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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.

Day 1 of WISE also covered a number of diverse policy areas in a series of breakout sessions along the contrasting themes of ‘Global Education’ and ‘National Policies’. 

The topics covered in the ‘Global Education’ sessions ranged from ‘Globalisation of Education: Preparing Students for a Global Economy and Society’ and ‘Bridging Global Inequalities’; to ‘Higher Education for A Sustainable World’; and ‘Funding Education in the 21st Century: Who Pays for the Education of the Global Citizens?’.

“Globalisation poses questions about the excellence, equity and content of our education systems, which we must take into account if we are to adequately prepare our students for tomorrow,” according to Ms. Vivien STEWART, Vice-President for Education, Asia Society, speaking at the ‘Globalisation of Education: Preparing Students for a Global Economy and Society’ breakout session.

The ‘National Policies’ breakout sessions discussed strategic areas such as ‘Every Child Matters’; ‘Civil Rights and Minorities in Education’, ‘A Fully Integrated Education Policy’ and ‘Technology and E-Learning’.

Addressing the ‘Technology and E-Learning’ breakout session, Professor Bob Moon, Professor of Education, The Open University said: “There is a pressing need to exploit communication technologies progressively, as bricks and mortar institutions are insufficient for 21st century needs”.

Subsequent days of this three-day Summit will focus primarily on the WISE Summit’s two remaining sub-themes, namely Sustainability and Innovation in education. The outcomes generated from the discussions and debates over the three days will be collated and formally structured as a declaration of commitments on the final day of the WISE Summit.

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