Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS
Education
UNESCO marks 60th anniversary of Convention against Discrimination in Education
Excerpts from article by India Education Diary Bureau Admin, published in India Education Diary
Paris: With the world’s most vulnerable children and youth at risk of missing out on education as a fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, UNESCO is urging all countries to protect better the fundamental right to learn by ratifying the Convention against Discrimination in Education, adopted on 14 December 60 years ago.
As part of a new campaign to raise awareness of the Convention, UNESCO is launching a conversation about extending our understanding of the right to education to reflect increasingly crucial global needs, namely digital inclusion, learners’ data privacy and access to lifelong learning.
The Convention, the first legally binding international instrument entirely dedicated to the right to education, has been ratified by 106 countries to date: 28% of countries in the Asia Pacific region, 46.8% in sub-Saharan Africa, 60.6% in Latin America and the Caribbean, 63.1% in Arab States to 68% and 88% respectively in Western Europe and North America, and Eastern Europe.
When they ratify the Convention, countries establish, or upgrade, policy and/or legal frameworks to meet international standards, guarantee the right to education and counter discrimination. As such, the Convention represents a powerful tool to advance the 4th Sustainable Development Goal “to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”
“Education is a fundamental human right that we must ensure and defend every single day, especially considering new and serious forms of exclusion, notably in the digital sphere,” said UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay. Discrimination remains pervasive in education, whether on the basis of disability, gender, language, income, ethnicity, religion, migration or displacement status. About 258 million children and youth around the world are out of school.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing inequalities worldwide, increasing the likelihood that vulnerable students be left behind. UNESCO estimates that over 24 million learners, from the pre-primary to tertiary levels, including more than 11 million girls, risk dropping out of education. One third of students – close to 500 million – were not able to access remote learning solutions, underlining the urgency of making connectivity a right.
UNESCO’s “End Discrimination in Education” campaign aims to raise awareness of the Convention, strengthen implementation and monitoring, extend ratification and stimulate reflection on new related rights needed to prevent an exacerbation of inequalities in the digital age.
Career
Be smart with your career choices post Corona: Job sectors to go for and job sectors you should wait and watch
Excerpts from article by Karan Verma, published in India Today
Covid-19 had drastically changed the workspace and impacted almost every job sector in some way or the other. Here are the job sectors that you should go for when planning a career post-Corona, and the job sectors you should wait and watch for now.
Hot careers and trends: 4 job sectors you can go for
1. Pharma Sector: We are going to see a huge boom in the pharma sector and bio-based careers like bio-informatics and research. India is the largest provider of generic drugs globally and courtesy the low cost of production and the recent nod to Foreign Direct Investment under the automatic route for manufacturing of medical devices, this sector is all set to grow by leaps and bounds.
2. Data Analytics: Data consumption is hitting new records post the pandemic. From OTT platforms to smart gadgets, data is the one common currency. Data consumption patterns and consumer behavior continues to intrigue business analysts and marketers.
3. Digital Marketing: Digital is the buzz world and all marketing plans and media buying budgets revolve around the digital aspect of it. With new social media platforms coming in and creative content being curated especially for the digital medium, there is going to be a need for digital marketers who understand analytics, SEO and content
4. IT Sector: The evergreen IT sector will continue leading the pack. However, some innovations would be needed. Students looking for formidable IT careers need to learn coding, robotics, machine learning and artificial intelligence in today’s world of growing automation. Even in the unorganized sector, IT professionals are going to be in huge demand for services.
Career choices post-Corona: Job sectors you should wait and watch for now
1. Hospitality: Post the pandemic, the hospitality sector is in doldrums. It’ll take a while before it gets back up to its former glory. Hotels, restaurants and theme parks have shut down across the globe. Either choose a different sector or keep sharpening your skills through a course and wait for the right time to enter.
2. Event Management: Crowds drive events and hence the revenue. Post Corona, it’ll take a while before we fill stadiums and auditoriums with people. The revenues are badly hit and so are the jobs.One can explore virtual events and try bringing in sponsorships if the online viewers are substantial. Barring that there is not much scope in event management as of now.
3. Traditional Advertising: The traditional advertising sector is in bad shape. ‘Print’ is losing out to digital and this year saw many magazines and other newspaper sections shut permanently. The advertising agencies are also bleeding and have seen major brands shift largely to digital. So, any budding advertiser must understand that understanding of digital is critical for a good sustainable job in today’s time.
All, in all this is a time when many students will still emerge stronger and braver. Those who will use Covid as an excuse for wrong career choices will go down as Covid-iots and there will be many who will use this as an opportunity to learn, grow and emerge COVICTORIOUS.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
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