about children and young people with physical or intellectual disabilities ¨C those who are often at risk of being left behind. We must make sure that facilities meet the needs of all children so that they can achieve their goals.
Governments must also partner with traditional, religious, and community leaders which are often critical in the promotion of education at the local level.
Education is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and as such it is our responsibility to guarantee that it is upheld in all contexts. Yet today, one in five children around the world live in countries affected by conflict or disaster. We cannot lose these generations because of lack of access to quality education.
Excellencies, distinguish members,
At the High-Level Political Forum this past July, Member States presented their Voluntary National Reviews on SDG 4. It was encouraging to hear that many are adopting SDG 4 as the basis for designing their education policies. A holistic approach is needed to align local and national efforts with Global Goals, and ensure gains across all seventeen areas.
I hope that you collaborate to address education as a cross-cutting issue in government portfolios, so that the needs of the people we serve are met. Quality technical and vocational training is key in this respect and this must also be made accessible to all.
Education as you know, distinguish colleagues, is a life-long process and we must expand opportunities for learning at all stages and in multiple spaces.? We must therefore facilitate more flexible pathways between work and learning and between formal and non-formal education.
Excellencies,
One in four countries are not meeting the two benchmarks set in 2015, which called for governments to allocate at least 4% of GDP and 15% of public expenditure towards education. I call on you, here today, to meet these criteria. I ask that you reach out to your partners in other countries to encourage them to do the same.
International aid directed towards education has remained stagnant since 2010 and the overall share of education in international aid has fallen from 10% in 2010 to 7% in 2017. This is not good enough.
I call on donors to meet the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ target of 0.7% of gross national income to foreign aid and allocate 10% of that aid to primary and secondary education, in order to bridge the education financing gap.
Of course, everyone needs to see a return on their investment and that is why we need solid data to monitor SDG 4 and its associated targets. The education community has a robust monitoring tool in the Global Education Monitoring Report, and I urge all of you to engage with the publications housed under Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵESCO. It an important resource for us all.
On my part, as President of the United Nations General Assembly on its 74th Session, I can assure you that I will champion SDG 4 throughout my tenure. As part of these efforts, I will convene a High-level event to commemorate the International Day of Education on January 24th. I look forward to working with your Permanent Missions to the United Nations in New York, and with Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵESCO and all other stakeholders to celebrate this day. This is in addition to many other relevant initiatives we are working on.
Excellencies,
Education has the potential to lift those furthest behind out of extreme poverty, to stir hope in children trapped in conflict, to equip communities to recognise and correct inequalities.
As we enter the Decade of Action and Delivery on Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, we should forge new partnerships and deepen existing ones in order to provide access to quality education. We simply cannot fail our children – it is the future generation to come.
Excellencies,
Consider me your partner in all of your endeavours in the area of education. I am confident that by striving together, we will succeed in delivering for all.
I thank you.