HSE University Hosted a Meeting of the Education and Human Development Working Group under the BRICS Civil Forum
On May 14, HSE University in Moscow hosted a meeting of the Education and Human Development Working group. The participants discussed the distinctive features of their respective educational systems, specific challenges faced by their countries, and shared experiences on measures implemented to enhance the quality of education. The event was moderated by Evgeniy Terentev, Chair of the Working group and Director of the Institute of Education at HSE University. Experts from India, China, Brazil, South Africa, and Russia actively participated in the discussions.
The participants expressed their appreciation for the event and their eagerness to collaborate under the BRICS Civil Forum to develop proposals from the Russian side for the heads of the BRICS member states, stressing the significance of preparing a stance paper and engaging in thorough preparatory work. The experts developed a set of recommendations to be included in the final draft of the document. For example, it was proposed to include a statement on multisector collaboration at the national level between education, health, and social services, as well as local municipalities, to create an enabling environment where children and youth can learn and develop. Additionally, the participants emphasized the need to focus on socio-emotional learning and the alignment of socio-emotional competence with local values, beliefs, and practices.
The experts also highlighted the importance of partnerships between schools and the community, including parents, educators, and volunteers, to provide high-quality educational support to students. They further noted the necessity of ensuring gender balance in admissions to educational institutions by implementing more stringent policies to identify and eliminate real barriers affecting women's access to education.
One of the key aspects highlighted during the meeting was the necessity to involve civil society in shaping policy in research and education, given their advocacy for improving the quality of education and human development. To make this happen, experts proposed creating a counselling system in educational institutions to support the psychological health and emotional well-being of students. They also advocated for encouraging interdisciplinary research to foster the development of creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
During the meeting's last section, participants underlined the significance of employing an evidence-based approach when creating educational solutions and stressed the value of analysing the labour market as well as the linguistic and cultural characteristics of particular nations.
Follow-up discussions will continue at the national level both in face-to-face and online formats and will subsequently involve representatives from the BRICS states.