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Nearly a year after the was handed to the UNSG at the Transforming Education Summit (TES) on 16 September 2022, the SDG4 Youth & Student Network led an event where young people shared their reflections on the progress made on meaningful youth engagement in education. Seventy youth and students from around the world took part in the 90-minute online activity that also served as a celebration of the International Youth Day 2023. 

Upholding the Declaration’s two main goals — (1) to drive political commitment on the need to transform education, and (2) to build young people’s ownership over this process — the Network ensured that the Youth Engagement @ TES +1: Successes, Gaps, Future event became a space to check on what have been addressed so far in the demands on the Declaration, and to stress on the value of keeping the youth involved, giving them a voice, and working with them to implement solutions. 

The highlight was an open dialogue that showcased the importance of a youth-led bottom-up approach in advancing the steps towards the Education 2030 agenda. This kind of engagement called for multilateral collaboration between the governments/other non-state actors, and youth/student leaders, with the latter guaranteeing that grassroot-oriented solutions will land into the policy-making bodies. 

The participants enthusiastically shared their vision for the future and their propositions to address roadblocks in youth engagement. For them, the next step in closing the education transformation gaps is ensuring that there is intergenerational collaboration, cooperation, and a sense of shared responsibility among the policymakers, the UN and other multilateral organizations, and youth and students.  

The youth envisioned the future where there is:  

1. Increased funding in education, especially during emergencies and rebuilding prioritization of youth and children who are at high risk of dropout 

2. Nurturing of entrepreneurial skills to hone talents and passions into impactful actions 

The open dialogue concluded with three main takeaways: 

1. The importance of localizing proposed accelerators for achieving SDG4 at the community level 

2. Ensuring young people’s collective role in ensuring that education remains high on the political agenda at global, regional and local levels  

3. Empowering young people to take ownership in the TES follow-up and the implementation of the Youth Declaration on Transforming Education

One year after the TES, there is modest progress. More youth and students are part of education decision- and policy-making processes. Intergenerational dialogues between youth and ministries, such as at ECOSOC and HLPF are more common. All the TES have youth input and participation. The historic Global Youth Engagement Indicator, passed by the SDG4 High-Level Steering Committee (HLSC) will also ensure that countries are reporting on how they are engaging youth in education.  

However, there is still a long way to go.  In the lead up to the and the , it is critical to take a step back, reflect, and dig deep into the setbacks faced in implementing inclusive and context-based policies at the national levels, and in meaningfully engaging young people and students in Transforming Education.  

By doing so, youth and students, with their leadership, energy and optimism, can plan strategically on how best to work with all stakeholders on achieving SDG4 by Transforming Education.