Embargo: 08:00 ET Tuesday 16th August
New York, 16th August 2022. The World’s Largest Lesson – an initiative led by Project Everyone and UNICEF – today launches a global gamified survey inviting children and young people to share their views on the current state of education and how it can be transformed to meet the needs of today’s schoolchildren.
Lack of resources, poor quality teaching and materials, outdated curricula, and more than two years of education disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have created the perfect storm for a global learning crisis. A predicted 70 per cent of children in low- and middle-income countries are unable to read and understand a simple text by age 10 – a marker for minimum literacy proficiency, up from 57 per cent pre-pandemic.
To address this, education systems must be reformed, and children and young people must be consulted in the development of education policy plans.
The World’s Largest Lesson survey created with the support of NetApp, a cloud-led, data-centric software company, will help provide governments with the data they need to do this.
In response to the global learning crisis, the United Nations is hosting the Transforming Education Summit in New York on 19th September 2022 and is asking governments to include children and young people on an on-going basis in their education policy plans.
Alongside the summit, World’s Largest Lesson and NetApp are inviting students to present their ideas for the transformation of education to a group of business, education, and policy leaders at Goals House on Monday 19thSeptember in New York. The ideas presented will then be shared with other children to encourage them to develop and share their own innovations for education.
The survey is one element of World’s Largest Lesson 2022 created to help children aged 10 and above become education activists for SDG4. There are many opportunities for children to get involved including by using data to spark their action on education to teaching their own ideal lessons at school on World Children’s Day on 20thNovember. The survey will run until January 2023, following which a full report of the findings will be published.
“Data has become a critical resource for driving digital transformation in our interconnected world,” said George Kurian, NetApp, Chief Executive Officer. “At NetApp, we believe in empowering the next generation with the data science skills to build the future. This year, through our Data Explorers program, we are proud to support the World’s Largest Lesson, a program of Project Everyone, working in partnership with UNICEF and with the support of UNESCO. Together with the World’s
Largest Lesson, we seek to prepare today’s young people to unlock the full potential of data and make a difference in tomorrow’s world.”
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Notes to Editors
For more information please contact:
Casey Stickles – Stickles PR
About World’s Largest Lesson
The World’s Largest Lesson is committed to introducing children and young people everywhere to the Global Goals, or SDGs. World’s Largest Lesson is delivered in partnership with UNICEF, with the support of UNESCO, along with many other NGOs, private sector organizations and foundations. Learn more here.
About NetApp and Data Explorers
NetApp is a global, cloud-led, data-centric software company that empowers organizations to lead with data in the age of accelerated digital transformation. The company provides systems, software and cloud services that enable them to run their applications optimally from data center to cloud, whether they are developing in the cloud, moving to the cloud, or creating their own cloudlike experiences on premises. With solutions that perform across diverse environments, NetApp helps organizations build their own data fabric and securely deliver the right data, services, and applications to the right people—anytime, anywhere. Learn more at www.netapp.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn,Facebook, and Instagram.
NetApp Data Explorers is a student learning journey filled with exploration, investigation, and problem solving with social issue data. Learn more about Data Explorers
NETAPP, the NETAPP logo, and the marks listed at www.netapp.com/TM are trademarks of NetApp, Inc. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
About the partnership
This year the World’s Largest Lesson is joining forces with NetApp to empower children to act for education (SDG 4) using the power of data.
About the survey
World’s Largest Lesson worked with Play Verto, experts in designing playful interactive data experiences, in the creation of the survey. The survey is available to play both online and offline and is for children aged 10 and above.
The survey is designed to be facilitated as a learning experience to children via their classroom teachers. It is available from today (12th August) and will close on 10th January when a full report will be made available and published on 24th January 2023.
The survey is currently available in English, French, Spanish, Urdu, Arabic, Hindi, Russian and Portuguese.
Playing this survey is an opportunity for children to share their views and opinions and it is completely anonymous. No personal information is stored, and children can skip questions or opt out entirely if they do not wish to participate.
About the Global Goals for Sustainable Development (SDGs)
The Sustainable Development Goals or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all”. The SDGs were set up in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and signed by all 193 member states. They are intended to be achieved by 2030. Learn more here.
About Global Goal 4: Quality Education
Sustainable Development Goal 4 is about quality education and is among the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in September 2015. The full title of SDG 4 is “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”.
