The EdHeroes Movement is launched. Its aim: to address the most pressing challenges in education

ZURICH, Sept. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Early September saw the launch of the EdHeroes Movement. Its aim is to create a global network of individuals, non-profit organizations, businesses, and government organizations, bringing together their diverse set of resources in order to explore and actualize fundamentally new solutions to the challenges education is facing worldwide. The movement champions new approaches to problems in education with emphasis on two concepts: putting family interests at the forefront of education—offering them, protection, support, and a solid foundation in their journey to success and well-being, and creating a community that unites people in the joint endeavor of improving both access to education and its quality.

We can confirm that the EdHeroes Movement Advisory Board will contain Safeena Husain, Educate Girls (India), Wendy Kopp, Teach For All (USA), Mercedes Mayol Lassalle, OMEP (Argentina), Conrad Wolfram, Wolfram Research (UK), Osama Obeidat, Queen Rania Teacher Academy (Jordan), Steven Duggan, UNESCO IITE and Terawe (Ireland), Harry Patrinos, World Bank Education (USA), and other leading figures in education.

The EdHeroes Movement will connect individuals and organizations in a dynamic network and bring together their resources to address the most pressing challenges education faces in various regions. The members of the movement will share a common approach to solving problems in education, but will have the freedom to take the action required for a particular situation in a particular region. For example, they can establish a local EdHeroes Forum in order to get their agenda into the public domain and direct specialist knowledge and resources towards the solution of the key issues in their region. It is planned that the first local EdHeroes Forum will take place on October 16 in Indonesia.

The first EdHeroes Movement principle is that "education should have family interests at heart," with the family's main "interest" being "raising a competent individual, a citizen who can create, love, and make positive choices."

The ambition to direct the focus of education towards family needs is motivated by the fact that the pandemic increased the burden on home life. Research by BCG offers a clear example of this: during the pandemic in the US, UK, France, Germany, and Italy, parents nearly doubled the time spent on education and household tasks—from 30 to 57 hours per week. Wendy Kopp, CEO and Co-founder of Teach For All, is confident that "family should be put at the center of education." The pandemic helped this idea gain ground: "The pandemic has strengthened the bond between home and school, between teacher and parent by giving us an insight into what our children's education evolves on a day to day basis, and by truly sharing responsibility for the child's growth," says Steven Duggan, member of the Governing Board of the UNESCO IITE, and Vice President of Terawe Corporation.

The EdHeroes Movement's second principle is creating a community around educational organizations. The community is a flexible, resilient structure and its main assets are connectedness and trust, which is what allowed educational communities to quickly recalibrate and implement new methods during the pandemic and address the problems its members faced as a result of self-isolation.

The movement's third principle centers on bringing together diverse material and specialist resources. The EdHeroes Movement proposes collaboration with non-profit organizations, businesses, government agencies, private philanthropists, and anyone who is prepared to invest their time and resources in educational development. Due to the low entry threshold, it is possible to bring together previously untapped resources to explore new approaches to SDG 4. 

Harry Patrinos, Practice Manager, World Bank Education: "Now, more than ever, educational progress relies on multiple actors working together. The philanthropic can contribute to the creation of networks that will support educational progress worldwide. I support the EdHeroes Movement because I believe that multiple solutions from multiple actors are needed and I see a real role for the philanthropic sector."

To take part in the movement, sign the manifesto on the website.

For more information, please send an email to: pr@edheroes.foundation

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