The future of educational planning
The UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning will mark its 60th Anniversary of supporting countries to plan and manage their education systems this 8-9 November 2023.
Hosted in Paris, France and online, the 60th Anniversary Symposium will provide an opportunity to reflect on the Institute’s key milestones, but also to chart a path forward for the future of educational planning, considering new trends and perspectives spanning six key planning and management areas. During the Symposium, experts, policy-makers, planners, and UNESCO Member State representatives will get an inside look at how IIEP is helping reshape educational planning through its actions related to:
|
|
To continue serving the needs of Member States, and under the overarching theme ‘The future of planning’, IIEP will use the occasion of its 60th Anniversary to foster discussions around the role of planning and management in meeting national and international targets for education 2030, and to ensure the sustainability, adaptability, and resilience of education systems in the years ahead. This will also be an opportunity to look back over recent evolutions in educational planning through the lens of IIEP’s work, in order to look forward.
Through the discussions, IIEP aims to show how and why transforming education starts with planning, with a view to helping all children and societies meet their potential.
Agenda
DAY 1
| Morning | Making the case for educational planning in today’s world | |
| Introduction by IIEP-UNESCO Director | ||
| Panel of ministers | ||
| Stories and testimonies from IIEP-UNESCO alumni | ||
| Afternoon | The future of planning (Part 1) | |
| Keynote speech | ||
| Panel 1: Digital technology to transform education | ||
| Panel 2: Addressing the learning crisis |
DAY 2
| Morning | Anniversary celebration
| |
| The future of planning (Part 2) | ||
| Panel 3: Gender and equity in education | ||
| Afternoon | Panel 4: Governance, transparency and finance | |
| Panel 5: Crisis, displacement and climate change | ||
| Panel 6: Skills for the future | ||
| Closing |
Speakers
A first session entitled ‘Making the case for educational planning in today’s world’ will set the scene, with interventions from ministers of education and IIEP alumni who occupy key functions in the field of planning. It will be followed by a keynote speech on the future of planning and then the first two thematic panels.
Director of IIEP-UNESCO
Martín is a Peruvian researcher and academic who served as the Minister of Education in 2020. In 2022, he served as Director of the Observatory of Higher Education of the Consortium of Universities, and from 2018, he was a principal professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (Lima). Between 2018 and 2020, he served as the Superintendent of the regulatory body of Peru's university system where he led the reform for improving the quality of higher education. Earlier in his career, Martín joined the Peruvian think tank Group for the Analysis of Development (GRADE), where he later became the Executive Director from 2008 to 2014. He was appointed Director of IIEP in 2023 and provides strategic leadership to the Institute. He has also been a visiting researcher at different US and French high-level academic institutions.
Secretary of State in charge of STEM Education, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Kingdom of Cambodia
H.E. Dr. Romny OM received an Ingénieur in Electrical Engineering from the Institut de Technologie du Cambodge (ITC) in 1988, followed by a Master of Engineering in 1996 and a Doctor of Engineering in 2002 in Japan. In his 35 years at ITC, he served as director, a member of the academic and trustee boards, as well as a lecturer on electrical and energy engineering. He has published 28 research articles in international journals. He served in the steering committee of the Asian University Network, as a board member of the Great Mekong Sub-Region Academic Research Network, and as a member School of Internet of Japan, the Science Council of Asia, and the Agence Université de la Francophonie. In his role in the ministry, Romny is currently the manager of the Science and Technology Education Project for Upper Secondary School (STEP-UP).
Former Chief of Education Planning, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Education consultant for the Caribbean Development Bank
Neva Pemberton is an educational planner dedicated to transforming education in the Caribbean. She spearheaded educational planning in St. Kitts and Nevis from 2011-2020, developing the 2017-2021 Education Sector Plan. In 2020, Neva received an Exemplary Leadership Award from the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis for her valued contribution to education development. Currently, she is a self-employed consultant providing full-time education specialist services for the Caribbean Development Bank. Prior, she worked as a technical specialist for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Commission. She also recently completed several education planning consultancies financed by the Global Partnership for Education. Neva holds a Ph.D. in International and Comparative Education from UCLA and a Postgraduate Certificate in Advanced Education Sector Planning from IIEP-UNESCO.
Director General of Policy and Planning, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Kingdom of Cambodia
Sothea Lim has worked for more than 20 years as education policy maker and planner. He holds a PhD in Educational Administration and Leadership by BELTEI International University in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, as well as a degree in Educational Planning and Management by IIEP-UNESCO. In his current position in the Ministry, he plays a central role in policy formulation and planning. He also provides coordination within and between government institutions, as well as with development partners. As part of his work, Sothea has attended a number of education world and regional seminars and conferences, shared experiences, and assisted the capacity development of education planners at national and sub-national levels.
Ford Foundation Professor of the Practice in International Education and Director of the Global Education Innovation Initiative at Harvard University
Fernando M. Reimers is interested in advancing understanding of the ways schools can empower students to participate civically and economically and to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. He is an elected member of the United States National Academy of Education and the International Academy of Education, as well as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He served on UNESCO’s Commission on the Futures of Education which authored the report Reimagining Our Futures Together, A New Social Contract for Education. As part of his commitment to advancing educational opportunity, he serves and has served on the boards of several education organizations, including the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars and on the advisory board of the Organization of Iberoamerican States.
Head of the IIEP-UNESCO Office for Latin America and the Caribbean
Pablo Cevallos Estarellas holds a PhD in Pedagogy and a master’s in education and Critical Thinking from Montclair State University, New Jersey, USA. He taught in undergraduate and graduate programmes at various universities in Ecuador, Spain, and the United States. He also worked as an international consultant for educational projects and participated in conferences in several Latin American countries. Between 2007 and 2010, he was a member of the management team of the Ministry of Education of Ecuador, and from 2010 to 2013 he held the position of Vice-Minister of Education. He has been Head of the IIEP-UNESCO Office for Latin America and the Caribbean since October 2016.
IIEP-UNESCO Technical Cooperation Team Lead
Suguru Mizunoya has extensive international experience, having worked in both development and emergency contexts, in Kenya (during the 2011 Horn of Africa Drought Crysis), Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, and Japan (during the Great Eastern Earthquake emergency). He has also worked in various capacities in international organizations such as UNESCO, World Bank, and ILO. From 2014 to 2017, he was the Acting Director of the Global Political Economy Program at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he taught political economy and quantitative analysis. Prior to joining IIEP, Suguru served as Senior Advisor for Statistics and Monitoring and Chief of the Education Data Unit at the UNICEF Headquarters Office in New York. In his current role, Suguru coordinates IIEP's Technical support to UNESCO Member States.
Director of Performance Management and Evaluation in The Gambia Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education
Andrew Gomez holds a Higher Diploma in Education from Gambia College, a bachelor’s degree in mathematics education from the University of The Gambia, and a master’s in public sector management from Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration. He has acquired certificates in strategic education planning and management, monitoring and evaluation, and data management and processing from institutions like the World Bank Institute and IIEP-UNESCO. In his role in the Ministry, he currently oversees monitoring and evaluation, performance management, and assessment processes. In the past decade, Andrew has also participated in consultancies on education sector research, surveys and reporting, education policies, and strategic plan development.
Independent researcher
Sylvia Schmelkes is a sociologist with a master’s degree in educational research and development from Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. With a career spanning back to 1970, she's authored 400+ works covering education quality, adult education, values, and intercultural education. She founded and was the General Coordinator for Intercultural and Bilingual Education at Mexico's Ministry of Education and was head of the Research Institute for the Development of Education at Universidad Iberoamericana. Recognized with the Joan Amos Comenius Medal for her contributions to education, Sylvia chaired the boards of the National Institute for the Evaluation of Education and OECD's Centre for Educational Research and Innovation. Retired from her tenure as Academic Provost at Universidad Iberoamericana, she continues as an independent researcher.
During a special event organised as part of UNESCO’s General Conference, IIEP’s work and achievements over the past 60 Years will be celebrated in the presence of Member States delegations, with testimonials on IIEP’s role and impact on the international stage and its key achievements. Four additional thematic panels will be held during this same day as part of the overall reflection on the future of planning.
Minister, Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, Seychelles
H.E. Dr Justin Valentin was appointed Minister for Education in November 2020. Prior to that he was Vice Chancellor of the University of Seychelles, where he worked for eight years, also serving as Dean of the Faculty of Business and Sustainable Development. He received his maths education bachelor’s degree in Australia, his research master’s degree in Malaysia, and his doctoral degree at King’s College London. As a researcher, he has focused on pedagogical innovation and classroom change in the context of small island states. Minister Valentin is currently leading the education transformation agenda of the Seychelles, positioning teacher education, technology, collaboration, and meaningful engagement at the core. He is a proponent of global connections and aspires to see countries with similar backgrounds embracing regional integration.
Former Minister for Employment, Technical Education and Vocational Training, and former Member of Parliament, Madagascar
H.E. Ms. Marie Lydia Toto Raharimalala has filled prominent positions in her native Madagascar and internationally. A highlight of her career was elaborating and implementing, alongside national and international partners, the first Malagasy law related to the national policy for employment and professional training. In addition to her role as Minister and Member of Parliament, she was the Vice Chair of FAWE Africa (Forum for African Women Educationalists) from 2009 to 2020. She remains the Chairperson of FAWE Madagascar Chapter, position to which she was appointed in 2009. As an activist, she has worked and fought for the right to girls’ education, women’s empowerment and participation in politics, gender policy, and sustainable development policy. She continues supporting these causes through her engagement with several associations.
Chief Planning Officer and head of the Planning Unit of the Ministry of Education of Guyana
Nicola Marcia Johnson has been with the Ministry of Education for 28 years in various capacities and has a background in educational planning, statistics, monitoring and evaluation. Most recently, Nicola has operated as the sector interlocuter with all developmental partners operating within the education space. She continues to build collaborative working relationships with education stakeholders nationally, regionally, and internationally as evidenced by her status of Country Representative for Guyana on the KIX/LAC, and Development Country Partner (DCP) – Country Focal Point for the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) hub. She is a doctoral candidate pursuing a PhD in Educational Policy, Leadership and Management.
IIEP-UNESCO Governing Board member, Program Officer at Echidna Giving
Sara Ruto's career in the field of education and research spans over 30 years. She has experience in managing large-scale multi-country programs whose evidence has impacted national and international policies with respect to reading and numeracy. Among her roles, she has been Country Coordinator for Kenya and Regional Manager in East Africa for Uwezo, as well as Chief Executive Officer of the People’s Action for Learning (PAL) Network. As a researcher, she has used evidence to back the need for competency and outcomes-based education, framing educational trends and infusing a global south perspective. Sara has served in many boards and advisory committees, chairing the Kenya Institute for Curriculum Development Council and the COVID-19 National Education Response Committee.
Head of the IIEP-UNESCO Office for Africa
Koffi Segniagbeto has been leading the IIEP Office for Africa (IIEP Dakar) since September 2020. In cooperation with IIEP's decision-making bodies, he is also responsible for technical partnerships, seeking additional funding and facilitating a high-level dialogue on the orientations of education and training policies. Previously, he was Senior Education Policy Analyst at IIEP Dakar. As such, he provided technical support to countries on various aspects of education sector analysis and planning. In recent years, he has led a team that supports several African countries in the analysis and planning of their education systems (Chad, Mauritania, Niger, Namibia among others). In addition to supporting the sector planning process in general, Koffi provides expertise in specific areas such as teacher management, vulnerability analysis, and capacity development.
Programme Manager of the Gender at the Center Initiative (GCI) at IIEP-UNESCO
Fabricia Devignes has 15 years of professional experience in gender mainstreaming in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe, at different levels (management, policy formulation, project coordination, development and facilitation of trainings and courses for diverse audiences) and in different thematic areas (girls' education, gender-based violence, gender institutionalization, sustainable development, gender-responsive budgeting, and women's economic empowerment). Prior to joining IIEP, Fabricia was Gender equality Adviser at the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. Prior to that, she acted for ten years as Director of the NGO Enda Europe and Vice-President of the Southern-based network Enda-Tiers Monde, where she led the network's gender equality and education strategy. In her current role, Fabricia provides strategic guidance and technical support to the eight GCI countries.
Professor of International Education, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge
Pauline Rose joined the University of Cambridge in 2014, where she is a professor and Director of the Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre in the Faculty of Education. She is also Senior Research Fellow at the UK Department for International Development. Prior to joining Cambridge, Pauline was Director of the EFA Global Monitoring Report (from August 2011), during which time she directed two reports, on youth, skills and work, and on teaching and learning. Before starting that role, she worked with the team for three years as Senior Policy Analyst, leading the research for three reports on the themes of governance, marginalization, and conflict. Prior to that, Pauline was Reader in International Education and Development at the University of Sussex.
Acting Team Leader of IIEP-UNESCO’s Knowledge Management and Mobilization (KMM) Team
Muriel Poisson leads IIEP’s programme on Ethics and Corruption in Education. In this capacity, she has coordinated research projects on a variety of topics including open school data, open government in education, and teacher codes of conduct. She trained more than 2,600 people on topics related to improving transparency and accountability in education. She provides technical assistance to national teams in charge developing an integrity risk assessment, a public expenditure tracking survey, or a teacher code of conduct. She also manages ETICO, a dynamic clearinghouse for all information and activities related to transparency and accountability issues in education. Since 2022, Muriel has led IIEP’s Knowledge Management Mobilization team, a function that produces, synthesizes, and adapts actionable knowledge directed at IIEP’s global community of planners and decision-makers.
Programme specialist at IIEP-UNESCO
Jean-Claude Ndabananiye is an education policy analyst working on issues related to education finance and education policy in the context of developing countries. As a policy analyst, Claude works closely with countries in diagnosing their education systems and identifying room for improvement. As a researcher, he supports the production and diffusion of statistical and methodological tools. Claude joined IIEP in 2012 and has since been involved in training and capacity development programmes. Prior to joining IIEP, he worked as an economist statistician at the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) in Montreal, Canada and at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Director of NGO Vilnius Institute for Policy Analysis and associate professor of practice at Vilnius University
Virginija Būdienė is the former Chief Adviser to the President of the Republic of Lithuania (2009-2015). She has also served as Vice-Minister for Education and Science (2006-2008). Between 1995 and 2006, she worked at NGOs and foundations, among which she was the Director of the Centre for Education Studies and HESP at OSF Lithuania (1995-2006). She also worked as a manager at the Education Support Program at Open Society Institute, Budapest, where she consolidated and coordinated the Network of Education Policy Centres from 20 countries and managed international education monitoring projects. Virginija was elected Board member (Country Group II) of the Global Education Management Report, UNESCO (2020-2022), and has also served as an expert for OECD, the World Bank, and UNESCO.
Chief Executive Officer of Pratham Education Foundation in India
Rukmini Banerji has extensive field experience working directly with rural and urban communities as well as in designing and implementing large-scale partnerships with governments to improve learning of elementary school-age children. From 2005 to 2014, she led Pratham’s research and assessment efforts including the well-known ASER initiative (Annual Status of Education Report).
Rukmini is the 2021 recipient of the Yidan Prize for education development.
Programme specialist at IIEP-UNESCO
Leonora MacEwen manages IIEP’s work on integrating conflict and disaster risk reduction into education sector policy-making and planning processes. She has contributed to developing guidance and research in this field and in education in emergencies. She also contributes to technical assistance projects, cooperating with countries on the development of sector plans, as well as vulnerability analyses and risk reduction strategies for the education sector. In addition, Leonora has developed a distance education course for educational planners on integrating conflict and disaster risk reduction in education sector plans. She represents IIEP on the Global Education Cluster Working Group, and on UNISDR’s Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience in the Education Sector (GAD3RES).
Minister of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research, Kingdom of Jordan
H.E. Dr. Azmi Mahafzah was appointed as minister on 27 October 2022. For more than 35 years, he worked as a teaching staff member in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Jordan, during which he also assumed many administrative posts, including President of the University of Jordan. In June 2018, he was appointed Minister of Education and additionally, he became Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research in October of the same year. In September 2019, he was appointed Chairman of the Higher Council of the National Center for Curriculum Development. Throughout his career, Dr. Mahafzah published more than sixty scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals. He holds a Doctor of Medicine (1977) from the University of Damascus in Syria and a Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (1984) from the American University of Beirut.
Programme specialist at IIEP-UNESCO
Michaela Martin has specialized over the past twenty years in selected areas of higher education policy-making, planning and management. Her areas of expertise include flexible learning pathways in higher education, internal and external quality assurance in higher education, indicator systems for higher education, management of university-enterprise partnerships, and management of higher education institutions. Since 1990, she has been involved in research and training activities related higher education policy and planning. She has published extensively in these areas, as well as on academia - industry partnerships, internal and external quality assurance. Prior to joining IIEP in 1990, Michaela was a researcher at the European Centre for Strategic Management of Universities (ESMU) in Brussels (Belgium).
Higher Education Adviser to the Minister of Higher Education in Malaysia
Besides his role at the Ministry, Morshidi Bin Sirat holds the title of Emeritus Professor at the National Higher Education Research Institute, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), where he served as a professor for almost 33 years. With nearly four decades of experience, Morshidi continues to be active in academia and consultancy. He has held strategic roles, including Deputy Director-General of Higher Education, Director-General of Higher Education/Registrar General for Private Institutes of Higher Education, and Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). Beyond his management roles, Morshidi founded an NGO dedicated to advancing higher education research and policies. His expertise extends to consultancy, training, and research guidance for governmental and non-governmental entities.
About the event
With only seven years left to achieve the Education 2030 agenda, how can educational planning reinvent itself to promote the transformative role of education and create a better future?
The Symposium will revive IIEP's long-standing tradition of ‘taking stock’ of recent progress in educational planning and management in order to adapt to the changing needs of societies and crafting new approaches, methodologies and tools accordingly.
The Symposium at a glance
TOPICS OF DISCUSSION
Discussions will focus on the new trends and perspectives spanning six key priorities through which IIEP is taking actions to reshape educational planning. These six priorities are:
- How can digital technology help transform planning and management tools and approaches?
- How can educational planning and management help address the learning crisis?
- How can planning and management better contribute to the promotion of gender equality in tomorrow’s world?
- How can calls for transparency and new forms of funding enable planning to meet its objectives?
- How planning can help education systems adapt to crisis, climate change, and natural hazards?
- Developing skills for the future and the transition to work: How can planning help?
These six priority areas reflect the more recent directions taken by the Institute to address the pressing challenges faced by UNESCO Member States on the ground, as reflected by IIEP’s overall current research, training, and technical cooperation offer, provided by its three offices in France, Senegal, and Argentina.
OBJECTIVES
The main objectives of the Symposium will be:
- to focus on the future of education and how planners will be able to respond to the particular needs of society, today and tomorrow, in a context of rapid change, scarcity of resources, and increasing uncertainties;
- to explore the interconnected impact of political, geographical, and cross-sectoral developments in education and understand how educational planning has been evolving and should continue to evolve to adapt to these changes;
- to bring together high-level decision makers, recognized international specialists, and IIEP’s experts to stimulate new ideas on the best approaches, methods, tools and practices for educational planning and management, with the goal of feeding them back into IIEP’s research, training, and technical cooperation work;
- to revitalize and strengthen exchange and dialogue with an international community of thinkers and practitioners on educational planning, with a view to better structuring and consolidating such a community in the future.
APPROACH
The Symposium will feature panels on each of the key thematic areas, providing an opportunity to:
 |
|  |
| Take stock: IIEP will present an overview of its actions in each priority area, showcasing how it is actively contributing to the evolution of planning and management approaches, techniques, and tools. |
| Hear national experiences and testimonies: For each theme, a country representative will explain how IIEP’s work helps foster change in their educational landscape. |
 |
|  |
| Debate perspectives: The audience will also hear from an external expert on ongoing changes and reforms taking place at the international level in each of the priority areas. |
| Discuss the future: Each panel will also explore the future of educational planning and management and how IIEP can best consider new prospects for years to come. |
PARTICIPANTS
This two-day event will bring together leading thinkers in the field, high-level representatives of Ministries of education from around the world including ministers of education and heads of planning, selected former IIEP alumni, IIEP Governing Board members, former directors, IIEP staff, representatives from UNESCO, General Conference delegates, and donor agencies.
If you wish to attend the online event, please register here.
FORMAT
Hosted at the IIEP premises in Paris, France, the Anniversary Symposium will take place over two days in an hybrid format, and will feature keynote speeches, panel dicussions, and videos and presentations from IIEP staff, education experts, and partners. In-person attendance will be by invitation only.
Interpretation will be made available in English, French and Spanish.
How to join?
The 60th Anniversary Symposium will take place in Paris, France, by invitation only. All panels will be streamed live in English, French, and Spanish. If you wish to attend the event online, please click the button below to register.
If you have any questions and/or are interested in participating in person, please contact us at 60years@iiep.unesco.org.
