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Our time
Global Education Coalition
A multi-sector Coalition to protect the right to education during unprecedented disruption from response to recovery #LearningNeverStops
Members of the Coalition represent a wide range of expertise and competencies
Currently involved in 233 projects across 112 countries impacting 400 million learners and 12 million teachers
New actors are essential to respond to the multifaceted challenges of the education sector
UNESCO’s Global Skills Academy
The Mission takes stock of its support to over 839,000 learners across more than 60 countries
At an event celebrating World Youth Skills Day 2023, the Global Skills Academy – one of the three flagship missions of UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition – took stock of its support to over 839,000 learners across more than 60 countries to develop skills for employment, three years since it was launched.
With 24 Global Education Coalition members from the private sector, international organizations, and foundations, the Global Skills Academy (GSA) continues to grow as it marks its third anniversary. HP Life and SkillED have both pledged commitment to the mission and another new member, Aleph Group, is offering no-cost training in digital marketing and advertising. The GSA’s goal is to help 10 million learners build skills for employability and resilience by 2029, as part of UNESCO TVET Strategy for 2022-2029.
Today, 267 million young people aged 15-24 are still not engaged in any form of employment, education, or training.
The hybrid event, which took place on 14 July, was co-organized by UNEVOC and World Skills. Policy-makers, members of the Global Education Coalition, and youth leaders came together to discuss the role of skilled young people in creating a more sustainable future and what more can be done to build employability, entrepreneurship, and resilience for youth.
Examples of GSA initiatives
Several examples of the Global Skills Academy initiatives were presented during the event. KPMG’s new mentorship initiative launched in 2023 supports young graduates entering the labour market in India. Participating staff were paired up with 100 young people from the National Skill Development Council of India (NSDC) to help get them ‘job ready’.
“The programme improved my practical skills, like resume building, email writing, and communication proficiency,” said Navya Rawal who joined as a mentee. “My mentor helped me in identifying my skills, my strengths, my weaknesses – allowing me to focus on areas for improvement. She has played a crucial role in boosting my confidence.”
Navya credits the programme with helping her land her current role as NSDC. “I believe that the success of any nation lies in the hands of youth, however young people today face challenges in securing employment opportunities because they lack practical skills,” she said.
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A new model
As the pandemic revealed and amplified inequalities in education, UNESCO quickly mobilized support to ensure the continuity of learning around the world by establishing the Global Education Coalition in March 2020. This multi-sector Coalition brings together 175 institutional partners from the UN family, civil society, academia, and the private sector working around three central flagships: Connectivity, Teachers and Gender Equality. The Coalition uses a mission approach to achieve large-scale targets and as a way to operationalize actions: Global Skills Academy, Global Teacher Campus, and Global Learning House.
Flagships
Making universal connectivity a reality
https://globaleducationcoalition.unesco.org/home/flagships/connectivity
Empowering teachers and protect their status
https://globaleducationcoalition.unesco.org/home/flagships/teachers
Missions
#Learningneverstops
We are at a critical point in the global response to COVID-19 – we need everyone to get involved in this massive effort to keep the world safe and to enhance resilience of every society and every family. School closures are part and parcel of the increasingly stringent measures taken by governments to contain the spread of the virus. Today, 1.2 billion students and youth in 124 countries are affected by school and university closures. The responsibility of education is to keep learning processes for all learners and leave no one behind.
Our mission
We are committed to maintaining educational equity and inclusion as governments seek to provision teaching and learning opportunities to students through alternative means during periods of school closures. School closures have a long history of exacerbating learning inequities and hurting the most vulnerable children and youth disproportionately. This coalition is dedicated to working with governments to find solutions to leave no one behind and elevate the importance of equity and gender equality in educational responses to the COVID-19 crisis.
Our coalition
We are United Nations agencies, international organizations, private sector, civil society representatives actively engaged in advancing COVID-19 Education Response from around the world are joining forces to provide expertise, strategic direction, resources and leadership, and engage at global, regional and countries levels.
Our commitments
We commit collectively to:
- Advocate and mobilize to bring actors and resources on board for an effective and unified response;
- Coordinate among ourselves to maximize impact of interventions and avoid overlap with a view to reaching the most disadvantaged and those at risk of being excluded during this crisis;
- Match national needs and global solutions by brining global and local (national) partners together for effective and immediate solutions addressing connectivity and content challenges;
- Offer free and secure technological solutions to countries by providing radio, television and online digital tools and learning management solutions where national digitalized education
resources can be uploaded and learning processes organized for use by schools, learners, teachers and parents. Such facilities ensure that countries have control over the development of courses, recommended resources, platforms aligned to national curricula and security and privacy of learners and teachers.
How the Coalition Works
step 1
Match
on-the-ground needs with local and global solution
step 2
Mobilize
actors and resources to develop effective and unified responses
step 3
Coordinate
action to maximize impact and avoid overlap and reach the disadvantaged
step 4
Provide
distance education, leveraging hi-tech, low tech and no tech approaches
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the obligations of Coalition members?
Members commit to: (a) supporting one or more of the Coalition’s three objectives, (b) responding to UNESCO requests, and (c) working cooperatively with other Coalition members to ensure impactful and coordinated responses at the global, regional, and country levels.
How does my organization join the Coalition?
If your organization would like to join the Coalition and can make commitments to advance progress toward one or more of the Coalition’s objectives, please send an email to globalEDcoalition@unesco.org. In your message, please explain, in detail, what strengths your organization would bring to the Coalition and what it can do to support the education response to COVID-19, taking account of Coalition priorities.
Can education stakeholders make direct requests to Coalition members?
No, requests should be directed through national authorities to UNESCO. This will help ensure a coordinated response and active engagement of countries and ministries of education.
How does the Coalition decide where to deploy assistance and resources?
Decisions about how and where to deploy assistance are based on three factors: (a) country needs on the ground, (b) the resources of Coalition members, and (c) the potential for impact with a particular focus on disadvantaged groups. UNESCO assesses all requests received from countries and works to match them with commitments and offers of assistance from Coalition members. All deployments are demand-driven.
What is the role of governments in the Coalition?
Governments can request assistance from the Global Coalition via formal correspondence to UNESCO. Governments wishing to support Coalition objectives or flagships should contact the UNESCO Secretariat.
What happens to the Coalition when schools reopen?
The Coalition will remain vibrant and active. Two of the three Coalition objectives are relevant when schools reopen. Coalition members will help ensure a full and equitable return to school and, beyond this, build the resilience of education and training systems for the future. Coalition members, depending on their commitments, will continue helping countries and other stakeholders apply lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as carry forward investments made during the crisis in line with Sustainable Development Goal #4.
What is UNESCO’s relationship to the Global Education Coalition?
UNESCO founded the Coalition and set its objectives and priorities. The Coalition is an agile platform with open coordination methods. UNESCO’s role is to broker and facilitate cooperation, build synergies and match country needs with the contributions and services of Coalition members.
How is the Coalition assuring the security and privacy of student data when shifts to distance learning are required?
All members of the Global Coalition for Education Response to COVID-19 have also committed to an ethic of do no harm in their treatment of data related to learning. UNESCO has also encouraged them to adhere to four principals protect learner information, privacy and security