RIYADH — The G20 Education Ministers Saturday held a virtual extraordinary meeting to emphasize the central role of education in enabling people to seize the opportunities of the 21st century.

The ministers expressed, in the closing statement of their virtual meeting on the novel coronavirus, their support for individual and collective efforts to mitigate the unprecedented consequences of the novel coronavirus pandemic on education, stressing the importance of ensuring the education continuity for all during crises.

The G20 Education Ministers expressed their thanks and appreciation to the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its tireless efforts during the year of its G20 Presidency.

They also extended their thanks to the Islamic Development Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank Group for their valuable contributions. — SPA