On April 6, 2021, Minister of State (MoS) for Education, Sanjay Dhotre attended the consulting meeting of Education Ministers of E9 Countries.
- Theme – ‘E9 Initiative: Scaling up digital learning to accelerate progress towards SDG4 (Sustainable Development Goal-4)’.
- The Consultation meeting is the 1st of a three-phased process to co-create an initiative on digital learning & skills, targeting marginalised children and youth, especially girls.
Objective
The E9 initiative aims to accelerate recovery and advance the SDG4 Agenda by focusing on three of the five priorities of the 2020 Global Education Meeting Declaration (organized by UNESCO). They are
- Support to teachers
- Investment in skills
- Narrowing of the digital divide
Highlights from Sanjay Dhotre’s address
During the consultation meeting, Sanjay Dhotre highlighted several initiatives taken by India to boost digital learning.
i.Indian government is planning to set up National Digital Education Architecture to deliver a ‘digital first’ approach to support teaching and learning.
ii.Initiatives – DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing) – One Nation-One Digital Platform; SWAYAM PRABHA – One Nation-One Channel programme; SWAYAM MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses) & Pradhan Mantri e-VIDYA program – One Nation One Digital Platform
Highlights of the Meeting
During the meeting,
- The members highlighted progress, shared lessons & explored opportunities for collaboration. They also discussed ways to expand digital learning and skills.
- A Marketplace segment, for a public-private partnership, focused on promising local and global solutions and opportunities for digital learning to strengthen local ecosystems was also discussed.
E9 Countries
It was launched in 1993 at the EFA Summit in New Delhi, India. It was set up to achieve the goals of UNESCO’s Education for All (EFA) initiative.
- The 9 Countries are – Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria & Pakistan.
- Purpose – It is a forum for 9 countries to discuss their experiences related to education, exchange best practices & monitor EFA-related progress.
- The partnership will be vital to achieving SDG4 – Education 2030.
- The 9 countries together represent almost 30% of the World’s nominal GDP.
Recent Related News:
i.On 1st February 2021 Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ addressed the inaugural session of 2021’s ASEAN-India Hackathon. It is launched by ASEAN in partnership with the Ministry of Education.
About Ministry of Education:
Union Minister – Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ (Lok Sabha MP, Constituency – Haridwar, Uttarakhand)
Minister of State – Sanjay Dhotre (Lok Sabha MP, Constituency – Akola, Maharashtra)
About UNESCO:
UNESCO stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Director-General – Audrey Azoulay
Headquarters – Paris, France
