
Today, January 24, is observed as the International Day of Education to honour education's role in promoting peace and development. The United Nations General Assembly on December 3, 2018, proclaimed January 24 as the International Day of Education to raise awareness regarding education's accessibility and significance for everyone.
The theme of the International Day of Education 2025 is "AI and education: Preserving human agency in a world of automation."
The official UN statement read, “As computer and AI-driven systems become more sophisticated, the boundaries between human intention and machine-driven action often blur, raising critical questions about how to preserve, redefine, and, ideally, elevate human agency in an age of technological acceleration."
By dedicating the day to artificial intelligence, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation) aims for a “global discussion on the place of this technology within education." Additionally, the organisation has scheduled conferences in Paris and New York and a webinar.
The right to education is part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which calls for free and compulsory elementary education. Further, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989, stipulates that countries should make higher education accessible to all, according to a report by the Hindustan Times.
When the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015, education was recognised as an essential part of the success of the 17 goals. In particular, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” by 2030.
UN Data
According to UN data, various challenges in meeting these goals have kept around 244 million children and adolescents out of school worldwide. Nearly 617 million children and adolescents cannot read or do basic Math; less than 40 percent of girls in sub-Saharan Africa complete lower secondary school, and some four million children and youth refugees are out of school.
“Without inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all, countries will not succeed in achieving gender equality and breaking the cycle of poverty that is leaving millions of children, youth and adults behind,” it said.
Therefore, the significance of this day goes beyond celebrations. It plays an important role in raising everyone's awareness of the accessibility of education, stated the report by Hindustan Times.