Q&A: Stirring the debate on the Futures of Education

The report "Reimagining our Future Together: A New Social Contract for Education" aims to "reimagine our relationships with each other, with the planet and with technology". Given this goal, do you see in the current architecture of the world an opportunity for us to move imagination into the realm of realization? 

I don’t think we have a choice. We urgently need to build education systems that recalibrate these relationships. The current rules guiding the world, based on competition and power politics, are leading to conflict, democratic backsliding, hate speech and paralysis of collective action on climate change. Education is a big part of the solution, but it must be transformed. Unfortunately, current models of education often foster such competition and “us-versus-them” mindsets.

Cooperation is the key word for this century, beginning in infancy when children learn how to solve problems together and understand one another. Teamwork, creativity, and empathy are the skills that will shape a better tomorrow. 

This will not be easy. Education systems evolve slowly. But there is an inspirational line in the report affirming that a new social contract for education will be built through millions of individual and collective acts – acts of courage, leadership, creativity and care. Learning to care is the powerful message stemming from the Report.

Where do you see the greatest opportunities and the biggest obstacles to the implementation of the guidelines of  the Futures of Educationreport? 

The report is not a blueprint for action but a vision of where we want to be by 2050. It imagines multiple futures, in the plural, rather than attempting to chart a single course. 

This validates multiple possible and desirable futures and recognizes that there is a rich diversity of ways of knowing and being around the world. I see in this rich variety the greatest opportunity for change. 

The biggest obstacle is key players resisting change. It’s about governments, as well as educational institutions themselves, often getting distracted by other priorities and visibly struggling to keep education high on the political agenda.

The same report, in its conclusions, tells us that "in one generation we can transform education systems" (by the year 2050) and emphasizes the need to "finance education where it is threatened". What funding model should be adopted? 

The state has the primary responsibility to finance and realize the right to education. Since 2015, UNESCO Member States agreed on a level of educational funding of 4 to 6% of GDP or 15 to 20% of public expenditure, but most countries have not yet reached this threshold, which often requires progressive tax reforms. Investment must focus on those who are most vulnerable, those who have had fewer opportunities.

But we also need international solidarity. Education is a global common good, and it’s our shared responsibility to ensure the right to education for all. As we say at UNESCO, ‘all means all’. Clearly, not all countries have the same resources. Our data show that globally there is an annual finance gap of almost US $100 billion per year for countries to reach their education targets by 2030. Investing in people is the greatest investment ever, and UNESCO strongly urges all governments and political leaders to live up to their commitments.

We have come out of almost three years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before that, more than 260 million children and adolescents were out of school. During the pandemic, 1.6 billion children and adolescents were out of school. What is the state of education in the aftermath of this health crisis that has become an economic and social crisis? 

The number of out-of-school children and youth has risen by 6 million since 2021, totalling 250 million today. While this increase partly relates to the tragic mass exclusion of girls and young women from education in Afghanistan, it also reflects the consequences of the global COVID-19 shutdown which forced many young people into work or early marriage, never to return to the classroom. But even children who are in education are not necessarily learning: as a direct impact of the pandemic on the quality of learning, we estimate that 70% of children in poorer countries are unable to read a simple text by age 10. This is the magnitude of the learning crisis, and it should alert the world about its potential long-term consequences.

The pandemic also revealed that schools are not simply places to learn. They are primarily social hubs where children first start to socialize, to access nutritious meals, sports facilities, health services and more. That’s why UNESCO strongly advocated for schools to reopen as soon as possible.

Does the post-pandemic world - and in a context of war, inequalities and asymmetries - jeopardize the goals and guidelines established by UNESCO in the context of SDG 4 for the year 2030?

Clearly COVID-19 set us back further in reaching our target for the year 2030. To achieve this, a child needs to be enrolled in school every 2 seconds between now and 2030 - 1.4 million, every year - and the progress in primary completion rates needs to almost triple. 

The mantra of the 2030 Agenda is “leave no-one behind”. Yet, a third of all children who are not in primary schools live in conflict-affected areas. Children with disabilities are 42% less likely to have foundational reading and numeracy skills compared to their peers. More than 771 million people still lack basic literacy skills, two-thirds of them are women. 

Is it a lost battle? I don’t think so, if and only if we redouble our efforts in terms of investments and innovation and put inclusion at the core of transformation.

UNESCO is committed to accelerating efforts to ensuring gender equality through education, expanding public digital learning, and making education sensitive to climate and environmental emergencies. Can you give us some examples of UNESCO’s work  in this area? 

118.5 million girls are barred from education due to obstacles such as poverty, early marriage and traditional constraints. UNESCO supports systemic change, including guiding national lawmakers to ensure the right to education for girls and boys, as well as developing teaching methods to break down gender stereotypes. We place strong emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, as girls and women are under-represented in this field.

On digital learning, we are leading the global debate on the impact of generative AI on education and research. We have just released the very first guidance for policy-makers, educators and teachers, as well as learners on generative AI in education and research.

UNESCO also plays a leading role in prioritizing climate change education within the broader framework of education for sustainable development. We believe that no climate action will effectively tackle climate change and protect biodiversity without a change of mindset and behaviours at the individual level. 

This brings me to the unique transformative power of education. We need to provide children and youth with the knowledge, awareness and skills to address current environmental challenges. The recently launched Greening Education Partnership, coordinated by UNESCO, is an exciting opportunity to reinforce this work. It has already mobilized more than 80 countries and 1,100 organizations.

The latest "GEM Report on Technology and Education" (2023) asks a pertinent question: "Does technology democratize knowledge or threaten democracy by allowing a few to control information?" Do you have an answer to this question? 

The core message of the 2023 GEM report was that some technology works in some contexts some of the time and must be incorporated into education systems for the benefit of learners and teachers.  In other words, technology on our terms, not driven by the market.

Radio, television and the internet can help democratize knowledge, but the digital divide is still huge: 40% of primary schools worldwide have no internet access, and half of the world population is offline. Technology also needs to be accompanied by the right competencies. Only half of 15-year-olds learn to spot biased information and low media literacy is a real challenge for democracy.

Also, a key question is whose knowledge we are referring to. Just 10 of the world’s estimated 7,000 languages are used on 77% of the 1.8 billion websites on the internet, and 90% of the global digital library used to train generative AI is in English. Technology risks reducing our collective shared knowledge, as well as our cultural and linguistic diversity. 

In an interview you gave to the Vatican media in May 2021 you mentioned that "the teaching profession is in crisis. The relationship between teacher and student is essential for effective education and therefore for development". What are the factors contributing to this crisis and what are the immediate consequences of this problem? 

Globally we are facing a huge shortfall in the number of teachers, with a deficit of 44 million. Teaching is no longer an attractive profession. Pay and working conditions are major barriers:  globally, 6 out of 10 countries pay primary school teachers less than other professionals with similar qualifications. Furthermore, some 15% of primary and secondary teachers worldwide are not even fully qualified, although this is worse in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia.

To effectively address this profound crisis of the teaching profession serious measures must be taken. The professional pathways of teachers should be strengthened through continuous training, appropriate resources, freedom to guide their students’ learning and social recognition of the pivotal role that they play in society. This is critical if they are to continue to inspire future generations. The social status of teachers must be restored, as we all know that teachers can make a real difference in society. 

The extension of higher education to more and more people brings new challenges. At the same time, we are witnessing a scenario of unequal access in various dimensions (gender, social class, beliefs, migration crises, etc.). What is UNESCO's role in reducing these inequalities? What is the role of universities in the future? 

The global number of students pursuing tertiary education has more than doubled in the last two decades to 235 million and is expected to double again in the next decade. This is the good news. However, this significant expansion brings challenges as well. While enrolment in North America and Europe is 79%, it stands at 9% in sub-Saharan Africa. Only 6% of refugees worldwide are enrolled.

Firstly, the traditional modes of delivery – mainly via university degree programmes - need to be rethought. More flexible ways of learning throughout life are required to meet diverse needs of learners and societies. This includes technical and vocational courses, online or hybrid modalities, or continued in-service training. 

Secondly, higher education systems can - and must - contribute to the global agenda. Interconnected global challenges require interconnected approaches - across disciplines, geographical regions and knowledge systems, including indigenous knowledge. The UNESCO Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education provides a solid infrastructure for strengthening student mobility and inter-university cooperation, to enable more collaborative teaching and research.

Could UNESCO's budget (knowing that it is smaller than that of some European universities) jeopardize the goals set by the Organization? 

UNESCO is the sentinel of the world - we protect and promote the right to education, preserve cultural heritage, biodiversity, and the freedom of expression. Our mandate is to build peace through education, culture, communication, and the natural and social sciences. And the collective intelligence mobilized by the Organization has enormous value, as the “conscience” of the United Nations.

Funding models have evolved in recent years, generating an impressive increase of voluntary contributions (in education by 120% in the last four years). This is a sign of trust and commitment to the mission of the Organization by donors and different stakeholders. It is also the outcome of a renewed system of partnerships with other UN agencies, civil society organizations and the private sector, as well as with our Member States. This reflects the increasingly complex reality of policy delivery and gives rise to new agile ways of working.  For example, in recent years, our work on education in emergency situations has expanded greatly, reacting to an immediate need. Innovative partnerships also push forward our work on some of the priorities I outlined earlier.

Let's go back to the report that opened this interview ["Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education"]. In it we read: "At the local, national, regional and global levels, governments and public institutions must commit to dialogue and action (...) to support the reimagining of our futures together". How can these institutions support this reimagining? 

Education does not happen in a vacuum and is never detached from the rest of society. It has an impact on communities, businesses, civil society, and even international relations, to some extent. That means that conversations about education cannot happen in a vacuum either. Acknowledging the public nature of education is an important step in kickstarting dialogue on how education should be transformed to shape more inclusive and sustainable futures.

For too long, there has been a prevailing view that education should benefit the individual. But this ignores the bigger picture. Our destinies, as individuals, are increasingly intertwined. Climate change, armed conflict, food insecurity, migration patterns - the ripple effects can touch us all, even thousands of miles away. Education decision-makers and practitioners therefore need to be open to other fields and sectors – they need to get out of their comfort zone and connect with other national ministries, local authorities, and regional intergovernmental bodies. Education is the pathway to a more just and sustainable world - walking that pathway together will take courage, leadership, and creativity.

This article was originally published in Portugal’s daily newspaper Diario de Notícias on 15 December 2023. Access the article, in Portuguese.