Ministry for Foreign Affairs to participate in the first ever Educa goes digital event
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is participating in the international programme and will be present among the virtual exhibitors at the Educa goes digital event on 29–30 January. At the event, on Friday, Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will take part in a panel discussion on the topic of the global learning crisis.
A panel discussion is organised by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Culture will address the learning crisis in developing countries, which has worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic.This year, owing to COVID-19, the annual educational fair Educa will be held completely virtually. The event is free for visitors, but registration on the Educa goes digital website is required to follow the programmes.
Friday’s programme will be in English and is also aimed at an international audience. The programme showcases the success factors of Finland’s school system and delves into the challenges of teaching during the pandemic and the future prospects of education. The programmes can be viewed as recordings on the event page even after the event.
Panel discussion seeks solutions to the global learning crisis
The panel discussion "Ensuring that learning never stops — reaching those furthest behind", organised by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Culture, is on the event agenda on Friday from 17.15 to 18.15.
The panel discussion will address the learning crisis in developing countries, which has worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. The discussion also asks what Finland can do to ensure that the most vulnerable children have access to school and receive a good education.
The discussion panellists will be Minister Ville Skinnari, Deputy Minister of Education and Human Development Manuel Bazo of Mozambique, CEO Alice Albright of the Global Partnership for Education, and Director of International Cooperation, Strategy and Programme Development Tomi Järvinen of Finn Church Aid. The discussion will be moderated by Professor of Practice Ritva Reinikka at Aalto University.
The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) represented by panellist Alice Albright is the world’s largest exclusively education-focused fund that supports access to school and quality education for children and youth in developing countries. The fund’s operations are based on strengthening partnerships between developing countries, donor partners, multilateral organisations, development banks and the private sector.
Finland returned to be a GPE funder at the end of last year with COVID-19 support, and will continue to work with the fund during the coming five-year period.
Opportunity to chat in the virtual department
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs will have its own virtual booth at the event. In practice, the booth is a website displaying the study materials offered by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The site features materials produced by Europe Information specifically for schools, such as the online games ‘EU-peli’ in basic form and ‘EU-peli 2.0’, as well as learning materials for global education. Visitors can chat online with representatives of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
At conventional trade fairs, visitors collect printed material such as books, maps and posters. This time, visitors can order products to be sent directly to schools, free of charge, through the Foreign Ministry’s publications services.
When chatting, visitors to the virtual fair can, for example, ask about the Foreign Ministry’s study materials and give feedback about materials and their distribution channels.
Hanna Päivärinta
The author is a communications officer at the Department for Communications of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.