Key ideas and suggestions that emerged from the members of the Global South at the 2nd Voice of Global South Summit (VOGSS) held last week on November 17 in New Delhi, will get informed during the G-20 Virtual Summit being held (today) on 22 November under the G20 presidency India.
The 2nd Voice of Global South Summit held under the theme ‘Together for everyone’s growth, with everyone’s trust,’ addressed critical issues, particularly in the field of education. The Education Ministers deliberated on the theme of ‘Making human resources future-ready’. Ministers/ Dignitaries of 14 countries from the Global South – Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Georgia, Tunisia, Iran, Lao PDR, Malawi, Myanmar, Republic of Palau, Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, Albania, Malaysia, Zimbabwe, Cameroon – participated virtually in the session and shared their insights. Union Minister for Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan, chaired the Education Ministers’ Session
The summit went a step further to build on the Inaugural Voice of Global South Summit in January 2023, which focused on uniting voices and purposes from 125 countries of the Global South, reflecting India’s commitment to addressing key priorities of the developing world, particularly in education and skill development. The outcomes of various G20 meetings, sustain momentum generated from the previous summit, and discuss ways to achieve shared aspirations for inclusive and equitable international development were discussed.
Deliberations also focused on harnessing digital technologies to bridge the digital divide and strengthening cooperation in developing life, technical, and vocational skills.
India’s education Minister highlighted India’s pivotal role in leading discussions on these issues at the G20 Education Minister’s Meeting, Pradhan emphasised on the significance of collaborative efforts in developing a resilient, equitable, inclusive, and sustainable education and skilling ecosystem. The G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration acknowledged the importance of investing in human capital development.
Shri Pradhan informed the participating Ministers on how India’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is bringing holistic transformation to India’s learning and skilling landscape. He also remarked that NEP as a philosophical document can act as a template for emerging economies towards developing comprehensive strategies and agile policies. Stressing on the importance of shared aspirations, Pradhan, called for common strategies, leveraging the twin pillars of education and skill development.
The Education Ministers from the participating countries agreed on the need to work together for an accessible, equitable, inclusive, and sustainable future through quality education. Underlining the importance of investing in human capital development and to address the global skill divide, the Ministers agreed on the need to provide skilling, reskilling and upskilling opportunities to create a future-ready workforce aligned to the demands of the industry.
The Education Ministers also reiterated shared commitment to overcome the digital divide for all learners by addressing the barriers to technological infrastructure and work collectively to develop technology ecosystems and learning resources, including in local languages that are affordable and easily accessible. They underlined the central role of all teachers and education staff all over the world in promoting education and the need to foster an environment including through capacity building and exchange programmes that will enable teachers and staff to thrive in their profession.
The Ministers agreed to encourage collaborative solutions, innovations, sharing of best practices to promote quality teaching, learning and skilling as well as foster academic collaborations among educational institutions as well as encouraging student and faculty exchange programs.
