Princess Basma highlights education's role in sustainable development

AMMAN – HRH Princess Basma on Saturday underlined that education remains a "decisive" factor in achieving sustainable development and reducing poverty and inequality.

At the opening of the Private Schools' Cultural and Education Council's 24th Educational Conference, the princess cited the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which tackles several aspects related to education.

"The agenda focuses on education as a means to equip learners with the needed knowledge and skills to improve sustainable development and human rights, and promote a culture of peace, non-violence, global citizenship and the appreciation of cultural diversity," said Princess Basma, who is honorary president of the council.

She added that the plan also reflects the enormity of challenges in the current era, which is witnessing major transformations, chief among them wars and unrest causing poverty, hunger, exclusion and social inequality.

Today, nearly 58 million children around the world do not go to school, while 100 million others do not complete their primary education, Princess Basma noted, citing figures from UNICEF, which also reveal that 250 million children have left school due to the poor quality of education.

In addition, around 782 million adults, mostly women, lack basic reading and writing skills, she said.

On the other hand, education remains a priority in Jordan despite the many challenges involved in improving its quality, the princess added.

Participants in the two-day conference, held under the theme "Smart Education", are discussing strategies for smart education and tools to evaluate students' progress, while also looking into ways to develop the education field in Jordan.

"Smart education is an integrated education system that paves the way for an interactive platform through which students are able to access educational resources. This can only become a reality through effective management that treats teachers as facilitators," educational expert Tariq Rasheed told The Jordan Times.

Smart education, he said, is linked to human, financial and environmental capital.

While agreeing that Jordan has a long way to go before implementing smart education due to the lack of adequate infrastructure, Rasheed noted that the "strategic cost of smart education is low, though the start of the process is costly".

Omar Tayeh, chairman of the council, noted that the theme of this year's forum is in line with the advanced technology and accelerated influx of information in today's world, which make it necessary to restructure the educational process in line with international developments.

At the end of the opening ceremony, Princess Basma honoured educators and supporters.

Established in 1989, the council aims at providing an annual platform for teachers and educators from around the region to exchange expertise on developments in the sector.