The Secretary General of Uganda National Commission for UNESCO Ms. Rosie Agoi is among the key note speakers at the launch of the Integration of Global Citizenship Education (GCED) in to the Zambian academic curriculum which is expected to run from 8th – 10th August, 2018.
The concept of Global Citizenship Education seeks to promote a holistic approach to living where learners are equipped with knowledge, attitudes, skills and values to care for others and the environment and also encourage them to participate in civic action. It also fosters unity in diversity among communities living together.
Established as a UNESCO Category 2 Center in 2000, the Asia-Pacific Center for Education and International Understanding (APCEIU) has taken lead in promoting Education for International Understanding (EIU) and Global Citizenship Education in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Several countries have already benefited from this initiative and Uganda is the only country in the continent to have reached this level and has thus far excelled in its integration and implementation. Pilot tests have been carried out in Kiryandongo district in several schools located in the refugee settlements and positive results have yielded out from it. Among the countries that have already integrated the GECD Concept into their Educational Curriculum are Uganda, Mongolia, Cambodia and Columbia.
This initiative by APCIEU is expected to benefit young boys and girls in pre-primary, primary and secondary levels of education in Zambia and equip them with necessary skills needed to strive in the world which is increasingly becoming a global village. The intervention is also in line with the Nation’s new strategy to revise its education curriculum to meet its needs.
The on-site workshop is therefore intended to build the capacity of Teacher educators who will play very key role in the integration and rolling out of the concept of GECD to all institutions in the country.
Global Citizenship Education seeks to counter the various global issues such as poverty, human rights, migration, peace, conflict, biodiversity,cultural diversity, climate change embedded in it by providing a paradigm shiftin the education discourse. It emphasizes non-cognitive aspect of learning like empathy, sympathy, care, tolerance, mutual understanding, and communication skills and enhances attention to “learning-to-be” and “learning-to-live-together.”
Objectives of theworkshop
The objective of the workshop was to identify key concepts of the GCED and Peace Education in African context. It was intended to explore ways of integrating GCED into primary and secondary curriculum and identifying and analyzing different conflicts and how to resolve them and Develop GCED learning materials.
The 2-day workshop was organized by Asia-Pacific Center for Education and International Understanding (APCEIU) and the Ministry of General Education in Zambia. Among the topics discussed were understanding GCED in the African context, Peace Education, understanding conflict and conflict resolution among others.