The 8th Annual Meeting of UNESCO Category 2 Centres/Institutes in Education convened on Sunday, November 10, 2024, in Shanghai, China. Organized by the Teacher Education Centre (TEC) under the auspices of UNESCO, the meeting took place at Shanghai Normal University in the Xuhui District. The objectives of the meeting included sharing updates on key activities and programmes, presenting future action plans, and exploring potential avenues for collaboration among the Category 2 Centres and Institutes.
Representatives from seven UNESCO Category 2 Centres in Education and UNESCO Headquarters attended, totaling sixteen participants. The Seychelles Institute of Early Childhood Development, Category 2 Institute under the auspices of UNESCO, was represented by its Chief Executive Officer, Mrs. Shirley Choppy and the Director of International Cooperation and Exchange, Mrs. Beryl Nagapin. The other Centres/Institutes included:
- Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU, South Korea)
- International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education (INRULED, Beijing, China)
- International Centre for Higher Education Innovation (ICHEI, Shenzhen, China)
- Regional Centre for Quality Education (RCQE, Saudi Arabia)
- Teacher Education Centre (TEC, Shanghai, China)
- Regional Centre for Educational Planning (RCEP, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates)
The meeting was officially launched by Ms. Ge Siying, Deputy Secretary-General of the UNESCO National Commission of China. She emphasized the critical role of the annual meeting as a platform for sharing achievements and experiences, facilitating collaboration to collectively achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in Education, particularly SDG 4 and its target 4.2.
Mr. Carlos Vargas, Chief of Section and Head of the Secretariat of the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030, congratulated the Directors/CEOs and staff of the Category 2 Centres for their relentless efforts to improve the quality of education and early childhood education. He shared insights from the recent Global Education Meeting in Brazil, which addressed issues of inequality and financing in education, highlighting the need for countries to enhance public expenditure in this sector.
Each Centre presented updates on key achievements and future plans, building on discussions from the 7th Annual Meeting held in Paris in 2023. Notably, the CEO of IECD, shared the Seychelles’ Institute’s strategic priorities and future actions, which include programmes for 0-3 age groups and quality assurance, knowledge production, capacity building, advocacy, and monitoring and impact evaluation. Key achievements over the past year included:
– 420 prospective childminders completed training for formal registration with IECD by November 2024.
– Nearly all registered childminders comply with national standards for home-based child care service, with 30% achieving full compliance and recognition for exemplary service, highlighting the efficacy of the national standards and strong multi-sectoral coordination and collaboration led by IECD.
– 89% of children assessed in 2023 reached readiness for preschool education, the highest recorded level in Seychelles, demonstrating the effectiveness of the legal and regulatory frameworks for home-based child care services.
– 72% completion of key milestones in the National Action Plan for Early Childhood Care and Education, aimed at improving service quality for young children and their families.
– Launching of the first digital platform for the Government’s Financial Assistance Programme for Child Care Services in June 2024. The ‘Child Care Benefits Information System Seychelles’ (CBISS) is in line with the Government’s Digital Economy Agenda (2021). By implementing such a system helps to streamline and manage the processing and payment of the child care benefits. The Government of Seychelles, through IECD, is committed to enhance support for families and service providers, promote child welfare, and ensure that benefits reach those who need them most effectively.
– Hosting the First Regional Workshop in June 2024 on the Tashkent Declaration and Commitments to Action for transforming ECCE for Eastern and Southern African countries, attended by 33 participants from 16 countries, with support from UNESCO. This event was a major success for Seychelles as a global leader in ECCE.
– Adoption of a new joint ‘Framework for Action’ by the Workshop’s participants to advance ECCE on the African Continent, with requests for technical assistance from Djibouti, Comoros, and Madagascar, supported by the UNESCO Secretariat.
– Participation in a conference in Kenya by the Collaborative for Action Association on Child Care in September 2024, with plans for IECD to provide them with technical assistance and support in 2025, in developing a National Framework on ECCE for Nairobi County.
– A national campaign commemorating IECD’s first anniversary as a UNESCO Category 2 Institute aims to raise awareness of its significant international mandate and achievements, helping the population understand and appreciate what a Category 2 center means for Seychelles while galvanizing support for its effective implementation as the newest Category 2 Institute in the world.
IECD was congratulated for the national and regional milestone achievements recorded for 2023 and 2024 in ECCE, especially as the newest UNESCO’s Category 2 Institute. During a follow-up session, Mrs. Choppy, together with her counterparts, discussed joint initiatives and potential cooperation related to teacher development and education. Proposals included establishing a framework for future collaboration and developing a comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalize cooperation among all Category 2 Centres in Education. This initiative aims to accelerate progress towards achieving SDG 4 by 2030, transforming teacher education and improving learning outcomes for all children globally.
In closing, Professor Zhang Minxuan, Director of the Teacher Education Centre, stated that TEC would serve as the liaison for implementing the proposals, leading efforts in capacity building, knowledge sharing, and technical assistance in teacher education. He extended a request to IECD to collaborate and work closely with TECD in the area of capacity building in the area of early childhood care and education. underscored the need for support and collaboration among the Category 2 Centres/Institutes to enhance teacher education worldwide.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Mrs. Choppy discussed future collaboration with the Directors of APCEIU and RCQE. IECD already has an active MoU with APCEIU and intends to explore similar collaboration with RCQE for quality education in ECCE. Both Centres expressed their readiness to support IECD’s initiatives in 2025.
The IECD delegation also attended the 4th Global Forum on Teacher Professional Development and the launch event for the Chinese version of the Global Report on Teachers on November 11, 2024. This report, a collaboration between UNESCO and the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030, seeks to mobilize global and national efforts to empower, recruit, train, and support teachers, addressing the significant teacher shortage worldwide and achieving SDG 4 for inclusive and equitable quality education.
