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Declaration of 10 core education priorities for the 21^stcentury

The closing plenary session of the first World Innovation Summit for Education – WISE has produced a number of ground-breaking outcomes that signal the beginning of a new era in global collaboration on education. WISE concluded with a declaration of 10 core education priorities, an announcement of two initiatives and a renewed commitment to the three main areas of focus for WISE in the future.

Held in Doha, Qatar and attended by 1,000 influential opinion leaders from diverse sectors across the globe, the Summit, through its theme of “Global Education: Working Together for Sustainable Achievements” has created a new dynamism towards addressing the most challenging educational issues in the 21^st century.

Highlighting the importance of reaching agreement on key educational priorities on a global scale, Dr. Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani, Chairman of WISE and Qatar Foundation’s Vice-President of Education, said that achieving such a consensus among the international community in an inaugural summit was a clear indication of the commitment and focus among delegates.

Dr. Abdulla explained: “This Summit represents the beginning of a long-term process of innovation. The approach of WISE to date has been comprehensive and wide-ranging, however action springs from a focussed approach. Throughout the series of plenary and breakout sessions, we have been listening very closely to the contributions and the key concerns of the participants with a firm commitment to move from debate to concrete outcomes. The identification of 10 strategic priorities is a milestone as it represents a convergence among global educational leaders on the key issues that will affect and shape education in the 21^st century.”

The 10 strategic priorities declared at the Summit were:

• Access to ‘quality’ education

• A fully integrated approach

• Global citizenship

• Education embedded in the local community

• Protecting education and educators

• Reconciliation

• ‘WISE pioneers’ to monitor progress

• Innovating new ways to learn

• Pursuing sustainable development

• A future built on multi-stakeholder partnership

The identification of 10 priorities constitutes a crucial preliminary step in a process that leads to research of innovative and relevant solutions, adaptation and implementation of international best practice on a sustainable basis.

In addition, two initiatives were announced that exemplify the declaration of priorities: (i) a partnership between the Al-Shafallah Centre for Children with Special Needs and the University of Southern California to develop innovative, international practices and tools for children with special needs, in particular those with autism; and (ii) the creation of ‘The Institute for Education Leadership’ to offer a number of dedicated training seminars around the world to newly-appointed educational leaders at all levels.

These newly-formed partnerships complement the WISE Awards in terms of devising fresh, targeted enterprises that address some of the most pressing educational challenges faced in the 21^st century.

Based on the 10 priorities which were defined during the three days, WISE also refined how it will contribute to drive educational changes in the future.

• WISE will be an agenda-setting forum which will define areas requiring actions across all sectors of education and will seek involvement of appropriate partners.
• WISE will promote innovative practices, methodologies and partnerships, making best use of modern technology.
• WISE will seek to build on the momentum of the inaugural summit to inform public opinion and put education as a priority on the political, social and economic agenda.

Confirmed as an annual event, WISE, in advance of the 2010 Summit, will seek with confidence and determination to create and sustain a pragmatic and powerful international community that will help to shape the future of global education.

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Emergent, revolutionary technologies such as open, accessible, peer-to-peer and social media platforms have an influential role to play in how conventional education is both taught and learned, the World Innovation Summit for Education – WISE, has heard today.

An initiative of Qatar Foundation , WISE this morning hosted a plenary session dedicated to Innovation, featuring a panel of world-leading experts.

Addressing the Summit, Co-founder of Twitter, Biz Stone, spoke of how, as a very simple service of rudimentary communications, Twitter has become a real-time educational tool where users help and inform each other, citing earthquakes, fuel shortages and episodes of geo-political unrest as prime examples.

“It doesn’t matter how many servers we add to the network; ultimately, we hope Twitter will be a triumph of humanity, not a triumph of technology,” he added.

Professor Sugata Mitra, Professor of Education, Newcastle University, and the inspiration behind the renowned movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, declared that “teachers are now no longer required to be repositories of knowledge”, adding that children can learn to teach themselves and solve often complex matters if equipped and empowered with the necessary technological tools.

Dr. Tidu Maini, Executive Chairman of Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) said that the fast pace of development of the innovation society and the widespread distribution of ICT are, in themselves, not a sufficiently sustainable educational model. He added that research-led education is the extra driver that can make an important difference if the benefits of connectivity are to be mobilized

Dr. Maini added: “There is a need to create a platform of structured education combined with a new technologically-based infrastructure which can break bureaucracy and boundaries.”

Day three of the Summit concludes with a series of breakout sessions before a final closing session which will allow the international participants to deliver a declaration defining educational priorities for WISE.

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Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, Chair of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, has honoured six laureates at the WISE Awards ceremony which took place in Doha, Qatar last night. The WISE Awards recognise pioneering education-related practices from around the world tangible, duplicable and measurable. Also in attendance at the inaugural WISE Awards ceremony were Mrs Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Mrs Irina Bokova UNESCO Director General, Mrs Ruth Dreifuss Former President of the Swiss Confederation, Mr Gerhard Schröeder Former Chancellor of Germany, Fidel V. Ramos Former President of the Philippines and Biz Stone Co-founder of Twitter Inc.

Addressing the audience at the WISE Awards ceremony, Dr. Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani, Chairman of WISE and Qatar Foundation’s Vice-President of Education, said “change takes place because individuals or teams of people have not only identified a problem, but have decided to do something about it. That’s why we decided, in this inaugural year of WISE, to showcase and reward exceptional projects and initiatives that demonstrate a tangible impact on each of our three sub-themes.”

In line with the global and inclusive outlook of WISE, the WISE Awards programme generated widespread international interest from diverse groups and individuals, with project submissions stemming from a variety of contrasting geographical locations. From a total of 588 entries, six projects originating from South and Latin America, North America, Africa, and Asia and Oceania were chosen for their exceptional impact within the fields of Pluralism, Sustainability and Innovation in education.

The winners were:

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The World Innovation Summit for Education – WISE, an initiative of Qatar Foundation, continued in Doha, Qatar today with 1,000 representatives from various sectors including politics, academia, international institutions, the private sector, NGOs and others listening to and debating on the challenges and solutions for education in the 21^st century.

Following a very successful opening day which was launched by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, Chair of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, the international participants worked intensively during the second day to identify current worldwide educational challenges and explore potential solutions.

The second day of WISE offered a unique opportunity to focus on specific issues including the education of people with special needs, gender inequality and sustaining education in critical circumstances. This multidisciplinary international delegation is identifying strategic priorities which will then be formalized in a declaration during the closing plenary session of the third and final day of the Summit.

Addressing the Summit’s opening plenary session on Sustainability, Former Chancellor of Germany, Mr. Gerhard Schröder declared that “we must make use of all available talents, skills and aptitudes,” adding that “any country that wants to be successful, either economically or culturally, must utilize these resources. There is only one way to ensure that Governments continue to put an emphasis on education and that is through pressure by the people”.

Among the other notable contributions at the Sustainability plenary session on day two were:

• President of Qatar University, Professor Sheikha Abdulla Al-Misnad, who stressed that education is, “not a static entity, but a living, breathing one that is constantly evolving”. Professor Al-Misnad went on to say that “on both a national and global level, it is important that the efforts of educational institutions complement rather than compete with each other. This entails harnessing resources and existing technologies to serve a wider base beyond the immediate community.”
• United Nations’ Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, Mr. Kiyotaka Akasaka, who said that “the time has come for a new culture of ‘intellectual social responsibility’, one that takes teaching, learning and research beyond the classroom, laboratory or campus.”

Gerhard Schröder addresses the WISE conference

Day two of WISE also featured a series of highly engaging breakout sessions, categorized into ‘Selected Priorities’ and ‘Solutions’.

Under the ‘Selected Priorities’ series of discussions, key policy areas debated included ‘Women’s Education’, ‘Education and Community Development’, ‘Sustaining Education in Critical Circumstances, Conflict Zones and Poverty’ and ‘Special Needs Education’.

Speaking at the ‘Special Needs Education’ session, Founder and Director of SMARTlab Digital Media Institute, Professor Lizabeth Goodman demonstrated how through innovation and technology, they are working in partnership with people with special needs to create open source software that enables a two-way educational interface.

She added: “It is vital that technology and support is offered to people with special needs and their network at the earliest possible stage in order to allow this community to fully realise their abilities.”

The ‘Solutions’ breakout sessions, meanwhile, comprehensively covered a number of relevant educational issues such as ‘Managing International Mobility’, ‘Education and Governance for Trust and Sustainability’, Accreditation and Quality’ and ‘Increasing Access Through Technology’.

During the “Managing International Mobility” session, Dr. Diana Davis, Associate Provost for International Initiatives, Princeton University, emphasized the urgent need to promote more collaborative global partnerships between higher education institutions. She also suggested that a renewed focus on volunteerism should form an integral part of any such expanded educational alliances.

Strategic Director, Partnership For Schools, Mr. Steve Moss, concluded the session on ‘Education and Governance for Trust and Sustainability’ by underlining the importance of developing leadership capacity across the community in order to guarantee the sustainability of educational institutions.

The three-day Summit concludes tomorrow with an analysis of the role of innovation in overcoming educational challenges. A final closing session will allow the international gathering to focus on achieving a declaration defining educational priorities and next steps for WISE.

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The first World Innovation Summit for Education – WISE, officially launched by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser AL-MISSNED , Chair of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, has marked the start of an exciting new international, multidisciplinary, collaborative drive on addressing global education challenges. A formidable sense of community, coupled with a strong determination among all participants to engage in meaningful debate towards achieving measurable progress in strategic educational areas, has been in evidence throughout the first day’s activities.

In her opening speech, Her Highness Sheikha Mozah shared her vision on education through the Summit’s overall theme of “Global Education: Working Together for Sustainable Achievements” with 1,000 opinion leaders attending from diverse sectors across the globe.

Addressing the opening plenary session were Guest of Honour, Mrs Irina BOKOVA, newly-appointed UNESCO Director-General and Dr Abdulla bin Ali AL-THANI, Chairman of WISE and Qatar Foundation’s Vice-President of Education.

In his address, Dr. AL-THANI described the WISE Summit as “the beginning of a long-term commitment to the cause of concerted innovation in education on a global level”.

The key thematic focus of Day 1, Pluralism, brought together a prestigious panel of international experts who delivered some insightful observations. During the Pluralism plenary session, among the notable contributions were from:

• The Hon. Ruth Dreifuss, Chancellor, University for Peace and former President of the Swiss Confederation, who said that “education can assist children to acknowledge and recognise the role of conflict and understand the skills of mediation”.

• Dr Allan E. Goodman, President and CEO, Institute of International Education, who observed: “Those of us involved in the field of international education tend to forget how unconnected most of our citizens are to the world.  Most people still do not travel and the majority of those who do are forced into it by adverse conditions and events. Of the nearly 150 million students in higher educational institutions around the world, moreover, less than two percent are studying abroad. And in only 20 out of 200 countries does the proportion of international students exceed one percent of enrolment.”

• Professor Georges Haddad, Director, Division of Higher Education at UNESCO, who stressed “It is important to appreciate the human desire to learn, to understand and to discover, which constitute the bedrock for one’s survival and sustainable development. In addition to research activities on creation and innovation, we must also focus on the evaluation of these outcomes”.

• Dr. Claudie HAIGNERÉ, President, Cité des Sciences et de L’Industrie, former Minister Delegate in charge of Research and New Technologies of France, who highlighted the need to transcend traditional barriers existing between the teaching of disciplines such as science, literature, natural history and humanities. Dr HAIGNERÉ also called for the establishment of a long-term, youth-oriented initiative at WISE, taking the form of a think tank for 15-20-year-olds. She added that “the 21st Century is the younger generation’s century”.

• Mrs Naledi PANDOR, MP, Minister of Science and Technology and former Minister of Education of South Africa, echoed Dr. HAIGNERÉ’s call for a dedicated programme for young innovators. Mrs PANDOR agreed that a ‘WISE Pioneers’ initiative could provide potential young innovators from around the globe with ongoing mentoring, opportunities to study abroad and access to advanced technology through their education. The progress of the ‘WISE Pioneers’, it was proposed, would then be monitored over a period of 20 years to assess level of progress and emerging trends.

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Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser AL-MISSNED, Chair of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, officially opened this morning, the premiere edition of the World Innovation Summit for Education – WISE, an initiative of Qatar Foundation.

Addressing 1,000 of the world’s pre-eminent opinion leaders, Her Highness delivered her vision on education, the answer to the challenges posed today by globalization focusing on the theme of the Summit “Global Education: Working Together for Sustainable Achievements”:

“Innovation in education, which is the focus of this Summit should become an achievable and executable process. It should be at the heart of the education which is the

force which exerts human energy and guides it wisely for the purpose of expanding human intelligence and creativity to serve the objective of just and equitable human societies.

“Therefore this Summit requires us to debate deeply and discuss a series of issues at the core of the right to education in order to draft an agreement on which we can build our next steps”, concluded Her Highness Sheikha Mozah.

As Guest of Honour, Mrs Irina BOKOVA, newly appointed UNESCO Director-General, chose to address WISE worldwide community of opinion leaders and stakeholders, for her first official intervention abroad.

Dr. Abdulla bin Ali AL-THANI, Chairman of WISE and Qatar Foundation’s Vice-President of Education, engaged WISE attendees to make the most of the unique dialogue opportunity that WISE brings. During his address, Dr. AL-THANI expressed hope for meaningful debates that will lead to global collaboration to help identify the strategic educational priorities for the upcoming years.

Her Highness Sheikha Mozah opens WISE 09

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The premiere edition of the World Innovation Summit for Education – WISE – initiated by Qatar Foundation and held in Doha, Qatar, from November 16^th to18^th, has attracted a remarkable line-up of high-profile international personalities, coming from the public, academic and private sectors.

The WISE multidisciplinary platform and cross-sectoral summit that will bring together an audience of 1,000 opinion leaders and stakeholders from 120 countries, including academics, political leaders, representatives of international organizations, NGO members and private sector executives.

Among the 90 world-class speakers, Gerhard Schröder, Former German Chancellor, will take the stage on November 16 and address sustainability issues, while Biz Stone, Co-founder and Creative Director of leading social network Twitter, will address the audience during the plenary session dedicated to Innovation, on November 18^th.

Eminent voices are also expressing their support for the WISE initiative through written or video messages in which they also share their views about pressing educational issues. Some of these personalities include:

• Statespersons such as current President of Senegal Abdoulaye Wade, current UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown , former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

• Renowned education experts such as Nicholas Burnett , outgoing Assistant Director for Education, UNESCO and Zhou Qifeng, President of Beijing University, both members of the WISE Awards International jury.

• Prominent business figures such as General Electric President and CEO Jeff Immelt and Chris Hughes, Co-Founder of Facebook and Founder of MyBarackobama.com.

• Philanthropists such as Lord David Puttnam , Chairman of Futurelab as well as Yann Arthus Bertrand, CEO of Good Planet and Director of the acclaimed movie Home.

Photos and full biographies of WISE speakers are also available on the website: http://www.wise-qatar.org/en/speakers.

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