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Representatives and diverse education stakeholders from 30 countries across Asia and the Pacific have agreed on priority actions to transform education systems and the what and how of learning across the region. Their recommendations include steps towards greening education, ensuring inclusive digital transformations, benchmarking basic numeracy and literacy skills, and other initiatives designed to accelerate progress towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) by 2030.

More than 220 policymakers, youth leaders, and civil society representatives gathered in Bangkok from 10 to 12 September for the 6th Asia-Pacific Meeting on Education 2030 (APMED 6), organized by UNESCO in collaboration with UNICEF and the Government of Japan. It took place against the backdrop of a regional learning crisis that threatens to derail progress towards achieving SDG4, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable education for all learners by 2030. 

In a study released earlier this year, UNESCO reported that less than 50 per cent of primary and lower secondary students achieve minimum learning competencies in reading and mathematics, while less than 40 per cent of upper secondary students complete their education. Meanwhile, only 2.5 per cent of adults in the region aged 25 to 54 have engaged in any form of education or training in the past year.

Opening APMED 6, UNESCO Bangkok Regional Director Soohyun Kim stressed the urgency of a holistic approach to addressing the crisis. ‘Learners need more than academic success. They need an education that nurtures their well-being, that prepares them to engage with an increasingly digital world, and that fosters resilience in the face of global challenges. Their ability to thrive–academically, socially, and emotionally depends on the actions we take.’

June Kunugi, Regional Director of UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office (UNICEF EAPRO) said that attendees shared a vision where every child in Asia-Pacific ‘is going to school—and staying there’, adding, ‘It’s a vision where every child can pursue their dreams and fulfil their true potential.’

Japan has long supported UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) programme through the Japanese Funds-in-Trust. In his opening remarks, Hiroaki Motomura, the Japanese Ministry of Education’s director for international strategic planning, stressed the importance of deepening regional understanding of SDG4 and noted that his country’s steadfast support of the APMED meetings contributed to ‘promoting regional cooperation and fostering momentum’ towards achieving the Education 2030 Agenda.

The recommendations education experts from Asia and the Pacific put forward at APMED 6 also include measures to strengthen foundational learning, mainstream climate education, establish AI competency frameworks with teachers, increase public investment, and promote youth leadership. APMED’s Recommendations from the Asia-Pacific Region will inform the UN’s , later this month in New York, as well as the upcoming 2024 Global Education Meeting, in Fortaleza, Brazil, in late October.

AMPED 6 also saw UNESCO officially launch its SDG4 Navigators initiative to support regional cooperation on SDG4 and lifelong learning. â€˜APMED is a testimony to pursuing an ambitious pathway by a diverse region comprising 60 per cent of the global population’, said keynote speaker Dr Baela Jamil, CEO of the Pakistan-based public trust,  (Centre of Education and Consciousness.)