A senior high school in a small town in the centre of Mexico offers an expansive and diverse view of the world to its students, encouraging them to explore personal development opportunities aligned with the global goals promoted by UNESCO and the United Nations. Its seemingly simple implementation underscores the potential of focused initiatives to drive significant change.
Víctor Rodríguez Gaona, director of the Tizayuca campus of the State Senior High School of Hidalgo, wanted students to gain exposure to diverse perspectives and engage with local challenges connected to global issues such as climate change, migration, and peacebuilding. The result was a new specialized library focused on topics related to the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations.
Latin America and the Caribbean are the most unequal and the second most youthful regions globally, so education is a crucial bridge to transform injustices into opportunities for future generations. However, education faces evolving challenges to provide students readied to address disparities and become agents of change. Beyond foundational skills— basic learning skills that support lifelong learning— the Education for Global Citizenship (EGC) is crucial to fostering knowledge and dialogue about the barriers to sustainable development.
“Learning how to read, write and count matters. However, they may not be enough to make sense of the world, pursue one’s dreams and find purpose in life. What a young person will see through this window and how they choose to act on it largely depends on the values, content and context of education,” UNESCO explains about EGC, which aims to cultivate knowledge, skills, and attitudes that encourage tolerance, respect, and a shared sense of belonging to ensure human rights and peace.
“The basis of the EGC is to promote peaceful coexistence and is in the DNA of UNESCO,” says Adolfo Rodríguez, coordinator of Education Programmes at UNESCO Mexico, to highlight the importance of connecting with diverse realities and the role of schools in spreading lifelong learning.
Knowledge requires a vision of inclusion, solidarity, and interdependence.
Why do bibliographic spaces matter today?
In Tizayuca, in Hidalgo, there are five venues in the National Network of Public Libraries and a couple of bookstores: just one library for every 24,000 inhabitants. While digital media grows, physical libraries remain essential, especially in communities with limited resources. Digital transformation requires significant financial investment —even in wealthy nations— and training to use increasingly refined digital tools, such as artificial intelligence.
Although nearly 80% of the Hidalgo population uses the Internet, according to 2023 data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), access to several means for research and analysis to obtain verified information is crucial for young people. They also need access to diverse and contrasting sources and voices to break the filter bubbles created by algorithm-driven patterns.
A mixed use of resources for education is recommended. Integrating physical and digital formats, and reading entire books enhances in-depth learning.
Víctor aimed to fortify comprehensive education and renew spaces at the school to strengthen learning. One day, he contacted UNESCO Mexico.
Brenda Juárez, from the Education Sector at UNESCO Mexico, remembers that the Organization had an extensive bibliographic collection. She identified an opportunity to extend the life of the books and incorporate the United Nations, Agenda 2030, and UNESCO themes, such as human rights and gender equality, through international and local scopes due to analyses of Mexican experiences across different levels and fields in many publications.
An agreement to promote participatory reading among youth and encourage Education for Global Citizenship formalized the donation of more than 5200 books across 156 titles. Most of the books were UNESCO publications, alongside United Nations materials, including brochures and kits in multiple languages on education, natural sciences, social sciences, culture, and communication.
Education and learning are beyond schools, and schools, in turn, transform lives and communities. The transformative power of education is real. Trust in cooperation and belief in new possibilities drive transformative education.
Teachers and students collaborated on digital cataloguing, showcasing the value of institutional and community partnerships to promote reading and learning about contemporary global issues.
All schools must have a modern collection that connects with global challenges, and we encourage other multilateral, international, and academic organizations to turn their urgent attention to schools in basic education, Adolfo adds.
The donation also fostered the development of partnerships and resource opportunities for the school, such as obtaining computers and other reference materials. It renewed the educational community participation, including authorities and parents.
Víctor shared that the books would be integrated as materials for the curriculum to enhance their usefulness. For example, English and bilingual publications -in Spanish and English- will be used for foreign language subjects.
The initiative positioned the senior high school as a pilot for a project on youth and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) led by UNESCO in collaboration with INEGI.
The library, enabled with the support of the Hidalgo Ministry of Education, was inaugurated to celebrate International Literacy Day. The Hidalgo Ministry of Public Education, Natividad Castrejón; the Director General of Upper Secondary Education, Juan Antonio Ter Ven Becerra; the Director General of Hidalgo Senior High School, Elías Cornejo Sánchez; Tizayuca Municipal Education Director, Kevin Bonilla García; State Congress and Parent Council representatives; students and teachers participating in the ceremony.
This initiative demonstrates how education can bridge global goals with local action, empowering youth to drive sustainable change in their communities and beyond.
