On December 3, 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming January 24 as International Day of Education, in celebration of the role of education for bringing global peace and sustainable development and this year’s theme is “Learning for lasting peace.”
The right to education is fundamental to an individual’s ability to learn and empower themselves. Education also has the power to transform lives and offer a pathway out of poverty.
Without inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all, countries will not succeed in achieving gender equality and breaking the cycle of poverty that is leaving millions of children, youth and adults behind.
But the question is in what ways can education be an instrument for promoting global peace and what roles do educators also play in instilling values for peace and tolerance in students? To ascertain this, Yes FM’s Oluwasemiloore Ige spoke with a Child Safeguarding and Protection Monitoring and Evaluation Expert Taiwo AKINLAMI who said only an educated mind can contribute to a global peace
TAIWO added that a well-resourced and transformed education system is as an essential long-term tool for preventing, building, and sustaining peace adding that the most impactful role of education in the pursuit of peace and social justice is its ability to empower individuals to become agents of change in their communities, By instilling cognitive, social, and emotional skills, learning becomes a powerful tool to counter hate speech and promote understanding.