G20 Education Ministers’ Meeting Concludes Today

The G20 Education Ministers’ Meeting (EMM) concluded today in Pune, Maharashtra. The meeting was chaired by Union Minister of Education, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and was attended by over 150 delegates including 14 ministers from G20 members and Guest countries. The high-level participation from the G20 and Guest countries underlined the global focus on education as a transformative pathway to achieve the Presidency’s goal of “One earth, One family, One future”.

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi virtually addressed the meeting and stated that education is not only the foundation upon which our civilization has been built, but it is also the architect of humanity’s future. PM emphasized that Education Ministers are leading mankind in its effort for development, peace, and prosperity for all.

The Ministerial meeting on 22nd June 2023 was preceded by the 4th Education Working Group (EdWG) meeting which was also held in Pune from 19-21 June 2023. The 1st EdWG meeting was held in Chennai in February 2023, which was followed by 2nd EdWG meeting in Amritsar in March 2023 and the 3rd EdWG meeting was held in Bhubaneshwar in April 2023.

All the G20 members fully endorsed and adopted outcomes pertaining to the 4 priorities identified by the Indian Presidency for the Education Working Group, as all of them joined consensus on all the technical issues and agreed to an “Outcome Document and Chair’s Summary”, which was adopted during the meeting. The G20 Ministers also unanimously adopted the G20 Education Working Group Report and the G20 Education Working Group Compendium on Education Policies and Programmes in G20 Countries.

The five key take aways from the G20 Educational Ministerial under India’s Presidency include:

1. All G20 members agreed to the critical role that education plays as an enabler of human dignity and empowerment globally.

2. All G20 members agreed on the need to work together for a resilient, equitable, inclusive, and sustainable future through education.

3. All G20 members agreed on the need to ensure that everyone irrespective of age, gender, socio-economic or cultural background or those who are facing physical, mental or other learning difficulties or special needs have access to quality, inclusive and equitable education, and training.

4. All G20 members agreed that education is not only about academic learning, but also about developing life, technical and vocational skills to make all learners future ready. They also underlined the need for lifelong learning.

5. Recognized the important role of digital transformations, women-led development, green transition and education for sustainable development and lifestyles (LiFE) as accelerators that can advance the progress towards the achievement of the SDGs.

During the discussions at Ministerial meeting all G20 members agreed on the need for immediate and collective action to ensure that all learners acquire foundational learning, so that, by 2030, the percentage of children, particularly girls and children with disabilities, not able to reach and understand a simple text and do simple match is reduced substantially. All the ministers also reiterated shared commitment to overcome the digital divide for all learners by addressing the barriers to technological infrastructure and work collectively to develop technology ecosystems and learning resources, including in local languages, that are affordable and easily accessible.

All G20 members underlined the central role of all teachers and education staff all over the world in promoting education and the need to foster an environment including through capacity building and exchange programmes that will enable teachers and staff to thrive in their profession.

All G20 members agreed to the importance of investment in supporting human capital development and encourage collaborative solutions and innovations to promote quality teaching, learning and skilling as well as foster academic collaborations among educational institutions through joint programmes, dual degrees, as wells as student and faculty exchange programs.

Cultural programmes, exhibitions, and excursions were also organized to provide the ministers and delegates a glimpse into the rich culture and traditions of Maharashtra. The ministers and delegates were also taken on a trip to the historic Agha Khan Palace, which is a monument of national importance and is closely linked to the Indian freedom movement.