Committed to Educational Development, Says 6th BRICS Summit Declaration

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Education is one of the main pillars of development for many emerging economies. You cannot overlook the role education plays in strengthening national economy and advancing industries. So I think it was a welcoming move from the BRICS nations when they highlighted education at the 6th BRICS summit.

Let’s have a look at what the leaders decided at the summit....

Education for All

Recently leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa have “reaffirmed” their commitment to speed up progress to achieve their “Education for All” goals by 2015 at the 6^th BRICS Summit in Fortelza, Brazil.

The leaders of the BRICS nations agreed through the 6^thBRICS Summit-Fortaleza Declaration that it is imperative to attain their Millennium Development Goals, which are related to education, by the year 2015. These emerging nations also decided that the agenda for educational development after 2015 should be based on the present goals and build on them. I believe this will ensure quality, reasonable and comprehensive education and continuous learning for everyone.

At the conclusion of the BRICS Summit, the Fortaleza Declaration stated, “We recognize the strategic importance of education for sustainable development and inclusive economic growth. We are willing to strengthen intra-BRICS cooperation in the area and welcome the meeting of Ministers of Education held in Paris, in November 2013. We intend to continue cooperation with relevant international organizations. We encourage the initiative to establish the BRICS Network University.”

Collaborating for Development

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The Fortaleza Declaration also mentioned that in March 2014 the members agreed to work together through collaboration, operation, dialogue, capacity building and sharing experiences on matters related to population that mutually concern all the member countries.

The Declaration informed, “We recognize the vital importance of the demographic dividend that many of us possess to advance our sustainable development as well as the need to integrate population factors into national development plans, and to promote a long-term balanced population and development.”

All the participating leaders believe that challenges related to “demographic transition and post-transition” as well mortality reduction and population ageing are probably the most severe challenges that we are experiencing currently. The declaration added, “We confirm our strong commitment to address social issues in general and in particular gender inequality, women's rights and issues facing young people and we reaffirm our determination to ensure sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights for all.”

Encouraging Cultural Exchanges

Apart from developing education, the summit also recognised the need for promoting cultural exchanges, which would probably help in supporting education among the BRICS nations. The 6^th BRICS Summit-Fortaleza Declaration said that the leaders will encourage and push cooperation among all the BRICS member nations in the cultural area, particularly on ‘the multilateral basis.” This decision is important as the relation between sustainable development and culture is crucial for overall advancement. Moreover the role that cultural diplomacy plays as an advocate of understanding between individuals also led to the decision.

Realising the advantages of cultural exchanges and the importance of cooperation in improving camaraderie and mutual understanding, the declaration added, “We will actively promote greater awareness, understanding and appreciation of each other’s arts and culture. In this regard, we ask our relevant authorities responsible for culture to explore areas of practical cooperation, including to expedite negotiations on the draft agreement on cultural cooperation.”

The BRICS Group

BRICS is an association of 5 foremost developing national economies, which include Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. All the member countries are emerging or recently industrialised nations, notable for their prominent and rapidly advancing economies. All of the 5 BRICS countries are members of the G-20 and represent around 3 billion people, as of 2013. The member countries stand for 18 per cent of the global economy, as of 2014.

Do you think the BRICS nations will actually be able to achieve the “Education for All” goal by 2015? Let us know your opinions and feel free to post your comments....

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