Education systems around the world have been disrupted by the Covid-19 Pandemic. An estimated 1.5 billion pupils are unable to go to school. While some have been able to adapt to continue their education from home, learning for many has been put on hold. Many educational publishers have come up with innovative online solutions but pupils, teachers and parents in some countries and regions need more. We must work together to stop this health crisis and the undoubted economic crisis from becoming an educational crisis as well.
International governmental and non-governmental organizations, media, private companies, civil society and non-profit organizations, networks and associations quickly mobilized to support the coalition. The diverse list of coalition members will bring together expertise to build the missing links for education to continue remotely. Publishers will be key to strengthening and enriching the content that will be brought to pupils learning away from school. Read more about the coalition here.
Hugo Setzer, IPA President, stated in a public video to endorse the coalition, at IPA “we are ready to play our part, together with UNESCO and other coalition members, to help ensure learning and education for all young people in these challenging times.”
Wilmar Diepgrond, Chair of IPA’s Educational Publishing Forum (EPF), commented on the coalition: “Education is a fundamental right that we cannot leave paralyzed during these months of uncertainty. This coalition will allow pupils to continue learning despite being quarantined at home. However, alternative formats will not be enough if we cannot maintain the quality of education. Publishers have a vital role within this coalition to keep the level and standards of education as high as possible.
“There is no one formula for quality education because each learning community will need different books, learning solutions, tools and materials to overcome the particular challenges that they will be facing. Now more than ever, educators need choice and local solutions, and educational publishers are ideally placed to collaborate and help provide this.”