Nine ideas for public action – New publication from International Commission on the Futures of Education

The Covid-19 crisis has revealed inequalities and vulnerabilities, but it has also surfaced extraordinary human resourcefulness and potential. Decisions made today in the context of Covid-19 will have long-term consequences for the futures of education. Policy makers, educators and communities must make high-stakes choices today—these decisions should be guided by shared principles and visions of desirable collective futures.  

These are the key messages of the International Commission on the Futures of Education new report Education in a post-COVID world: Nine ideas for public action. The Commission—established by UNESCO in 2019 and composed of thought leaders from the worlds of academia, science, government, business and education— builds on important lessons from the global health crisis to propose policy actions that can be taken today to advance education tomorrow. 

From the necessity of committing to strengthen education as a common good to the final call to advance global solidarity to end current levels of inequality all nine ideas for public action aim to invite debate, engagement and action at all levels. Her Excellency Sahle-Work Zewde, President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Chair of the Commission stresses in her preface the importance of collective mobilization in order to drive sustainable change: “COVID-19 has the potential to radically reshape our world, but we must not passively sit back and observe what plays out.”

Education in a post-COVID world: Nine ideas for public action is available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish, and Russian.