ROME/PARIS, MARCH 29 – The Italian Minister for Education, Patrizio Bianchi, took part today in the virtual UNESCO event “One year into COVID: Prioritising education recovery to avoid a generational catastrophe”.
The ministerial event was convened by the Paris-based UN agency, in line with its mission to facilitate policy dialogue and knowledge sharing. The aim was to stimulate a joint reflection one year after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, and make a call to action in regards to ensuring the continuity of education. In this process, Italy played a key role in exchanging experiences and policy responses.
The event was launched with an opening session lead by: Director-General Audrey Azoulay, Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, Director-General of WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and the Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation of the African Union, Sarah Mbi Enow Anyang.
The UNESCO Deputy Director for Education, Stefania Giannini, invited Education Ministers and representatives of the Global Education Coalition partners to attend the event. Topics such as the opening up of schools, catching up on learning, and digital transformation were discussed.
“We must quickly organise a global reaction to the pandemic, which is why we support the Global Education Coalition launched by UNESCO. No government in the world can win the battle against the pandemic on its own,” said Minister Bianchi, reiterating that the Italian government supports the action taken by UNESCO to put schools back at the centre of political action: “Education – said Bianchi – is the primary tool for human development”. (@OnuItalia)
