Protecting and transforming education for shared futures: joint statement by the International Commission on the Futures of Education

In September 2019 the Director–General of UNESCO convened an independent International Commission to work under the leadership of the President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Her Excellency President Sahle-Work Zewde, and develop a global report on the Futures of Education for release in November 2021. The members of the Commission are thought-leaders from the worlds of politics, academia, civil society, business, and education. The Commission was charged with rethinking the role of education, learning and knowledge in light of the tremendous challenges and opportunities of probable and anticipated futures - as well as preferred and alternative futures. The COVID-19 crisis has underscored the importance of the Commission’s mandate to reflect on how knowledge and learning need to be rethought in an increasingly complex, uncertain and fragile world. As a result of a special April 2020 meeting dedicated to discussing education in relation to the rapidly changing global landscape, the Commission released the Joint Statement that is reprinted here. The Joint Statement is followed by individual statements by a number of members of the International Commission on the Futures of Education.