Study visit to UNESCO in Paris
Students and lecturers of the Master’s Program in ICE during the summer conducted a study visit to UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, in Paris. The study tour was much appreciated by all, below are some comments made by students.
IIEP - UNESCO
The visit to IIE, International Institute for Educational Planning, was useful for increasing our knowledge about how educational development is organised at an international level. Gaining first-hand knowledge of the criteria that are used for educational planning was very valuable. It was especially valuable to get detailed explanations of how Ministries of Education in various countries approach the broader global issues, and how they might deal with some of the challenges.
On the other hand, IIEP showed us how they use their extensive database in the IIEP Library. They also offered us to approach the library if we need any type of documentation, resources, reports, books, magazines, or articles through their outreach services. We found this particularly useful for our future research work on the program.
"I'm sure I'll be needing it!
UNESCO Headquarters, Education Sector
Our visit to UNESCO Headquarters Education Sector was very insightful. The program of speakers and presentations, some of which were more informative and others were more critical in scope, detailed the challenges of ‘education today’ and how UNESCO collaborates by prioritizing SDG- Goal 4 "Equity and Quality", the use of technology concerning e.g., the responses and uses of ChatGPT, among others.
Of particular interest was the presentation explaining how UNESCO works with the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report and how current themes are selected and how evidence-based data is collected. For example, it was interesting to hear that they have a special report for Latin America and the Caribbean regions. This attention is due to the existence of huge inequality issues affecting educational quality around the world.
The study tour ended with a nice social event around an end-of-year picnic by the Tour ‘Eiffel, outside the UNESCO HQ Fontenoy, where we got to say good bye to the students graduating from the program, and wish everyone happy holidays.
Links
UNESCO Headquarters Education Sector
Master's Programme in Education with International and Comparative specialisation
Last updated: October 3, 2023
Source: IPD