The Transforming Education Summit, being convened at the UN General Assembly this September, offers a unique opportunity for Member States to make commitments to transform education in a way that reflects the needs and priorities of learners. This constituency must not merely be listened to or consulted, but actively mobilized and supported as true partners in the construction and transformation of education systems.
Youth advocates are organizing grassroots consultations all over the world in preparation of a Youth Declaration that will be submitted to the UN Secretary-General at the Summit. We organized a consultation in Kenya with children, young people and students from two informal settlements, Kibera and Mathare, as well as one at Strathmore university in Nairobi, that brought together students from seven universities.
Youth advocacy
Young people play a critical role in reimaging and reinventing educational policies to respond to the most pressing challenges of our time, such as the climate crisis, fragile labor markets and democratic governance. It was powerful to see the transformational work that young people in Kenya are already doing in their communities to not only transform education at the local level but also advocate with stakeholders to accelerate progress towards global goals, such as Sustainable Development Goal 4 on education.
The goal to transform education is a monumental endeavour that can only be realized by a truly grassroots approach that considers all our perspectives. Young people in local communities bring a wealth of knowledge to drive change locally. To transform education and address the systemic challenges in the education sector, governments must be committed to building coalitions with youth-led initiatives to reinvent education systems that reflect the needs of learners.
The key takeaways from our consultations with young people in Kenya include the need for investments in: inclusive, equitable, safe and healthy schools with a keen emphasis on the mental health of young people; digital skills and skills for life, work and sustainable development; and financing for education to ensure that quality education is accessible to all.
Children's voices
While it is necessary to hear from youth, it is also crucial to pay attention to children's voices when creating educational policies. Our consultations involved children as young as five, to guarantee that the opinions and priorities of children are reflected in the Youth Declaration, that their needs are given the weight they deserve in the process of transforming education, and that the authentic voices of children, who are the first to benefit from education, was not lost in the decision-making process of transforming education.
One of the key messages that came from the children was their right to play. The majority of the schools in urban informal settlements do not have playgrounds due to limited space. This forces children to stay in the classroom during recess, limiting their opportunities for exploration and hands-on learning, which are a foundation of early childhood, primary and secondary education. Stakeholders must invest in these foundational elements of learning to ensure no child is left behind.
The young people who took part in our consultation are also involved in community-based organizations such as Chezacheza, which creates safe, healthy and inclusive spaces in Kibera and Mathare for young people to not only access learning resources, but also to learn through artistic expression, such as dance and movement.
Our grassroot consultations made a strong case that we cannot transform education without the meaningful engagement of young people. Governments must ensure that young people are invited to participate in national consultations and are included in their delegations to the Transforming Education Summit. Young people are agents of change, and at a time where there is so much at stake, we need to be part of the conversation that decides our future.
