With the United Nations striving to increase sustainable development education around the world, Education International President Susan Hopgood called for more “tools, time and trust” to strengthen the teaching profession and deliver on the SDGs.
The voice of the teaching profession was loud and clear at the United Nations on 28 June where leading Sustainable Development Goal 4 stakeholders convened for a high-level education event in New York.
“Education systems must be recognised as the drivers that ensure our children have the knowledge and the tools to not only navigate both an increasingly warming climate and shifting political landscape, but to grow-up with an appreciation of both the world around them and of their fellow citizens,” said EI President Susan Hopgood during the panel discussion “Education for Sustainable Development and Education for Global Citizenship,” which specifically focused on target 4.7.
Hopgood detailed EI’s three major components required to create and maintain sustainable development education. These include a system approach, a strong teaching profession, and a properly developed curriculum.
In taking aim at systemic challenges facing sustainable development education, Hopgood highlighted the need greater financing.
“Governments globally are not meeting their funding commitments to education, and where they do make investments, these benefit the privileged at the expense of the most marginalised, effectively widening inequalities.”
The event was part of a long-term commitment by the UN and Goal 4 stakeholders to raise awareness and better understanding of the sustainable development agenda.
Click here to read Hopgood’s remarks in full.