EDT sponsors Education World Forum (EWF) 2024

EWF provides a platform for a global conversation about education and skills. It is an excellent opportunity for ministers, policymakers and delivery partners from around the world to collaborate and gain a deeper understanding of the  concerns and aspirations for education globally. We discussed the impact and key learnings from our programmes, our plans for further research and evidence building, and how we can best apply our knowledge and expertise to improving lives through education in the years ahead. 

About 1,220 people, including 146 ministers, attended EWF this year. We engaged with delegates from more than 20 countries, many at ministerial level, and major programme funders such as FCDO, UNICEF, World Bank, the British Council, and GPE (Global Partnership for Education). We discussed our work on system strengthening, teacher professional development, inspections and accountability, girls’ education, leadership for learning, and careers and skills development. We also had in-depth conversations about growing areas of concern in the global education sector, such as climate change and sustainability, the challenges and opportunities presented by technology, and teaching in refugee and crisis-affected settings. 

The themes for EWF 2024 were: encouraging AI understanding, building human relationships and resilience, and accelerating climate action. The event also focused on policy development for and the implementation of last year’s theme, which was ‘stronger, bolder, better’ education. We attended plenary sessions on all these topics between Monday and Wednesday, presented by about 40 experts and delivered to a truly global audience. Speakers included Madalitso Wirima (Minister of Education, Malawi), Dr Amel Karboul (Education Outcomes Fund, UNICEF), and UNESCO’s Borhene Chakroun (Director, Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems, Education Sector).After Monday’s sessions, we welcomed delegates to an Official Government Reception, where EDT’s Dan Sandhu (CEO), Ilse Howling (Chair of Trustees), Tony McAleavy (Education Director), Richard King (Regional Director, Sub-Saharan Africa) and Shravan Sawant (Principal Development Consultant) met the Rt Hon Gillian Keegan MP (Secretary of State for Education), Yousef bin Abdullah al-Benyan (Minister of Education, Saudi Arabia), and many other ministers and government officials from around the world. 

Later Monday evening, we held a private dinner event for more than 50 delegates, representing a range of international development organisations and 11 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Aisa. We heard from the Rt Hon Nick Gibb MP, former Minister of State for Education, who spoke about foundational learning and his work on phonics in England. Other speakers included Conrad Sackey (Minister of Basic and Secondary Education, Sierra Leone) and Alicia Herbert (Director of Education, Gender and Quality Directorate at FCDO). 

Following the conference itself, we were also delighted to participate in further engagements with the sectors. Dan Sandhu was keynote speaker at Redefining Learning: Exploring AI and Innovation's Role in Education and Training, hosted by the British Council for International Understanding (BCIU), and Tony McAleavy spoke alongside Dr Clare Buntic, our Lead Advisor for Education, at the British Expertise International’s reception to launch their 'Systems Strengthening' report, for which Clare authored our contributions and was a part of the steering group. We also attended the British Council's Policy Dialogue on Climate Education and several other side events around the venue. 

We were delighted to be part of EWF again this year. We look forward to continuing our work of transforming lives through education and building new partnerships and collaborations in the future.