The role of education in the growth and development of any nation cannot be underestimated. Education which commonly entails the acquisition of knowledge through teaching and learning, has come to be accepted all over the globe. Any nation that wants a bright future must educate its people. Little wonder advanced and developed countries of the world such as the United States and Britain allocate huge revenue to education in their national budgets. Scholarships and grants are equally available in some countries to encourage individuals that are financially unstable to study, especially brilliant students from poor homes willing to get quality education.
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Despite efforts made to ensure education spreads to all parts of the globe, 258 million children and youth are out of school, 617 million children and adolescents are unable to read and solve basic math. In sub-Saharan Africa, less than 40% of girls complete lower secondary school, and four million children and youth who are refugees are out of school. These statistics are obnoxious and clear violation of their individual right to education. In a bid to tackle challenges confronting education globally, the United Nations adopted January 24 of every year as International Day of Education throughout the globe.
International Day Of Education
International Day of Education is an annual international observance day, held on January 24 of every year to celebrate education and its role to human wellbeing and sustainable development. In a resolution adopted on December 3, 2018, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed January 24 as International Day of Education with great emphasis on the role of education to global peace and development.
Education is a fundamental human right, article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights clearly enshrines the right to education. The declaration stipulates that education at the elementary level must be made free and compulsory. Further, the Convention on the Rights of the Child which was adopted in 1989, clearly states that countries must make higher education accessible to all its citizens. The international community while adopting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in September 2015, recognized the extreme importance of education in ensuring successful actualization of all of its 17 goals. As stated in the Sustainable Development Goal 4, it aims to ‘’ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” by the year 2030.
We must do far more to advance Sustainable Development Goal 4, to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Anthonio Guterres (UN Secretary General)
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International Day Of Education 2020: Learning for People, Planet, Prosperity and Peace
This year, celebration for the international observance day is accompanied with the theme Learning for People, Planet, Prosperity and Peace. The theme aims to highlight the integrated nature of education, its aims for humans, and the centrality of education to our developmental ambitions.
The 2020 celebration will also position education and learning as the greatest renewable resource controlled by humans. Reaffirmations of education as a fundamental human right, its positive impact on the public, and its vitality to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, are some of the set objectives for this year’s celebration.
Sources:
UN
UNESCO
En.wikipedia
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