Roundup: E-9 education conference begins in Bangladesh to discuss policies to achieve UN goal

A high-level conference of E-9, a forum of nine high-population countries, began here Sunday to discuss policies necessary for the member states to achieve the United Nations' education-related "Sustainable Development Goal-4."

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the meeting of E-9 countries which represent more than 60 percent of the world's population, over two-thirds of the world's illiterate adults and over half of the world's out-of-school children.

On the first day of the three-day conference, Bangladeshi Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid assumed E-9 chairmanship from Pakistan.

All E-9 forum members, namely, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan, took part in the 11th biennial E-9 ministerial meeting on education.

In her inaugural speech, Hasina said the world have currently been facing threats from terrorism, violent extremism and armed conflicts.

Under such circumstances, she said, education is one of the key means through which many of such problems can be resolved.

"We're reforming our curricula and learning materials with peace-building in mind," she said.

She also stressed the need for attracting talent to teaching to boost quality of education.

At a press conference, Bangladeshi Education Minister Nahid said Dhaka Declaration will be adopted by the member countries after the end of the conference to speed up the implementation of the SDG-4 in the E-9 countries.

The E-9 initiative is a forum for these nine high-population countries to discuss their experiences in education, exchange best practices and monitor progress on achieving Education for All (EFA).

Since its launch in 1993, the E-9 network has become a powerful lobby for EFA and South-South cooperation. Endit