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International Day of Education 2025: Date, history, significance, theme
International Day of Education is celebrated on January 24. This year's theme is “AI and education: Preserving human agency in a world of automation”.
The International Day of Education is observed on January 24 to celebrate the role of education in promoting peace and development.
International Education Day 2025: History and Significance
On December 3, 2018, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed January 24 as the International Day of Education to raise awareness of education's accessibility and significance for everyone.
The right to education is a part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which calls for free and compulsory elementary education. Further, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989, stipulates that countries should make higher education accessible to all.
When the United Nations adopted the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015, education was recognised as an essential part for the success of the 17 goals.
In particular, Sustainable Development Goal 4 aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” by 2030.
Various challenges in meeting these goals have kept around 244 million children and adolescents around the world out of school. Nearly 617 million children and adolescents cannot read and do basic math; less than 40 per cent of girls in sub-Saharan Africa complete lower secondary school, and some four million children and youth refugees are out of school, according to UN data.
“Without inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all, countries will not succeed in achieving gender equality and breaking the cycle of poverty that is leaving millions of children, youth and adults behind.”
Therefore, the significance of this day goes beyond celebrations. It plays an important role in raising awareness of education's accessibility for everyone.
International Day of Education 2025: This year's theme
International Day of Education 2025 is being celebrated under the theme “AI and education: Preserving human agency in a world of automation”.
“As computer and AI-driven systems become more sophisticated, the boundaries between human intention and machine-driven action often blur, raising critical questions about how to preserve, redefine, and, ideally, elevate human agency in an age of technological acceleration,” an official UN statement reads.
By dedicating the day to artificial intelligence, UNESCO is aiming for a “global discussion on the place of this technology within education. ”
The organization has scheduled conferences in Paris and New York and a webinar.
