Turning points in education
International Education Funders Group
Topic: Education
By: Rafael Arias , Education and Employment Manager at the Corona Foundation
The International Education Funders Group held its annual convention from April 23-25, 2024, at the University of Los Andes in Bogotá. During this meeting, we had the opportunity to speak with nearly 80 representatives from organizations around the world that fund and support social initiatives and projects related to education.
The event featured the participation of prominent international foundations and organizations, including the Jacobs Foundation, Templeton World Charity Foundation, Oak Foundation, Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research, and Girl Rising, among others. At the national level, several Colombian organizations with significant ties to the education sector also participated, such as Fundación Empresarios por la Educación, Fundación Luker, Alianza Educativa, Enseña por Colombia, Lumni, AeioTU, and Escuela Nueva.
This space was fundamental for Fundación Corona because it allowed us to explore and connect with diverse experiences, approaches and innovations in educational philanthropy on different continents.
The event began with a meditation that allowed us to understand educational trajectories and transitions through the image of a river. This was followed by multiple sessions, including a plenary session dedicated to education in emergency contexts, which highlighted the increasing severity of conflict and vulnerability situations that challenge conventional educational paradigms.
However, the panel that most captured our attention was the one that explored the transitions between education and employment, where we participated as panelists and deep reflections arose on shared challenges at a global level.
Our three main takeaways from this convention were:
i) The concept of “educational trajectory” only makes sense if we consider “transitions,” since these are the bottlenecks, turning points, and most critical challenges for educational systems. In turn, transitions can be of different types: developmental (according to life cycles), organizational (according to educational structures), and situational (according to the external context).
ii) Whenever we discuss the Inclusive Employment Model, we inevitably arrive at a matrix of stages and components. The panel I participated in required me to represent the transitions in the educational and employment trajectory as a spiral because we are constantly moving back and forth between training and career advancement. However, this part of the trajectory has a component that is not repeated and lays the foundation for the educational-employment spiral: secondary education, specifically grades 10 and 11.
iii) You don't need to overload the agenda to have a great event. This IEFG convention stood out precisely because it dedicated sufficient time to well-prioritized topics and fostered meaningful interactions that allowed for deeper discussions.