International Day of Education Date in the current year: January 24, 2024

From December 3 to 5, 2018, UNESCO hosted the Global Education Meeting in Brussels, Belgium to review progress towards the global education targets and commitments in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Symbolically, the adoption of the declaration proclaiming January 24 the International Day of Education coincided with the first day of the Meeting, emphasizing the importance of inclusive, equitable and quality education for all as one of the key factors in achieving other Sustainable Development Goals and building resilient societies.

Quality education is number four on the list of the Sustainable Development Goals. It implies ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. Although access to education is constantly expanding, more than 250 million children and youth all over the world are currently out of school; many of them live in sub-Saharan Africa or conflict-affected areas. Besides, access to education doesn’t necessarily equal its quality.

The main reasons for lack of quality education include lack of educational opportunities in remote and rural areas, poor conditions of schools, and lack of adequately trained and qualified teaching staff. Therefore, it is impossible to provide impoverished children with quality education without investing in school construction and equipment, advanced teacher training, and educational scholarships for rural children.

International Day of Education was created to raise public awareness that education is a universal human right and a public responsibility, as well as that ensuring equitable and inclusive education is one of the key factors in overcoming poverty and achieving gender equality all over the world. The United Nations and UNESCO call on governments and organizations to include equitable quality education among their top priorities and cooperate in achieving education-related Sustainable Development Goals on a global scale.

By the way, International Day of Education isn’t the only UN observance dedicated to education. Related international days include World Braille Day, International Day of Women and Girls in Science, International Mother Language Day, World Youth Skills Day, International Literacy Day, International Day of Sign Languages, and, of course, World Teachers’ Day.