On 1 June 2016, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova and the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education of the Republic of Korea, Mr Lee Joon-sik signed a Letter of Intent for a second phase of the Better Education for Africa’s Rise (BEAR) project.
Building on the achievements of the first phase, the project will continue to support the development of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Africa, with a focus on eastern Africa. Through targeted capacity building initiatives, it aims to address issues of youth unemployment by improving the quality and perception of TVET programmes, and better matching them with the needs of economies and societies of beneficiary countries. The Republic of Korea will endeavor to commit USD 10 million over five years to the project, which will begin with the formal conclusion of the first phase in October 2016.
“I launched the BEAR project in Malawi and personally witnessed its impact on youth, on the development of skills and competences adapted to national needs. I am grateful to the Republic of Korea for expanding this important and successful project to more African countries,” said the Director-General. “This marks a direct contribution to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which bears the imprint of the historic World Education Forum in Incheon in May 2015.”
During the exchange with the Deputy Prime Minister, she drew attention to the reinforced cooperation that followed the visit of President Park Geun-hye to UNESCO Headquarters in December 2015, and expressed appreciation to the Republic of Korea for its support to girls’ and women’s education, global citizenship education and the learning needs of Syrian youth in Jordan and Lebanon.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Mr Lee Joon-sik affirmed that “the Republic of Korea overcame poverty and developed its economy through education,” recalling UNESCO’s support to the country’s recovery after the war through the provision of textbooks. “This is an example for other countries that we want to share. Through collaboration with UNESCO, the BEAR project has enabled the development of curriculum and textbooks in five African countries and we are determined to make this second phase even more fruitful.”
He noted that the Republic of Korea was proud to be a member of the Education 2030 Steering Committee and underscored the impact of the World Education Forum at national level, reflected in the sharp increase of schools that have joined UNESCO’s Associated Schools Project Network. He also highlighted the importance of global citizenship education in the prevention of violent extremism, and the role of the Asia-Pacific Centre on Education for International Understanding, under the auspices of UNESCO.
Over the past 5 years (2011-2016), the BEAR 1 project supported five countries of the South African Development Community (Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Namibia and Zambia) in developing their TVET sector. It has worked to update curricula, better train teachers, boost infrastructure and engage employers and companies in making TVET more focused on specific growth sectors, chosen for their potential to create jobs. The project is a direct response to the focus given to TVET in the context of the 2030 Education Agenda.
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