Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha addresses the UNESCO Forum on Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship Education in Hanoi on July 2 (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The UNESCO Forum on Education forSustainable Development and Global Citizenship Education opened in Hanoi onJuly 2, gathering over 350 leaders, policymakers, experts and educators frommore than 100 countries.
The event, themed “Learning and Teaching forPeaceful and Sustainable Societies: From early childhood to primary andsecondary education”, was organised by UNESCO, the Vietnamese Ministry ofEducation and Training (MoET), and the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO.
In his opening speech, MoET Minister Phung XuanNha said after a decade of education for sustainable development (ESD) of theUN from 2005 to 2014, ESD has become a centre of the 2030 Agenda forSustainable Development with 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs).
What has been done is just the beginning to movetowards the SDGs by 2030 and beyond, he stressed.
Nha said since 2013, Vietnam has carried outfundamental and comprehensive educational reforms. A milestone of the effort isthe approval of the national general education programme in December 2018 whichaims to develop the qualification and capacity of learners and equip them withskills necessary for the 21st century.
Vietnam’s goal is not only to integratesustainable development into education but also to use education as a tool toachieve the SDGs, he added.
However, the country is facing several problemsin the programme implementation, including how education can reach and serveall people, how to update curricula and standards to meet development demand inthe future, and how to turn learning into a life-long process.
These are also problems facing other countries,the official said, adding that at this forum, participants will togetherspecify necessary actions to realise the SDGs.
The two-day forum features seven plenarysessions and four group sessions. Participants will share creative and feasibleapproaches to resolve existing problems and fully tap into the potential of thethree learning dimensions (cognitive, socio-emotional and behavioural) toachieve Target 4.7 of SDG 4 on education.
The event will provide a platform for teachersand students to talk about their demand, along with a plenary dialogue on thedemand for improvement in the current educational system. Participants willalso discuss potential approaches on how to fill the vacuum in pre-school,primary and secondary education to support global citizenship and sustainabledevelopment.-VNA
VNA
