PASIG CITY -- The Department of Education (DepEd), through the International Cooperation Office (ICO), announced the conduct of the ICO-KPTEP 4th learning series to strengthen the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Global Citizenship Education (GCED).

“Advancing Global Citizenship Education must be a priority for the education sector. In our current situation, where we continue to battle the biggest challenge, we need to be involved more than ever. Our learners should be ready to be citizens of the world,” Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said.

The learning series aims to provide a platform to raise awareness for the SDGs and a call to action for a caring, participative, relevant, and responsive online learning and development opportunities for teachers.

The series also looks to exchange innovative and promising approaches on how to fully harness the potential of the four pillars of learning to support SDGs and Global Citizenship and use ICT as a platform for online collaboration and learning.

Each session will be facilitated by representatives from the division and by the KPTEP alumni. In addition, the learning series will also tackle various topics such as GCED, transformative education, inclusive education, and sustainable development for youth.

“A global citizen is a member of the entirety of the human race and is prepared to act on what they believe in. A global citizen knows that they are a citizen of the world not only their countries, they know to engage, converse, and take part in solving the world's greatest challenges,” ICO Director Margarita Consolacion Ballesteros shared.

Session one of the series tackled “Engaging Teachers in Global Citizenship Education Through Transformative Education” and was hosted by the Schools Division Office of Navotas. Other session topics include Global Citizenship Education: Transforming the World, One School at a Time, GCED: A Holistic Approach for Building a Culture of Peace and Education, Inclusive, Accessible, and Sustainable School for Learners with Disabilities, Education and Climate Action, and more. The whole lecture series will run until November 24, 2022.

Meanwhile, the season launch of the ICO-KPTEP learning series coincides with the 10th anniversary of the Asia-Pacific Teacher Exchange for Global Education (APTE).

APTE is a bilateral teacher exchange programme between the Republic of Korea and its Asia Pacific partner and implemented by the Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (UNESCO APCEIU) and in collaboration with the Ministries of Education of the partner countries. (DepEd)