“The UAE believes that investing in people’s welfare, knowledge, and capabilities produces the greatest dividends for individuals, families and communities as a whole. Education, which is the essence of human capital, drives our national priorities and is central to our international development strategy. We believe that now is the time to reshape the global conversation on education and this summit is the perfect platform to do so.”

“The global education sector is going through a transformation where business as usual will no longer be enough, and this requires urgent attention from all stakeholders around the world. This global platform on education constitutes an opportunity for global education actors to come together with a new way of thinking to tackle education challenges by putting forward radical but sustainable solutions, recognizing that education is the fundamental pillar for addressing all other Global Goals effectively. World leaders should seize this unique opportunity to deliver on their promise to increase support to education, as we aspire for this platform to give hope and pave the way for vulnerable children and young people around the world to thrive in their future.”

Without quality education and lifelong learning for all, we will not succeed in addressing the challenges of our world. This requires investment, coordination and multilateralism; rethinking what and how we learn, with those who are on the frontlines and will be the actors and citizens of tomorrow: teachers and young people.

RewirEd is a special and unique opportunity to refocus global attention towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of inclusive and equitable quality education for all by 2030 — and mobilise the partnerships needed to put the global community on track to unleash all the talents of all young people.

Despite tremendous progress over the years, millions of children are not enrolled in school and millions more are not learning the basics. Education is truly the best ladder out of poverty, that’s why we must tackle this learning crisis by empowering children and young people with the skills they need to contribute to their communities and thrive in today’s economy.

Since joining the Global Partnership for Education in 2018, the UAE has contributed to shaping the lives of millions of children in the world’s poorest countries by getting them in school and learning. We are grateful for their partnership and are committed to working together with the UAE and Dubai Cares towards the realisation of this important event.

The disruption caused by the combination of automation and the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need to rethink education, skills and lifelong learning systems. Yet efforts to support those affected by the current pandemic lag behind the speed of disruption. RewirEd provides an opportunity to build momentum around a new learning agenda as we begin to build a new economy that provides greater opportunity, social mobility, and equality for all.

The pandemic will increase the share of children who cannot read and understand a simple text by age 10 – called Learning Poverty – by 10 percentage points from 53% to 63% [in developing countries]. Through RewirEd, we need bolder action to hire, support and manage teachers, and train them in blended and remedial learning and in using technology, to help them teach effectively. This requires a strong political commitment from governments so that all children truly learn with joy, rigor, and purpose, everywhere.

Bringing together global leaders from educational policy and practice, RewirEd provides an amazing platform to advance the social and technological innovation in education that we need to prepare the next generation for their future, rather than our past.