Background

The Ghanaian and global educational landscape has evolved significantly since the first SEL Biennial International Conference in 2024. This evolution, however, continues to be shaped by persistent challenges – including youth unemployment, climate change, migration, financing, and sustainability – alongside other pressing concerns that demand serious attention from policymakers, educators, and researchers. In Ghana, the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy, the expansion of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), and ongoing digitalization efforts are reshaping the educational landscape. These developments are contributing to widening access and improving equity, yet they also raise critical questions about quality, inclusiveness, financing and sustainability.
Globally, technological advancements such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), digital learning platforms, and data-driven education continue to transform pedagogy, assessment, and administration. At the same time, critical issues such as youth unemployment, climate change, migration, and widening inequality impact the role of education as a driver of social and economic transformation.
As Ghana, Africa, and the wider world grapple with these realities, education must remain central to national and global development agendas. Institutions of higher learning must lead in developing research-based solutions, fostering innovation, and shaping policies that prepare citizens to thrive in the rapidly changing 21st century.
The 2nd Biennial International Conference of the School of Education and Leadership (SEL), College of Education, University of Ghana, provides a timely platform to interrogate these developments, explore transformative strategies, and advance partnerships for impactful educational policy and practice.