In a special summit on education called by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, he warned that unequal education was quickly dividing the planet. “Education is in a deep crisis. Instead of being the great enable, education is fast becoming the great divide,” he told the summit.
He warned that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on learning, with poor students lacking technology at a particular disadvantage, and conflicts further disrupting schools. Amid question marks over the global economy, he appealed on all countries to prioritize increasing spending per student.
In a report earlier this month, the UN Development Programme said COVID has set back humanity’s progress by five years.
Guterres also called out Afghanistan’s Taliban regime, who have deprived more than one million teenage girls of education since the Islamist militants returned to power in August 2021. “I appeal to the authorities in Afghanistan: Lift all restrictions on girls’ access to secondary education immediately,” he said.
Increasing spending per student, if it can be done, might turn out to be the easy part when it comes to addressing the numerous learning crises breaking out all over the world. The key would be in making sure the funds are spent wisely on an educational system that is run by educators and not by self-serving politicians, as the quality of the vision and leadership of a country’s educational system is a critical aspect that will determine which way it goes if the education divide widens further.
COVID has set back humanity’s progress by five years, and by the looks of it, the state of education has been set back further. Afghanistan youth, especially the girls, have to deal with the Taliban’s oppressive and backward style of governance; while Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has certainly disrupted education there. The Philippines, which is currently suffering from a learning crisis that was already brewing even before the pandemic, should be in a better position that Afghanistan or Ukraine as far as education is involved. Let us hope that our government can do what needs to be done so that Filipinos are not on the losing side if the education divide continues to fester.*
