The UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report (GEM Report) is an annual publication by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It focuses on education at the global level and monitors progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal 4. The report highlights policy recommendations and best practices for improving education systems and promoting lifelong learning opportunities and thus is a valuable resource for policymakers, educators, researchers, and anyone interested in global education issues. Each year’s report typically has a specific theme or focus, and it provides a wealth of data, analysis, and insights related to that theme. For 2023, the focus was on technology, and was titled “Technology in education: a tool on whose terms?”. More information on this GEM Report 2023 can be found on OIDEL’s blog.
On the 24th of October, OIDEL participated in the GEM Report Swiss launch. Introducing the event, Nicolas Mathieu, General Secretary of the Swiss Commission for UNESCO, and Diepak Elmer, Head of Section at the Economy and Education branch of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation reminded of the importance of the GEM Report in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Launching the GEM Report directed by Manos Antoninis and his team is also an opportunity to initiate a dialogue between all actors of education. Manos Antoninis then took the floor to discuss the key elements of the report. His conclusion was to keep the learner’s best interest at the center of this framework, based on Human Rights.
Dmytro Zavgorodnii, Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, shared his experience of digitizing the educational system in Ukraine, both because of the war, and because of Covid.
A panel composed of Diepak Elmer and Dmytro Zavgorodnii, as well as Barbara Class, researcher and teacher at the University of Geneva, among others, discussed the influence of the GEM Report on different stakeholders. A shared opinion was that technology needs to follow the needs in education, as opposed to education following the growth of technology. Another mutual belief was the importance of addressing the real situation in terms of access to technology throughout the world. After an interactive afternoon, the closing session reminded us that we are in a transition period and a learning process when it comes to technology within education, and that we are still in need of more research.
This event was important for OIDEL as an increasing number of international discussions on education centers around technology in its different expressions. It also facilitated connection with the UNESCO GEM Report team and gave us insight into their priorities and approaches for the future.