Havana, February 4 (RHC)-- The International Education Congress ‘Pedagogía 2021’ concluded on Wednesday with the absolute conviction that as Cuban National Hero José Martí once said ‘a better world is possible,’ with unity, human solidarity and perseverance as the best and only path toward realizing that goal.

The biannual congress was held, for the first time this year, on digital platforms, due to the epidemiological situation generated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cuban Education Minister Ena Elsa Velázquez Cobiella, presided over Wednesday’s closing session, when a group of prestigious Cuban educators were presented with the ‘Mejor Maestro Investigador’ (Best Teacher-Researcher) Prize, instituted two years ago and granted by the Cuban Ministry of Education to educators with outstanding results in the fields of science, technology, and innovation.

Some 950 delegates from 30 nations participated online in Pedagogía 2021, including ministers of education and their representatives from 16 nations, authorities with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Andrés Bello Agreement on Educational, Scientific and Cultural Integration instituted in November of 1990, of which Cuba is a state party.

The program of Pedagogía 2021 included conferences, workshops, panel discussions, symposiums. Delegates debated some 800 papers, dealing with varied issues, from strengthened cooperation and solidarity in education toward achieving common sustainable development goals of inclusive, equitable, quality education for all, contained in Agenda 2030 of the United Nations, to debates on the impact of Covid-19 on education, challenges, prospects and ways to move forward.

Pedagogía 2021 concluded with a call to hold the 18th such congress from January 30th through February 4th, 2023.