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The official opening of the pre-global summit on the transformation of education took place on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, in the presence of two Heads of State, (Federal Republic of Ethiopia and Sierra Leone), 140 Ministers in charge of National Education including Minister Lionel Bilgo, the Director General of UNESCO and several other international personalities. The opening ceremony was marked by several speeches including that by videoconference of the Secretary General of the UN, Mr. Antonio GUTERRES.
Burkina Faso is represented at this high-level meeting by the Minister of National Education, Mr. Lionel Bilgo who leads a delegation. The Paris meeting is a start of the “Transforming Education” Summit, which will be held next September in New York during the United Nations General Assembly. The general objective of this pre-summit is to “take advantage of the various ongoing discussions on the transformation of education, to develop the initial content, to establish a common vision and suggestions for action for the summit and to generate greater momentum in view of the September summit”.
Specifically, the pre-summit aims to provide “an inclusive and open forum.” The New York meeting aims to obtain political and financial commitments to accelerate progress towards the achievement of the 4th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 4), namely quality education for all. To achieve this goal, the summit will focus reflection on five key areas of education transformation: schools, quality lifelong learning, teachers, connectivity and education financing. .
In the meantime, the various speakers at the opening of the Paris pre-summit insisted on the need to invest in education, the main “engine for achieving all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for more equitable societies. , more inclusive, better able to drive digital and ecological transitions”.
Bilateral meeting with technical partners
The day, Tuesday June 28, 2022, was devoted to technical meetings and meetings with the main stakeholders. It is in this context that the Minister of National Education met our compatriot Yao Ydo, Director of the International Bureau of Education (IBE) and Mr. Jordan Naidoo, Deputy Director of the International Institute for Educational Planning ( IIEP) of UNESCO.
Minister Lionel Bilgo exchanged with the heads of these two international structures, prospects for partnership and cooperation with Burkina Faso in the field of education, in particular circulating in education. The International Bureau of Education is a UNESCO center specializing in the development of educational content, methods and structures. The BIE builds networks allowing the sharing of experiences and skills.
It promotes regional and international cooperation. Mr. Ydo explained the approach of his institution in the process of developing curricula. The IBE, he indicated, emphasizes the fact that the process must be more participatory with consideration of the voice of teachers, beneficiaries, especially parents of students, in the curriculum that will form their children. The BIE is ready to support our country in this process.
In response, Mr. Lionel Bilgo first congratulated the Director of the IBE for this approach and then encouraged him to talk about it more so that the countries adhere to this new dynamic of “designing or perceiving education and school “. With the IIEP, it was above all a question of rewriting a new page between this institute and Burkina Faso. To do this, the UNESCO institute in charge of educational planning has put forward the idea of sending a technical team to Ouagadougou.
This wish was approved by the first official in charge of national education in our country, who thinks that this will be an opportunity to take stock of what already exists between his department and the IIEP. Finally, Minister Bilgo said he was satisfied with these two meetings because they allowed him to have a convergence of ideas and thoughts with his interlocutors.
Press Service of the Embassy of Burkina Faso in Paris
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