第76回国連総会サイドイベント「人間中心の回復のための教育と科学技術変革」における木村大使開催挨拶
令和3年9月29日
Excellencies,
Distinguished colleagues and friends,
It is a great pleasure and honour for me to welcome all of you to this virtual side-event on Education and Technological Transformations for Human-centered Recovery at the 76th United Nations General Assembly today.
Let me begin by expressing my heartfelt thanks to UNESCO for its leadership in hosting this timely event, and for bringing the partners of the Global Education Coalition together. I also thank all of you for being here today.
Today, we will discuss the important role that the transformational potential of rapid technological change and digital connectivity can play for equality, equity, and inclusion of education.
This event will reassess what we have achieved, what we have learned during the pandemic, and explore what directions we must move in, based on the broader transformations facing our education systems.
As we are all witnessing, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation, with over half of the world’s population shifting to a new way of living, working, and learning.
However, the increased reliance of education on digital solutions expected in the post-COVID world risks further aggravating the exclusion of those children without internet from education, and thus leaving them behind. The digital divide may limit the opportunities of children and youth to fulfilling their human potential.
Furthermore, while the massive shift to remote and online learning is gaining status as a new normal, with almost no notice, new educational offerings have been transforming teaching and learning, and our relationship with schools. We should take head of voices pointing out that the current emergency and ad-hoc measures may risk fragmenting our education systems.
Excellencies,
Dear partners and friends,
The current surging changes in education present us with an extraordinary but crucial opportunity to improve the future of education.
First and foremost, we must carefully assess and envision the changing roles and new skills of teachers in hybrid learning systems, ensuring the multiple roles that schools and teachers play in terms of fostering children’s well-being and emotional and cognitive development, including through technology.
It is an ambitious agenda, for which we must invest in both digital infrastructure and human resources, such as teacher capacity, parental and community support, fostering foundational skills for all, and the provision of lifelong education. This requires both a “whole-of-society” and a “human-centered” approach.
Excellencies,
Dear colleagues and friends,
I hope today that we will renew our global commitment to international cooperation and multilateralism in order to ensure the right to education, including access to the internet, information, and knowledge, which children, young people, and we ourselves all need to thrive in increasingly digitalized societies.
I look forward to learning the good practices and guidance from the Global Education Coalition in today’s discussions.
Thank you.
Distinguished colleagues and friends,
It is a great pleasure and honour for me to welcome all of you to this virtual side-event on Education and Technological Transformations for Human-centered Recovery at the 76th United Nations General Assembly today.
Let me begin by expressing my heartfelt thanks to UNESCO for its leadership in hosting this timely event, and for bringing the partners of the Global Education Coalition together. I also thank all of you for being here today.
Today, we will discuss the important role that the transformational potential of rapid technological change and digital connectivity can play for equality, equity, and inclusion of education.
This event will reassess what we have achieved, what we have learned during the pandemic, and explore what directions we must move in, based on the broader transformations facing our education systems.
As we are all witnessing, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation, with over half of the world’s population shifting to a new way of living, working, and learning.
However, the increased reliance of education on digital solutions expected in the post-COVID world risks further aggravating the exclusion of those children without internet from education, and thus leaving them behind. The digital divide may limit the opportunities of children and youth to fulfilling their human potential.
Furthermore, while the massive shift to remote and online learning is gaining status as a new normal, with almost no notice, new educational offerings have been transforming teaching and learning, and our relationship with schools. We should take head of voices pointing out that the current emergency and ad-hoc measures may risk fragmenting our education systems.
Excellencies,
Dear partners and friends,
The current surging changes in education present us with an extraordinary but crucial opportunity to improve the future of education.
First and foremost, we must carefully assess and envision the changing roles and new skills of teachers in hybrid learning systems, ensuring the multiple roles that schools and teachers play in terms of fostering children’s well-being and emotional and cognitive development, including through technology.
It is an ambitious agenda, for which we must invest in both digital infrastructure and human resources, such as teacher capacity, parental and community support, fostering foundational skills for all, and the provision of lifelong education. This requires both a “whole-of-society” and a “human-centered” approach.
Excellencies,
Dear colleagues and friends,
I hope today that we will renew our global commitment to international cooperation and multilateralism in order to ensure the right to education, including access to the internet, information, and knowledge, which children, young people, and we ourselves all need to thrive in increasingly digitalized societies.
I look forward to learning the good practices and guidance from the Global Education Coalition in today’s discussions.
Thank you.