The past decades have, in terms of education, witnessed a historic change: boys and girls around the globe have been brought to school. After this huge success – giving access to education to nearly all—the world is ready for the next step: a joint effort to provide universal quality education.
This is a mission in which strongly I believe. I am very happy to see Dr. Alleem shares the same passion.
Today, we are facing a situation UNESCO is calling "a learning crisis.” Half of the world’s children and young people are not even learning the basic literacy and numeracy skills after spending years in school. We cannot afford this to continue and let the world be divided into two.
Firstly, there is a better half where young people can get a quality education that gives them multiple skills to cope in the world of artificial intelligence, robotics, and space science and continue learning throughout their lives. Secondly, there is another half where the education fails the young people completely and they leave school without retaining even the basic skills.
The United Nations’ sustainable development goal number four is about quality of education. This gives us hope. With joint efforts of multiple actors—the UN family, its 193 member states, educational institutions at all levels, and the private sector—the learning crisis can be defeated. A right formula needs to be found to make sure that every child leaves school equipped with skills fit for the 21st century and has the basis for life-long learning. Children attending school today will stay in working life until the 2080s, and giving them the right set of skills should be the priority of education. With commitment and political will, the necessary resources can mobilized and their use focused efficiently to produce learning, not just attendance, at school.
Finland stands ready to share its experience of developing an education system that, in the first four Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) rounds, stood as the best in the world and still is among the highest ranking. The Finnish recipe includes providing equal learning opportunities to all, having highly educated and well-respected teachers, and building the education system on trust. We hope to see such a success story taking place in every single country. Quality education is, after all, the biggest gift we can give to the next generation. Each and every child deserves it.
Marianne Nissilä
Ambassador of Finland to the UAE