BRICS Meeting: Education Systems Must Focus On Resilience, Innovation, and Cooperation: Pralhad Joshi

Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi, while addressing the 13th BRICS Education Ministers’ meeting in Bhubaneswar on Friday, said education systems must focus on resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability to prepare young people for a rapidly changing world.

“Last month, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I was entrusted with the responsibility of leading India’s education sector. I consider this a responsibility of immense significance, especially given the scale and diversity of India’s education ecosystem. I consider this, therefore, a special privilege that one of my early opportunities to engage with my international counterparts is here among the colleagues from the BRICS family,” said Joshi.

“The 13th BRICS Education Ministers Meeting also assumes particular significance as India holds the BRICS chairmanship this year. I take this opportunity to express India’s appreciation for the support and constructive engagement of all member countries in advancing our shared priorities,” he added.

Joshi said India’s BRICS chairmanship this year is guided by the theme “Building Resilience and Innovation for Cooperation and Sustainability”, which he said had particular relevance for education.
Joshi said education systems must be able to deal with disruptions caused by pandemics, economic uncertainties, climate challenges and rapid technological changes, while continuing to evolve with the aspirations of each new generation.

He also emphasised the importance of keeping people at the centre of education, saying technology and economies may change, but the focus must remain on students, teachers, researchers and young people.

“This spirit of humanity first is particularly relevant to education. Technology will change, economies will transform, new professions will emerge, and old ones evolve. But at the centre of every education system must remain the human being: the child seeking an opportunity to learn, the teacher shaping the young minds, the researcher pursuing new knowledge, and the young person aspiring for a better future. That, I believe, should also be the guiding principles of our deliberations today,” said the Minister.

As a prelude to the Ministers’ meeting, the Ministry of Education hosted the 3rd BRICS Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) under India’s BRICS chairmanship on Wednesday. The meeting brought senior officials and delegates from BRICS member countries, including Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa, Indonesia, Iran, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates, to advance cooperation under the BRICS Education Track.

The discussions focused on strengthening cooperation across key priority areas identified under the BRICS Education Track, including ECCE, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), collaborative research and innovation, mutual recognition of qualifications, academic leadership, and the BRICS’ Guiding Principles on Traditional and Indigenous Knowledge Systems. The meeting concluded with the finalization of the proposed outcomes of the BRICS Education Ministers Declaration.