International Education Day 2024

The International Education Day is celebrated annually on 24 January and it aims to showcase the changes that have to take place in order to realise everyone’s right to education and build a more sustainable, inclusive, and peaceful future. This day is intended for the international community to also recognise that education is essential for the success of all 17 of its goals. Sustainable Development Goal 4, in particular, aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” by 2030.

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. Today, 250 million children and youth are out of school, and 763 million adults are illiterate. Their right to education is being violated and it is unacceptable. It's time to transform education.

The sixth International Day of Education will be celebrated under the theme “learning for lasting peace”. The world is seeing a surge of violent conflicts paralleled by an alarming rise of discrimination, racism, xenophobia, and hate speech. The impact of this violence transcends any boundary based on geography, gender, race, religion, politics, offline and online. An active commitment to peace is more urgent today than ever: Education is central to this endeavor, as underlined by the UNESCO Recommendation on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Sustainable Development. Learning for peace must be transformative, and help empower learners with the necessary knowledge, values, attitudes and skills and behaviours to become agents of peace in their communities.

We, at the World Assembly of Youth (WAY), will continue to ensure that all youth acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development and address other youth issues. At the same time, we intent to ensure that all youth both men and women achieve literacy and numeracy. Hence, WAY is calling on its member organisations to increase strategic policies commitment to education, as a force for inclusion driving the achievement of all the Sustainable Development Goals.

WAY has various platforms that bring young people together of different age, race, background, and ethnic group, to interact and share ideas. It also strives to develop the youth by exposing them to an environment in which they get to realise their full potential and explore their untapped capabilities. Through such platforms, youth shall gain knowledge and share that among their peers, while engaging in the decision making process.

As the world marks the International Education Day, WAY calls on governments and all stakeholders that it is time for change and transformation, we need to make universal quality education a leading priority.