WILLEMSTAD - On the occasion of International Day of Education, which was celebrated for the third time this year, the Minister of Education Science, Culture and Sports Steven Croes emphasized on Monday the importance of teaching children at a young age the importance of having good values such as discipline, love, respect for each other, working together, and participating in the community among other.
This third International Education Day occurs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that led to a global learning disruption of unprecedented scale and severity. This year’s UNESCO theme focused on ‘Recover and Revitalize Education for the COVID-19 Generation’.
In view of the abovementioned Minister Croes celebrated this day at the Emmy Berthold School for Foundation Based Education. Students from this school and the High School Kolegio Alejandro Paula (KAP) produced a video indicating how they dealt with the pandemic as the COVID-19 generation.
On this day also the activities towards the 10 years that Curaçao will celebrate being an associate member of UNESCO was launched. This is a celebration with the goal to involve the youth in the various activities towards their self-development Minister Croes said. The Assistant Director for Priority Africa and National Commissions Firmin Matoko also sent a video message congratulating Curaçao and the Curaçao National Commission for UNESCO for this initiative of celebrating this day and also the launch of activities for this year.
The Director General of UNESCO Audrey Azouley in her message said “At the peak of the pandemic, schools were actually closed for 91% of learners, or 1.5 billion pupils and students. It then became apparent to everyone that education was a global public good and school was more than just a place of learning: it was also a place that provided protection, well-being, food and freedom. For many, a non-school education has had to be organized through radio, television, correspondence and online.” Further Azoulay went on to say in her message that ‘reopening schools, and keeping them open, should therefore be the priority. But it must be done while fully protecting the health of teachers, pupils and their families.”
International Day of Education is usually celebrated on January 24th but due to the fact that the 24th was on a Sunday, the celebrations this year covered 2 days worldwide with lots of activities.