Without education, there’s nothing in this world that one can achieve. Education brings harmony, gender equality, and peace among countries and nations. That is why we celebrate world education day to applaud the work of the United Nations General Assembly and to accept the fact that education is indeed above anything else.

Today, there are about 617 million adolescents and children who are unable to read and do basic math, 258 million youth and children are unable to go to school, less than 40% of the sub-Saharan African girls complete the lower secondary school and millions of refugees are still out of school. This day makes us go over the fact that the right to education of these children and adolescents is not only being violated but they are also unable to learn so many things. Don’t you think it’s unacceptable?

History of international education day

In article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the right to education has been preserved. According to this article, every citizen is viable to acquire compulsory and free education, at least elementary education. The Convention on the Rights of the Child strictly specifies that higher education must be made accessible to all the people of the world.

In September 2015, when the international community advised 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, the community recognized that education is one of the most important goals of Sustainable Development and this one goal is vital for the success of the rest of the goals. Education works towards peace and development across all the regions in the world. The fourth goal of sustainable development is to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” by the end of 2030.

Thus, on December 3rd, 2018, a resolution was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, according to which 24th January will be marked as the international day of education. This resolution was co-authored by Nigeria along with 58 other major member states making a figure of 73/25. This resolution showed a firm political stance of all the member states that there should be quality and equitable education for all the citizens around the world.

In order to attain the 2030 sustainable development goals, all the stakeholders, member states, governmental organizations, the private sector, UN system’s organizations, academic institutions, and all the other relative parties have joined hands. All of these sectors observe world education day with full zeal and zest.

UNESCO is a specialized agency of education of the United Nations. This agency works in close collaboration with all the educational institutes to observe the international education day.

What is international education day?

World education day is celebrated each year on 24th January and every educational sector celebrates this day in full swing. Not only the educational institutes but also all the government agencies and the UNGA itself take part in the celebratory activities with rigor.

This entire day is dedicated primarily to education. Acquiring education is a very important part of one’s life. It opens doors to a variety of opportunities that would otherwise be impossible to grab.

Therefore, this day is celebrated to promote education across all the nations and it also emphasizes the fact that there are millions of children who are unable to acquire quality education.

Why is it worth celebrating?

International education day is worth celebrating for a variety of reasons. Primarily, this day is celebrated to create awareness among the people regarding the impact of education on our lives. When we talk about classrooms, we can use world education day to let the students know what kind of hardships they may face when they are out in the real world or if they don’t get a quality education. Suffice it is to say that major barriers would be created if you don’t get enough knowledge and you can only learn if you get a high-quality education.

Apart from the barriers, world education day is also celebrated to recognize the fact that there are millions of people who are unable to read and write. They have no firm grasp of the basic concepts which would impact their lives in the future. This day is celebrated to remind all the people that there should be equitable education for all the people around the world.

COVID-19’s impact on quality education

We have all been the victims of the novel COVID-19 that affected our lives tremendously, especially our education sector. With everything locked down, all the students shifted to the online mode of learning. In the United States, many disparities surfaced among the students who had a good internet facility and those who didn’t.

This resulted in the unequal transfer of knowledge among the students that can harm their lives in the future. Many students also complained that there had been little or no learning in the online mode of learning. Where the professors may have tried their best to transfer their wisdom to the students, the online mode of learning couldn’t do justice. The closure of all the educational institutes impacted the lives of about 1.6 billion students in 190+ countries.

Therefore, international education day 2021 is going to be celebrated with more rigor and enthusiasm because, now, the old face-to-face learning is back on track. Students can acquire the same level of knowledge as they did before.

What is the theme for International Day of Education 2021?

The theme for world education day 2021 is to recover and revitalize education for the COVID-19 generation. COVID-19 severely disrupted the natural course of events with students being one of the prime victims.

With the onset of a new year, the international education day 2021 will work towards re-establishing the broken chain of knowledge. The international solidarity will get alive and will actively recover the education system of the countries.

This year, UNESCO has partnered up with several member states and educational institutes to conduct a learning plant festival in which all the people will share innovative ideas to get everything back on track. An essay contest known as le petit prince will also be conducted. Its winners will be announced on international education day 2021.

When was the first International Day of Education?

The first international education day was celebrated on January 24th, 2019. The United Nations General Assembly picked this date to raise awareness regarding the importance of education. It also specified the active participation of all the member states in raising this awareness.

Other than that, the first world education day empowered all the countries to enhance their commitment and willpower in promoting education all around the globe. In this way, all the people will enjoy equal benefits of equitable and quality education.

How do we celebrate the International Day of Education?

The basic way to celebrate world education day is by imparting learning and wisdom to the people. This kind of learning can happen anywhere and this includes your home, school, community, etc. The institutions can also arrange various seminars on enhancing equitable education all around the world.

You can also give various service projects to your students in which they’d have to collect donations for a book drive. The used books can then be sent to a youth center in your community or an after-school reading program.

You can also take some help from social media platforms. You can upload various inspirational and motivational posts and stories with the hashtag #internationaleducationday or #worldeducationday. You can also ask your family and friends to share such posts.

No matter which way you choose to celebrate world education day, make sure that you help the students in understanding the value of equitable and high-quality education along with emphasizing the roles that each individual can play to promote education among students.

Conclusion

International education day is the need of the hour when there are millions of children who can’t enjoy the benefit of high-quality and equitable education. This day marks the beginning of a new era in which every individual will be able to acquire quality education, irrespective of the country he/she resides in. We all can play an active part in promoting this cause. So, let’s join hands and speak for education, for it is a necessity for peace and development among and within the countries.

Want to read about other important days in the month of January? Then click here.
Or if you want to read about important days of other months of the year, then check out “Important Days of the Year” category.