South Africa is on the brink of an exciting educational transformation as it heads the G20 presidency in 2025. Under this prestigious role, the G20 Education Working Group (EdWG) is set to tackle three pivotal priorities: Quality Foundational Learning; Mutual Recognition of Qualifications; and Education Professional Development for a Changing World. These priorities underscore South Africa’s dedication to fostering an inclusive, equitable, and future-ready education system.

South Africa is hosting the EdWG, cognisant of the fact that South Africa, as part of the troika from 2024 to 2026, will build upon the achievements of India and Brazil to ensure continuity in taking forward the development agenda. South Africa has an opportunity to champion the aspirations of emerging market economies and promote the development agenda of the African continent within the framework of the G20.

The priorities that South Africa will therefore focus on are:

• Priority 1: Inclusive Economic Growth, Industrialisation, Employment and Inequality
• Priority 2: Food Security
• Priority 3: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Innovation for Sustainable Development.

The 2025 EdWG, through a rigorous process of elimination, and while reflecting on global issues already addressed by the EdWG, the need to build South-South cooperation, and challenges and priorities in the African continent, identified the sub-theme Educational Professionals for Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability, to be dealt with in terms of the following priorities:

• Quality foundational learning: The role of early childhood care and education (ECCE) to improve the quality of foundational learning.
• Mutual Recognition of Qualifications in a Global Context.
• Education Professional Development for a changing world.

By targeting these priority areas, G20 member countries can create more inclusive and resilient education systems capable of preparing learners for the future. This strategic focus will not only enhance educational outcomes but also contribute to the broader goal of reducing socio-economic disparities and promoting social equity. Member countries and organisations are encouraged to share flagship, innovative, successful, and scalable programmes, policies and systems implemented in their countries to address these priority areas during the 2025 South African Presidency.

The key output from these engagements will be a compendium of four volumes to share experiences and best practices related to these priorities as a knowledge output of the South African EdWG G20 presidency.