January 24 - United Nations International Day of Education - Changing Course, Transforming Education
Submitted by Melanie Kenny, SI Saskatoon
So many of us take the right to education for granted and so do our children – and thank goodness we can! But many people don’t have access to education. For the fourth year in a row, the UN has stepped forward to raise a crucial topic - the importance of learning - by marking the International Day of Education on January 24.
Some of us have had the opportunity to further the quality of our lives by taking advantage of educational opportunities. But, imagine for a moment, there was no opportunity to take advantage of. Then go on to imagine how diminished your life would be without education. No fabulous children’s stories as you’re growing up to spark your imagination, possibly no ability to read at all. How much we would have missed and would still be missing now. Education helps us grow and learn about a world outside of our own immediate and limited experience and how critical that is for our own lives and the lives of those around us so that the world can be improved. We learn, through education, the importance of listening to other people‘s ideas and points of view. We learn that maybe we’re not always right or perhaps we learn that we are right and should stick to our guns even if those around us don’t necessarily agree. Education gives us the confidence to improve and change the world for the better.
The UN states that it has ‘a vision of education that ensures, justice, human rights and opportunities… and will allow us to better respond to emerging challenges and better address the interests of future generations. In the UN’s future of education report, it states ‘the future requires an urgent rebalancing or our relationships with each other, with nature as well as with technology that permeates our lives, bearing breakthrough opportunities while raising serious concerns for equity, inclusion and democratic participation.
How can this urgent rebalancing take place unless the world’s youth are educated? We are beginning in our own backyards with Soroptimist members continuing the splendid work we are doing with our Dream It Be It program, encouraging young women to become educated who may not have that type of support at home. We are helping young women dream of building a more sustainable, inclusive and peaceful future as envisioned by the United Nations. Our Soroptimist Clubs are imperative, through our Dream It Be It program, to changing the course and transforming the education of the young women in our communities. Keep up the great work!