Launch of the Global Education Monitoring Report
23 June 2020, 10:00 – 11:00 AM CEST
Today, on 23 June 2020 the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report team launches its Report on inclusion and education: All means all. The 2020 GEM Report assesses progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) on education and, most importantly its ten targets, as well as other education-related points in the SDG Agenda. In addition, it also draws attention to key factors for exclusion of learners in education systems worldwide including background, identity and ability. It identifies an exacerbation of the situation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Report also estimates that about 40% of low and lower-middle income countries have not supported disadvantaged learners during temporary school shutdown.
The 2020 GEM Report urges countries to focus on those left behind as schools reopen so as to foster more resilient and equal societies.
“To rise to the challenges of our time, a move towards more inclusive education is imperative”, said the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay. “Rethinking the future of education is all the more important following the COVID-19 pandemic, which further widened and put a spotlight on inequalities. Failure to act will hinder the progress of societies.”
Inequitable foundations
Alongside today’s publication, UNESCO GEM Report team launched a new website, PEER, with information on laws and policies concerning inclusion in education for every country in the world. PEER shows that many countries still practice education segregation, which reinforces stereotyping, discrimination and alienation. Laws in a quarter of all countries require children with disabilities to be educated in separate settings, rising to over 40% in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as in Asia.
“Your Questions Answered” session
The special academic session on the 2020 Global Education Monitoring Report on inclusion and education “Your Questions Answered” is going to be a live online discussion on 29 June. To clarify, the series will offer academics a direct line of communication with the GEM Report’s authors all day. They will respond to people’s questions and reactions to the Report’s new evidence, data and recommendations. For this purpose, the communication will happen on the GEM Report’s World Education Blog, where all public can see queries and answers posted as replies to comments.
Europe fact sheet – 2020 GEM Report