A UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs event
Accelerating progress towards the SDGs through education
COVID-19 has made it evident that we not only have to “build back-better” but we need to bring transformative change in the way we approach education. What is the purpose of education? Can education help to build a better, more just and more caring society? COVID-19 brought to light the glimpse of the un-equal world that hidden or forgotten. It showed us that the burden of environmental and social fallouts rests on the communities that are the most marginalized. These communities face racial prejudices, economic marginalization and class fragmentation. These are the same groups that are fallen behind in the Sustainable Development Goals, especially education and health. Therefore, in order to avoid the waves of the pandemic for all, marginalized communities will need extra attention. Theimpacts of the pandemic are here to stay for the next couple of years, the time to think about building back a better society for all is now. If so how can education help to make those bridges. According to Sharma (2020) “value based education” should be the transformative change in education that we need the most. Elizondo (2020) identified these values as, respect and care for the community of life, unity in diversity, empowerment, trust, justice, and integrity. Therefore the framework that we adopt should center on a justice oriented and an empowered society that takes care of its people and the planet.