“Education is the basis of what leads to personal growth and national development.”

President Park Geun-hye was speaking at the opening ceremony of the World Education Forum 2015 held at the Songdo Convensia convention center in Incheon on May 19, as she stressed the importance of education in life.

President Park explained in her speech how education helped Korea grow into what it is today and, also, how the quality of education can be improved with the help of information and communications technology (ICT).

“Despite not having decent resources or capital amidst the ashes of war, people valued education and invested in it as best they could, fostering talented individuals over the past many years,” the president said. “As a result, the nation has reached a point in such a short period of time where it has become common for most people to complete their elementary, secondary and even tertiary education, which certainly led to a decrease in the illiteracy rate. This achievement helped the nation develop,” she added.



Expressing her gratitude to the international community for having helped Korea after the war grow in the field of education, the president continued to say that, “We have never forgotten the support and now is the time for us to return the favor.”

“As part of these efforts, we’ve actively engaged in multinational cooperation, such as joining the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and the U.N. Global Education First Initiative (GEFI) last year.”

She went on to say that, “Korea has also been involved in joining global efforts led by the Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU), under the auspices of UNESCO, to spread education and international understanding and to foster global citizenship worldwide. We will, furthermore, strive to keep supporting the organization as a core channel for global citizenship education.”



“Korea has the goal of improving the quality of education itself and of narrowing the educational gap with the use of ICT. We maintain cooperative relationships with many countries around the world based on our ICT experience in the education sector. Starting this year, we will launch a joint project with UNESCO to help African countries achieve an educational revolution utilizing ICT," the president said.



Following the president’s remarks, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon rose to the podium, saying that, “Behind Korea's transition from being one of the poorest countries in the world to being a member of the OECD is education.”

“Born in the middle of the war, I grew up constantly being told to study hard. It’s true to say that education has made me what I am now,” he added. “Education should not be a thing of privilege, but an absolute human right. This forum will open a new path for education, as the U.N., too, is in the process of adopting sustainable educational development as an agenda item for the upcoming General Assembly in September.”





The World Education Forum, running until May 22, features a total of four general meetings, discussions on six subjects and 20 sectional conferences. Participants in the forum will evaluate the joint efforts being made by the global community on the, “Education for All,” project spearheaded by UNESCO, an effort to provide high-quality education to people everywhere. They will also set a new education goal spanning 2030 and discuss ways to carry out their objective effectively.

By Jeon Han, Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writers
Photos: Jeon Han
hanjeon@korea.kr