EU Commission: 1.7 billion euros to change the educational systems. Von der Leyen, “education is a universal right”

At the Global Education Summit, the European Union and the member states, as Team Europe, have promised to invest 1.7 billion euros into the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) that supports the transformation of educational systems for over one billion boys and girls. This has been announced in a release by the EU Commission the day after the London Global Education Summit. The plan will concern up to 90 countries and regions. According to Brussels’ institutions, such investment is the largest sum allocated to the GPE. In addition, last June the EU had already promised to give 700 million euros for the years 2021-2027. “Education is a fundamental tool for human development”, the president of the EU Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, stated. “Reading, writing, mathematics, logics, digital skills, understanding the world. The continent one lives in doesn’t matter. Education should be a veritably universal right”. Then, the president of the EU Commission placed emphasis on Europe’s constant commitment in this respect: “The European Union invests in international cooperation for education more than all the rest of the world combined. And in this extraordinary time we are intensifying our efforts”. Such funds will support the hiring and training of 69 million teachers, with 17 million of them in Africa, needed by 2030. The EU will focus its efforts on the fight against inequality, girls’ empowerment, the development of the skills needed in the job market, and digital education.

Valentina Bombelli