“Technology-enabled Open Schools for All” project: Reviewing progress and the future of digital learning

A cross-country seminar, held from 5 to 7 July 2022 in Accra, Ghana and online, was organized by UNESCO to present the activities and firstresults of the UNESCO-Huawei "Technology-enabled Open Schools for All" project, and to guide the second implementation phase of the project until August 2023. The seminar was the first international hybrid event under the project since its launch on 25 November 2021.

Around 125 participants, including high level government representatives, international experts and UN Agencies, gathered to share their perspectives and views on digital open school models and on the project.

The project coordination teams from the three implementing countries, Egypt, Ethiopia and Ghana, together with the programme coordination team from UNESCO HQ, met in person and shared their experiences and lessons learnt from the first phase of implementation. The Ghanaian government led the discussions on the subject, informed by several recent national events, such as the Maiden National Digital & Distance Learning (NDDL) Conference organized by the Centre for National Distance Learning and Open Schooling in Ghana (CENDLOS) in June 2022 in Accra, Ghana.

Stories from the project beneficiaries

The seminar was an occasion to give voice to the direct beneficiaries of the project, particularly to the head teachers of the 10 selected primary schools for the pilot in Ghana. Several of them described the current challenges that their schools are facing to develop an open digital education system, such as the lack of digital technology devices, and reflected on how the project plays a key role in bridging this digital gap. Ms Duho Patience Yaa, Head Teacher of the Akatsi No.1 Basic School, one of the pilot schools in Ghana, stated that in her school "teachers know how to use laptops and projectors, but that opportunity was not openly motivated in them. This project will therefore help them to make use of and improve the skills they have already acquired."

The Technology-enabled Open Schools for All project is key to allowing all children, including the most vulnerable, to access learning content. Testimonies from the Akropong School for the Blind's Head Teacher, Ms Veronica Derry and the ICT Teacher, Mr Maxwell Asante, explained the importance of "guiding students with visual impediments in the use of ICT, which is not easy. Their learning through ICT devices is solely based on the use of the computer keyboard, but you need to guide the child through the keyboard layout for them to be able to understand where every key is and know how to use it."

Participants of the cross-country seminar also had a chance to listen to the stories from the Ethiopian beneficiaries, particularly those who took part in some of the first project activities for the training of teachers. According to the Ethiopian teacher Zinabu Yilma, "The training has inspired me. Before I came to this training, we were already thinking at my school about how to deliver teaching through different platforms. But when I came here it was kind of alarming for me! I realized we must hurry!"

Malak Zaalouk, Director of the Middle East Institute of Higher Education in Cairo shared her perspectives on the main outcome of the project in Egypt - the future Distance Learning Centre hosted by the Professional Academy of Teachers - which "will represent a hub for connecting professionals and peer communities of learners and create opportunities for teachers to become technological literate."

These perspectives demonstrate the profound impact of the project in the three countries. In Ghana, the project currently benefits over 1,000 teachers and 3,000 students in 10 selected pilot basic schools, in addition to enhancing educative national platforms targeting all students and educators in the country. In Ethiopia, the project benefits 12,000 students and 250 educators from 24 selected pilot secondary schools and enhances access to educative national platforms and digital content for all secondary students and educators in the country. In Egypt, it provides support to 950,000 K-12 educators through the establishment of a National Distance Learning Centre. Key partners are Ministries of Education, National Institutions and Centres, beneficiary countries and experts from the UNESCO-KFIT project.

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