The submission period for the Education Youth Video Challenge just ended on June 30th and the tally is in: Nearly 400 young people from 61 countries created videos about the future of education and added their voices to the global education conversation. Check them out here.
With support from MTV Voices and the Global Youth Ambassadors of A World At School, the Education Youth Video Challenge asked young people from around the world aged 13 to 30 to submit 30-second videos that address two questions: How can education best prepare you for the future? and What would your ideal school of the future look like?
UN Special Envoy for Global Education and Chair of the Education Commission, Gordon Brown said, “From Syria to South Africa, young people are directly affected by our efforts to ensure quality education for all and it is absolutely vital that we engage them in the work of the Education Commission. The Education Youth Video Challenge gave us an opportunity to crowd-source ideas about the future of education from the world’s most creative resource–our youth. Each and every one of us is determined to do all in our power to help the world reach the ambitious new Sustainable Development Goals, particularly for education.”
From Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe, Brazil to Vietnam, young people put their creative talents to good use and produced short videos to share their personal testimonies about why education matters and the critical need to make quality education accessible to all.
Entries range from selfie-style videos shot on cellphones to hand-drawn animations to polished productions from budding filmmakers. Whatever the format, one thing is clear – young people see education as the key to a brighter, more peaceful future. Their videos make passionate calls for inclusion, creativity, innovation, harnessing technology, supporting teachers, fostering values and mindsets, global citizenship, tolerance, and educational opportunity for all.
Mojúbàolú Olufúnké Okome from Nigeria says in her video, “Guaranteed equal and equitable access to excellent education, especially girls, builds a better world and a glorious future. Excellent education should be a right available to every child; it’s an investment in the future. It supports human and national security.”
In response to the question about the ideal school of the future, Harsh Doshi from India says, “An ideal school for me would be a perfect blend of innovation, creativity and technology because I think that’s what the future is all about.”
In a creative and original entry by Sally Elfishamy from Egypt, individual notes on a piano are played as the camera pans across the keyboard to reveal each key inscribed with words that embody the “keys” to an ideal school: equality, quality, tolerance, creations, elections, protection, kindness, wiseness, science experiments, safety measurements, inspiration to, from and for the nation.
Thirteen year-olds Eunice, Christian, Vanessa, and Angela from Kenya sum it up at the end of their video by chanting with their hands held high, “Education is the key to success – yay!”
Winning videos will be featured on the MTV Voices platform and at the Commission’s report launch during the UN General Assembly in September. The Education Commission’s Youth Panel will serve as the competition jury to select the winners alongside Beth Garrod, Director of International Social Responsibility at Viacom and Ahmad Alhendawi, United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth.
The Grand Prize Winner will receive an invitation to New York for the screening of his/her video at the Commission’s report launch. Second prize is an iPad mini and third prize is an HP Chromebook computer. The video that receives the most public votes will receive The People’s Choice Award and a GoPro video camera.
Listen to these inspiring youth voices from around the globe and help choose the winner of the People’s Choice Award by voting for your favorite video here. Voting closes on July 15, 2016.