Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
I’m conscious that today I’m following in the forceful footsteps of one of my predecessors.
Ellen Wilkinson was the Minister of Education in the post-war Labour government here in the UK.
And a little over 80 years ago, in November 1945, she addressed a gathering of education leaders, just around the corner from where we meet today.
Ellen was joined by representatives of 44 nations at the Institute of Civil Engineers on Great George Street – a location chosen mainly out of necessity.
Many of London’s great large buildings had been damaged during the Second World War. And this was one of the few left standing.
The war destroyed more than buildings, of course.
It shattered relationships between nations around the world.
Elected President of the conference on the first day, Ellen urged those present to help build a new international order of peace and prosperity – with education at its heart.
She called for the ‘development of all that is best in human nature’.
And after more than two weeks of discussions between delegates, Ellen then rose to her feet again on the final day of the conference to read aloud the fruits of their labour
the constitution of the brand-new UNESCO.
“The education of humanity…”, she read out, is a “sacred duty which all the nations must fulfil in a spirit of mutual assistance and concern.”
Politics and economics would not be enough, leaders had decided.
Education was essential for lasting peace. And with that fresh hope, UNESCO was born.
A recording of the conference is available online.
And watching it back today… the black and white video, the crackling audio, the clothes, the hairstyles,
it feels every bit 80 years old.
But the words Ellen speaks, they have never been more relevant.
Because colleagues, we come together at a time of renewed international conflict and upheaval,
a time when the world is crying out for the kind of empathy, understanding and connection that only education can bring.
So it is with not just with great pleasure that I welcome you to this year’s Education World Forum,
but with great urgency too.
Education must be at the root of our response to the global crises we face, the current that carries us towards a more peaceful and inclusive future.
So let’s come together around this year’s EWF theme,
Education for a Shared Future Peace, Planet, Purpose, and Pathways.
For us here in England, that shared future is vital.
And we approach everything we do in education with that deeper sense of purpose,
because we know that the values that we want for our country tomorrow, those are the values that we build into our education system today.
Outward facing. Tolerant. Inclusive.
But the mistake too many leaders make is to believe that that can only come as a trade off against excellence,
the fallacy that inclusion dilutes high standards in our schools,
as if excellence is a resource that can run out.
It comes, I think, from the false belief that academic achievement is only for some children, and not for others.
For so long this country has been falling into that trap when it comes to children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Children who need extra help to take part, engage and learn in every phase and type of education.
The chronic underperformance of these children was met too often not with a shout of outrage but with a sigh of resignation.
Sad but inevitable, the system had decided.
And in this country for many years these children have been sidelined, sent to schools far away from home,
by an approach unable or unwilling to accommodate them in their local school.
But now that is changing,
because in this government we see inclusion and high standards as what they are,
not enemies but friends,
not in conflict but in concert,
one strengthening the other.
We are building a system in which children grow up together, go to their local school together, achieve and thrive together.
We’re introducing layered support in our schools, to meet a much wider range of needs.
Universal support available for all children.
Targeted help through Individual Support Plans.
And specialist provision for children who need it.
We’re backing these changes with investment, to make mainstream schools more inclusive
£1.6 billion for an inclusive mainstream fund.
£3.7 billion to develop inclusion bases, improve accessibility and create new special school places.
£200 million to train staff.
And a £1.8 billion fund for our ‘Experts at Hand’ service
a bank of professionals that schools can call upon to help their students,
speech and language therapists, educational psychologists, and occupational therapists too.
And we’re starting early, in the first years of a child’s life, with SEND support available at our new Best Start in Life Family Hubs,
early identification to get ahead of issues before they spiral.
Because all children benefit from that inclusive approach, not just children with SEND.
And our country will benefit too.
By drawing from a deeper and wider pool of talent, we’ll make our country not just fairer but stronger.
By sending our children to school together, we’ll make our country not just stronger but kinder.
Children growing up side-by-side with classmates who have different needs, different ideas, different talents,
that’s the recipe for a society more welcoming of difference,
more settled,
more comfortable with who we are.
Because we can’t have a strong and inclusive society without a strong and inclusive education system.
Here in England, we still have far to go in building a truly inclusive education system.
We’ve been drawing on the wisdom of young people, parents, carers, teachers and professionals through our public consultation, which closes today.
But the journey continues. And the challenge has only been growing as we’ve seen more and more children with special educational needs and disabilities.
I know we all approach this topic differently. Some of us will have different definitions, different systems, different responses.
But overall, I’m sure that many of you are seeing broadly similar trends in your countries. And grappling with similar challenges too.
We can see it in the research of the Centre for Education Systems.
Looking at a basket of countries, three trends stand out
They’re all trying to be more responsive to need, and less reliant on narrow medical models.
They’re all trying to wire more support into mainstream education.
And they’re all finding it challenging to join up support across different services.
Colleagues, this is a golden chance to work together,
to bring purpose to our education systems,
to deliver opportunity for all young people and prosperity for every society.
So today I am proud to announce that I will convene an International SEND Alliance in 2027,
a coalition of countries, coming together across a series of summits,
to chart a common path forward.
Under a shared mission to deliver opportunity for all children with SEND around the world,
we’ll meet at international education events hosted right here in the UK across 2027.
At Bett in January, at EWF here again in May, and at the International Summit on the Teaching Profession too.
And for these children we will go beyond warm words.
Our countries will compare experiences, share what works,
and agree clear action plans that governments can take forward.
So I urge all countries here today to join us, let’s come together on this shared challenge,
so we can learn from one another, and build education systems of excellence and inclusion, fit for the 2030s and beyond.
Every child in every country achieving and thriving.
Those are the shared values that can unite us as we move towards a more peaceful and prosperous future.
And our collaboration won’t stop there. We must foster links at every level.
That’s why I’m delighted that the UK will join the Erasmus+ programme in 2027.
For learners, it means more chances to study, work and volunteer abroad.
For teachers, it means more chances to learn from international colleagues.
And for schools, colleges and universities, it means more opportunities to collaborate across borders.
Putting people front and centre of our relationship with the EU.
But Erasmus is about more than the flow of people between our countries.
It’s about the flow of friendship and opportunity too.
More than a hundred thousand could benefit in the first year alone, each one a new bond between our nations.
And this government is going further than ever to promote international collaboration.
Earlier this year I convened an international summit on generative AI in education.
Together we discussed the powers and the pitfalls of this radical technology, and we mapped the way ahead.
That spirit of collaboration is driving our new International Education Strategy.
It’s all about delivering growth and opportunity, at home and abroad.
Stronger partnerships between our schools.
Our colleges.
Our universities.
Our countries.
But to succeed together, those partnerships need strong foundations in the best international evidence.
We need hard data on what works for teaching and learning across our nations.
That’s why I’m pleased to announce today that England is rejoining the Teaching and Learning International Survey – conducted by the OECD.
Armed with comparable data on the teaching profession, we can work together to improve outcomes for young people in classrooms across the world.
Peace, Planet, Purpose, and Pathways – those are the core themes of our conference.
For each of them, collaboration is key.
Here in this country, a big focus of mine has been getting everyone in education to collaborate.
To deliver a fantastic education for every child, schools must learn from each other, push one other to improve.
No school is an island.
And while I’ll concede that in fact some countries are in fact islands, our education systems can’t be.
As Ellen said, all those years ago
‘It is for us to clear the channels through which may flow from nation to nation the streams of knowledge and thought,
of truth and beauty which are the foundations of true civilisation.’
That’s not a task to tick off.
It’s a promise to keep.
An ongoing journey that we take together.
So thank you all so much for coming today,
for committing to that journey once again,
and for putting education at the centre of a brighter future for all of us.
Thank you.
