Finance
The G20 Declaration, released on Saturday, reaffirmed members’ commitment to “inclusive, equitable, and high-quality” education, while also advocating for the use of technology and artificial intelligence to improve and ensure last-mile delivery of education.
“We reiterate our commitment to harness digital technologies to overcome digital divides for all learners. We extend support to educational institutions and teachers to enable them to keep pace with emerging trends and technological advances including AI,” the declaration stated.
It also emphasised the “importance of enabling life-long learning focused on skilling, reskilling, and upskilling, especially for vulnerable groups”.
Previous declarations have continuously affirmed member-nations’ commitment to promote inclusive, equitable education and life-long learning, with a strong emphasis on disadvantaged groups. They recognized the critical impact that blended learning approaches played during the pandemic.
The declaration recognised “the importance of foundational learning — literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional skills — as the primary building block of education and employment”. It reaffirmed the commitment of member-nations to foster greater collaborations between their educational institutions. “We reaffirm our commitment to promote open, equitable and secure scientific collaboration and encourage mobility of students, scholars, researchers, and scientists across research and higher education institutions,” the declaration stated.
In a bilateral meeting on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden both hailed increased collaboration between Indian and US colleges.
Members pledged to increase access to “high-quality technical and vocational education and training” in the declaration.
Following on from the Bali Declaration, the New Delhi Declaration addressed the gender divide in education and reaffirmed its commitment to bridging it.
“We ensure equal access to affordable, inclusive, equitable, safe and quality education from early childhood through higher education to lifelong learning and support the greater enrolment, participation and leadership of all women and girls, including those with disabilities, in STEM fields and in emerging digital technologies,” the declaration read.
Source:IE
