Esperança Costa opened the 12th meeting of CPLP Ministers of Education, taking place in Luanda, with a focus on "Multilateral Cooperation, a Safe Path towards Transformational Education in the CPLP".
According to the vice-president, education constitutes one of the pillars of the community and it lays the foundations for sustainable development, in the most varied domains, stressing that "the CPLP must, as a whole, continue to be engaged in issues relating to education, especially, an education capable of accompanying the mutations that operate in terms of technologies".
"I think it's crucial to start looking more and more at concerted positions and intensify cooperation, channeling it to specific segments of education, with an emphasis on financial education, education for climate action and education for technologies, with a strong focus on digital ones, in this era of artificial intelligence, the Internet of things and social networks", she said.
The vice-president called for the sharing of knowledge from other Member States, which are more advanced in this matter, "in the framework of closer cooperation".
"We are aware that until then, we have a long road to travel. But, we need to start this journey, respecting the peculiarity and potential of each of the Member States of our organization", she underlined.
"We need to introduce our children to mathematical calculation, languages and ICT [information and communication technologies], without forgetting, of course, the ethical component that must be underlying it, it being also accepted that education must be focused on humanization, must teach to cooperate and not always to compete", she added.
Angola assumed the rotating presidency of the CPLP on July 17, 2021, having elected "Reinforcement of Mobility among Member States" and special attention to the economic sector, as priority themes of its presidency, highlighted Esperança Costa.
In this sense, continued the vice-president, the Mobility Agreement was ratified, looking, among other issues, at the advantages it confers in the specific field of mobility of students, teachers, researchers and scientists, within the framework of academic exchange.
According to Esperança Costa, in the specific field of education, mobility should be seen as a critical axis to enhance and enrich experiences, facilitate mutual recognition and accreditation of studies, among other advantages.
"Thus, in the wake of increasing the quality of education, I am honored to witness, here, the official launch of the 'Rede de Escola Amiga da CPLP' initiative, a platform of educational establishments from Member States and third countries that share experiences educational activities based on the principles and values of our organization", she stressed.
Esperança Costa also underlined the need, within the framework of global partnerships and implementation of the action plan, to continue to establish greater rapprochement with international organizations specialized in education and international financial institutions, reinforcing multilateralism for inclusive development.
The meeting will serve for an evaluation of the Action Plan for multilateral cooperation in education in CPLP 2022-2024, the promotion of cooperation between the Portuguese-speaking community and other international organizations in times of emergency, with emphasis on UNESCO (United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture), through the Education in Emergency Situations project, among other matters.
