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G7 Education Ministers' Declaration
Trieste, Italy, June 29, 2024
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We, the G7 Ministers responsible for education, jointly adopt this Declaration on the occasion of the G7 Education Ministers' Meeting in Trieste, from 27 to 29 June 2024, chaired by the Italian Minister of Education and Merit, Professor Giuseppe Valditara.
Acknowledging the impact of current multiple, interconnected crises on education systems, we recognize the power of education to prepare for change and mitigate against key threats such as conflicts, climate change and economic crisis, and therefore the need to prioritize quality education, in order to chart a clear, common course towards sustainable societies and resilient individuals.
We uphold education as a universal human right. Recognizing the detrimental impact of conflicts on the right to education, we continue to denounce Russia's aggression against Ukraine, and we reiterate our commitment to aiding the rehabilitation and reconstruction of damaged schools and strengthening recovery. We also highlight the need to continue supporting access to education for all those affected by conflicts, displacement and violence, in particular girls and women, and persons with disabilities, all of whom face disproportionately negative impacts in these situations.
In support of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), which serves as the global framework for inclusive and equitable quality education, we endorse the fundamental role of education in helping to enable the achievement of all other SDGs and in driving inclusive economic and sustainable growth, equity, human dignity, well-being and peace, taking into account the conclusions of the 2022 United Nations Transforming Education Summit and in view of the upcoming Summit of the Future.
We agree to continue peer-learning, sharing experiences and collaborating on the G7 Italian Presidency's two policy priorities — valorizing everyone's talents, and innovative education and new competences for the future — by drawing inspiration from each country's successes and best practices.
Acknowledging recent global declines in student learning, we underscore the need to accelerate innovative approaches in education to promote knowledge and foundational competences, particularly literacy and numeracy, and to support all students to reach their fullest potential, especially those who are most marginalized, thereby combatting low learning achievement and early leaving from education and training. We also recognize the role of early childhood education in providing foundational benefits to children, that extend into their primary and secondary education years, supporting in particular the inclusion of vulnerable learners.
By emphasizing the relationship between health, safety and well-being in schools with engagement and learning outcomes, we reiterate the importance of expanding educational priorities beyond academic success to include the physical and social-emotional health and well-being of all members of the school community. Such holistic approaches include promoting the values of inclusion and empowerment, addressing the global issues of discrimination, violence, intolerance, bullying and cyberbullying, supporting strong relationships and collaboration, fostering healthy, safe and engaging learning environments, and strengthening student support services.
Recognising the critical role of teachers and other educators in providing inclusive and equitable quality education, including early childhood education, we acknowledge the need to promote trust in, respect for and appreciation of teachers and to raise the attractiveness of the teaching profession. In this effort, we underline the importance of improving our social dialogue with teachers' organizations. Through integrated teacher policies, we underscore the need to support teacher well-being, strengthen teachers' initial education and continuous professional development, improve working conditions, consider the competitiveness of salaries and other benefits and ensure the profession is accessible to individuals from all backgrounds in order to overcome shortages of qualified teachers and stimulate a teaching workforce that mirrors the diversity of the population.
We emphasize the need to support schools and teachers to use their resources to help learners to reach their fullest potential, which may include, for example, evidence-based, engaging, collaborative and culturally responsive personalized learning approaches that consider the characteristics, strengths and specific learning needs of each student.
To narrow gaps in educational attainment and address systemic inequities, we call for attention to comprehensive strategies, at national and local level according to countries' circumstances, that combine prevention and intervention, involving local stakeholders to increase social inclusion. Such strategies should integrate measures that are beneficial for all learners with targeted support for marginalized learners, parents and families, as for example early identification and tailored assistance for learners whose potential often remains unfulfilled, in line with the Toyama and Kanazawa Declaration and the Hiroshima Communiqué.
Acknowledging the potential for carefully designed digital technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative AI, to enhance inclusive and personalized learning opportunities, we aim to share evidence-based best practices of tech-enabled teaching, learning, assessment and management. We also acknowledge the need to strengthen the digital competences and media literacy of students, teachers, school leaders and other educators to enable human-centred, safe, ethical, inclusive, responsible, and effective use of digital tools, including through targeted initiatives for marginalized students. Decisions around the design and procurement of education technologies must be based on the context and needs of the education system, guided by careful considerations of learners' and teachers' privacy and security, strong evidence of impact, quality assurance mechanisms for continuous improvement and grounded on the principles of relevance, sustainability and equity. Overall, learner and teacher needs should be at the centre to ensure that teaching and learning remain social human experiences.
Given the growing challenge of matching supply and demand for competences in the labour market, we acknowledge the need for innovative teaching approaches and learning pathways that prepare people of all ages for the labour market and enable lifelong learning for people of all ages, supporting the acquisition of a broad range of foundational skills from early learning to professional competencies, including those needed to navigate the digital and green transitions and an ageing society. We also stress the importance of promoting close collaboration between schools, VET institutions, universities, and industry to enable work-based learning opportunities, traineeships or apprenticeships that encourage learners to pursue diverse careers, and which motivate workers to upskill and reskill.
To facilitate the transition from education to work, and recognizing that inclusive education promotes inclusive labour markets, we renew our endeavours to engage to share knowledge of successful initiatives that provide comprehensive information, training and guidance to learners through participatory planning of strategic and tailored educational and professional pathways. In this endeavour, we recognize the importance of securing dedicated and qualified educators for guidance, coaching and tutoring to enable informed choices and decision-making, in alignment with personal strengths and interests with opportunities offered within local contexts and the broader labour market.
We acknowledge the need to work towards strengthening Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) systems and policies, in partnership with the private sector, and all those policies that support the acquisition of competences for inclusive, sustainable, peaceful, resilient and productive societies, including through targeted support to youth and adults in vulnerable situations and through the internationalization of training and efforts towards the recognition of qualifications acquired abroad based on existing instruments and processes.
We uphold the importance of lifelong skills development opportunities for all adults, including in work-based settings. To meet changing skills needs of industries, economies and societies, we acknowledge the importance of recognizing learning outcomes and of quality assured certifications, including micro-credentials obtained in adult learning, in partnership with employers.
We renew our commitment to strengthening international cooperation among G7 countries to support all women and girls to enter and flourish in STEM fields, not only to improve gender equality in and through education, but also to increase competitiveness, innovation and social cohesion by more equal participation in decision making positions. In this endeavour, we emphasize the need to end structural barriers and harmful stereotypes and practices by promoting inclusive access to STEM education for women and marginalized groups, supporting inclusive education systems that promote STEM competences across all educational cycles, including through interdisciplinary, active pedagogies that leverage practical, applied learning experiences.
Considering demographic and economic changes, and the need to foster innovative education practices and valorizing everyone's talents, we acknowledge the importance of increased cross-border education cooperation and stronger partnerships between education institutions and the private sector to promote student and staff mobility and exchanges, thus improving the acquisition of relevant qualifications and competences.
We support increased collaboration between G7 Countries and the African Union and African Countries to address challenges related to education and training as well as labour market supply and the demand for skills and competences. We welcome the designation by the African Union of 2024 as the Year of Education under the theme "Educate and Skill Africa for the 21st Century" and we are committed to working together with the global community, particularly with the African Union and African Countries, to progress towards the achievement of SDG 4.
We express our appreciation to our knowledge partners OECD, UNESCO and UNICEF for their contributions and expertise, and to GPE for its participation in this Education Ministerial Meeting, and we welcome their continued cooperation.
In light of the Summit of the Future of the United Nations and acknowledging the vision of education-led growth in our countries, we highlight the importance of education to all SDGs and stress the relevance of strategies for the education sector, including TVET, to advance prosperity, sustainable development and peace, both within G7 countries and beyond.
Following the Summit of the Future, we look forward to the Global Education Meeting organized by UNESCO and hosted by Brazil at the end of October, back-to-back with the G20 Education Ministers meeting, that will rally the international community around collective acceleration efforts on SDG 4 targets, also through enhanced cross-sectoral dialogues, exploring education's linkages with other sectors, and paving the way towards the World Social Summit in 2025 and beyond.
In pursuing the goals noted above, recognizing the importance of investing more, more equitably and more effectively and efficiently in education as highlighted in the Transforming Education Summit Call to Action, we look forward to deepening and widening our cooperation, according to the lines discussed during this Ministers' Meeting. Recalling previous G7 commitments, we will continue to encourage high-level educational discussion across the G7 countries.
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