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‘Natural’ choice: why Unesco’s new STEM education centre is based in Shanghai
China is working with the UN agency to help the world’s least developed countries advance technical education and grow their talent pools
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Carol Yangin BeijingPublished: 9:00am, 24 May 2026China has risen to become a global leader in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education over recent decades. Now, the country is sharing that experience with the rest of the world through a new Unesco institute based in Shanghai.The Unesco International Institute for STEM Education, inaugurated this month under the mandate of a United Nations resolution promoting “inclusive, equitable and quality education for all”, prioritises “Africa, least developed countries and small island developing states” according to the institute’s website.Advertisement
It is the first “category one” institute – facilities directly integrated with the UN agency’s global programmes and strategy – established by Unesco in 14 years, and the first of its kind in China.
In a moment where multilateralism is coming under strain, the new institute signals that cooperation is both possible and necessary, Unesco Director-General Khaled El-Enany told the South China Morning Post following his trip to Shanghai earlier this month.
The choice to base the facility in China – and Shanghai – was “a natural one”, according to El-Enany.
“Over the past decades, Asia has become a major centre of research and innovation, and China is at the heart of that transformation. This is the result of sustained investment in technology, talent and education,” he said. “Shanghai embodies this momentum.”
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