Qatar- WISE laureate calls for more social investment in education
Date
5/16/2016 9:50:07 PM
(MENAFN- The Peninsula) WISE Prize for Education Laureate Dr Sakena Yacoobi (second left) with Unesco Director-General Dr Irina Bokova and other officials at Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Doha: WISE Prize for Education Laureate Dr Sakena Yacoobi recently delivered a keynote address at a Harvard Graduate School of Education event which considered ‘Education in Vulnerable Regions’.
Dr Yacoobi called for more social investment in education as the only path to peace, prosperity and moderation in troubled regions.
The Ask with Forum, a series of public lectures, formed part of Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Harvard Advanced Learning Initiative, ‘Deep Dive’.
It facilitates international discussion of education and gender equality issues, serves as a platform for cross cultural understanding, and reflects aspirations of World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), an initiative of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF).
Dr Yacoobi, a US citizen and Founder of Afghan Institute of Learning, was presented with the prize at WISE Summit last November.
For over 20 years she has worked to bring education and healthcare services to the most vulnerable under extreme conditions of war, displacement and oppression during Taliban rule in her native country.
Dr Yacoobi spoke about her work in Afghanistan, including establishing a hospital and a high school, and the institute, which is under her leadership, and plans for the creation of a university for women in Afghanistan.
Dr Irina Bokova, Director-General, Unesco, spoke about international development efforts and stressed the need for societies to hold governments responsible for ensuring that children receive a secondary education.
She said middle income countries have the greatest gender inequalities regarding access to education and that these countries can well afford greater investments.
A panel discussion included speakers and included members of the Harvard Advanced Learning Initiative faculty.
They highlighted the need to close gender inequalities and ways to scale innovative solutions in various contexts around the world.
The Peninsula