Give ideas we can use, experts told Wednesday, 08 December 2010 01:55

H H Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned with Zorka Parvanova, First Lady of Bulgaria, at the opening plenary session of WISE.

By Huda N V

DOHA: Reflecting on the worldwide need to raise the standard of education with  new ways to improve both access and quality, and inspiring practical initiatives which will help build a future of education, Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali Al Thani, Chairman of WISE, opened the second edition of World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), in the presence of H H Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, here yesterday.

Sheikh Al Thani challenged the audience of more than 1,200 global education experts and thinkers to zero in on action-oriented education approaches that can be adopted and adapted worldwide.

“Our aspiration is to bring together multiple stakeholders and to connect theory with practice, because this kind of collaboration is critical in facing the most urgent and complex issue of our time – Building the future of education- because it means building our future world,” he said.

“WISE should be a year-round platform for innovative initiatives not a yearly summit alone. With the situation becoming increasingly pressing, we urgently need to move beyond an annual summit to action. We have always believed in drawing upon existing experience and so it seemed natural to gather expertise from round the world. The strength and success of WISE is in the partnerships that create a network across global community to voice and discuss education. The combined experience and talent will spark innovative solutions in education and contribute to building the future of education.”

The second edition of the high-profile event, WISE 2010, aims to raise the status of education on the global agenda through five plenary and 20 breakout sessions, featuring 100 speakers.

To generate clear outcomes is a priority for WISE, the event will be under three sub-themes. Sessions on “Improving Education Systems” looked into looks at how existing structures and systems in education can be continuously enhanced, “Exploring Innovative Trends” will highlight the search for entirely new ways of thinking, skill sets and delivery methods that modern-day education requires and an additional plenary session on “Funding Education” will deal with new ways of financing and sustaining education systems in this period of economic uncertainty.

One of the most important breakout sessions was devoted to “Education and Reconciliation,” covering the issues on educating children in conflict zone.

Addressing this issue in the openning session, Lakhdar Brahimi, former Algerian Foreign Minister and veteran UN Envoy, said, “When dealing with a new generation of conflicts around the world and trying to help a country establish and consolidate peace after conflict, education is always a key component of any peace process.” He highlighted the crucial link between education and reconciliation drawing examples from the society around us. “In Gaza, students at UNRWA run school take their lessons sitting in UN cargo containers. This is the situation of those who go to school. But there are many thousands of children left out. They spend their days playing in the streets or doing manual labour and hence get drawn in to all kinds of social-ills. It is also a problem if quality and defective education is given. Apart from the 3 ‘R’s in education, children should be taught tolerance, acceptance and respect of others’ thoughts and ideas.”

In a special video message contribution for the WISE Summit, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, stressed on empowering the youth through education for bright future.

“From its inception, WISE has understood that knowledge is the foundation of personal success, strong communities, thriving economies and peace, prosperity and progress for all nations. WISE knows that the challenge we face in the 21st century is to unite technology with our humanity and to ensure that our newest technologies advance our most cherished values,” she said.

The Peninsula