Beijing Declaration on Education was adopted in the 5th Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Education in Beijing, China in July 2017.
BRICS Ministers of Education during the the BRICS Summit had met to discuss education reforms, approaches to promoting equity in education and fostering quality education, strengthening BRICS collaboration in the field of education, and exchange of students and scholars and teaching faculty among BRICS Member States.
They also recalled the Brasilia Declaration 2015, Moscow Declaration 2015 and New Delhi Declaration 2016.
Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Prakash Javadekar represented India at the 5th BRICS education ministers meeting.
Mr. Prakash Javadekar appreciated the creation of institutional mechanism in the form of BRICS Network University and BRICS Think Tank Council. BRICS Network University, where 12 universities from each of the 5 countries will engage with each other in education research and innovation, is another commendable initiative. Five areas of cooperation are prioritised which are Communication and IT, Economics, Climate Change, Water Resources and Pollution, and BRICS study.
Before the meeting of Education Ministers, an international conference of Vice-Chancellors of the Universities participating in the BRICS Network University (BRICS-NU), meeting of International Governing Board (IGB) of BRICS-NU and meetings of International Thematic Group (ITGs) of BRICS-NU were held in Zhengzhou, China. During the meeting, the participating countries signed the Regulation for the IGB and the statutes for the ITGs, thus completing the structure of the BRICS-NU.
According to the Beijing declaration on education, members states – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – are committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4)-Education 2030 which aims to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all” that was set within The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Beijing Declaration on Education:
BRICS Ministers of Education, for ensuring coordinated and deeper cooperation among the Member States declared to;
1. Reiterate support for the BRICS Network University (NU) to collaborate in the fields of education, research and innovation. Encourage universities to participate in the BRICS University League.
2. Increase cultural cooperation through language education and multilingualism to promote mutual understanding of the history and culture of BRICS Member States.
3. Undertake initiatives to promote professionalization of academics in higher education through the BRICS Network University as a focus of future education development.
4. Encourage more teachers and educational administrators to learn from experience of other countries in improving teacher quality and performance, and promoting the development of education through international exchanges.
5. Strengthen cooperation in the field of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), share ideas and experiences in the development of vocational educators, and develop projects that are of common interests to BRICS Member States.
6. Recognize the importance of BRICS Think Tanks Council (BTTC), BRICS Network University as well as other BRICS initiatives, and encourage the streamlining of mechanisms for their closer cooperation to ensure the alignment of their work.
7. Emphasize the importance of streamlining the cooperation among educational think tanks and education researchers, and welcome China’s invitation to host a conference to explore possible cooperation among the various entities in BRICS Member States.
8. Encourage the organization of “youth winter/summer camps” to reinforce communication and cultural exchanges among the young generation from BRICS Member States.
9. Encourage Member States to expand the number of scholarship opportunities to students across BRICS Member States.
10. Share the experience and practices in achieving the SDG4-Education 2030 targets in order to foster a more favorable policy environment, adopt effective practices, and advocate for global educational policies that take into account the common concern and priorities of the BRICS Member States.
11. Encourage the participation in the 3rd BRICS NU Annual Conference to be held in 2018, in Cape Town, South Africa and in the BRICS Global Business and Innovation Conference to be held in September 2017, in St. Petersburg, Russia.