The 2023 Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) conference will take place on February 14-22 in Washington, DC. This year, the conference theme is "Improving Education for a More Equitable World".

For too many children around the world, access to a quality education is still a dream, not a reality. The latest figures from UNESCO show 244 million children and youth out of school, and many more are in school but not acquiring the skills they need to thrive.

Access to a quality education is one of the eight priorities of GPE’s strategy and one of our principles is to focus our resources on securing learning, equity and inclusion for the most marginalized children and youth, including those affected by fragility and conflict.

This year, the GPE Secretariat has been invited to contribute to and participate in several sessions, such as panels on systems approaches in education, civil society in education and girls’ education.

GPE is also organizing two panels:

Climate-smart planning – Where are we and what more is needed to strengthen resilience of education systems?

This panel drills down on climate-smart planning as a critical part of addressing the impacts of climate change in and through education systems, including strengthening their resilience to climate change. A climate-smart planning approach, which mainstreams adaptation and mitigation efforts into education plans and strategies, budgets and data and monitoring systems, empowers education authorities, schools and communities to prevent, prepare for and mitigate climate hazards.

Leaving no one behind: Ensuring equitable finance for all children to learn

This panel will include three papers on equity in domestic and international financing; each of them will unfold the topic through a particular angle: a synthesis of available evidence with a cross-country comparative lens, a deeper dive into country experiences in education finance reforms, and an observation of financing education in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Presenters include representatives from the Ugandan Ministry of Education and Sports, the African Population and Health Research Center, and the GEM Report.

Other sessions with GPE participation

Adopting systems approaches in international and comparative education

This session will highlight theory and practice from representatives of a small but growing community who are not just using the word “system”, but who are turning to the core tenets, theories and tools of systems thinking to drive progress towards unlocking equitable and inclusive learning for all.

Raphaelle Martinez will participate.

Learning what our children have learnt during the pandemic

Ramya Vivekanandan chairs this panel that will spotlight assessment instruments and programs, methods and large-scale evidence on learning loss, allowing direct comparison of student learning outcomes before the pandemic to performance post-pandemic.

Reporting on SDG 4.1.1: A critical examination of the costs and benefits of emerging options

This panel examines the technical, political and financial costs of three different avenues for reporting valid, comparable data on learning outcomes. Ramya Vivekanandan is a discussant.

Global Education during the climate crisis: more opportunities and solutions from research, practice, and transnational collaboration

This double panel session explores challenges and opportunities of global education ecosystem in driving or mitigating solutions to the climate crisis. Evidence from international scientific, environmental, political and social reporting systems indicates that human-driven climate change continues to cause radical shifts in the natural and human environment.

Sarah Beardmore will present during this session.

The transformative finance agenda from the Transforming Education Summit

This panel will allow for greater analysis, discussion and reflection on the recent discussion paper and call to action that came out of the Transforming Education Summit in September 2022.

Raphaelle Martinez will participate.

Problematizing ‘Girls' Education' and what is needed to progress the debate

Panelists will discuss the overarching priorities and pathways that they and their organizations are taking towards improving educational opportunities for girls. They will also critically reflect on how and to what degree girls' education has been problematic at a discursive, conceptual and practical level. With greater consciousness surrounding girls' education, it is hoped that alignment amongst actors can be strengthened so that more meaningful, effective and substantive progress can be made.

Sally Gear, GPE lead on gender equality, will present.

Exploring civil society in education: Advocacy and accountability in global and national education policy through Education Out Loud

This roundtable will provide a public forum to share learning from Education Out Loud with both scholars and practitioners. It will address critical questions about what is known thus far about civil society involvement in education at the national and global level, including: education advocacy in challenging contexts of conflict and closing civic space; civil society contributions to improving learning outcomes, engagement, and dialogue between national governments and CSOs; and innovative tools and technologies for improving transparency in education policy and implementation.

Tanvir Muntasim will chair the session.

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