UNESCO and Huawei have initiated Phase II of the TeOSS project during the UNESCO Digital Futures of Education Seminar in Paris. The project, spanning from 2024 to 2027, will focus on Brazil, Thailand, and Egypt after a successful Phase I in Egypt, Ghana, and Ethiopia, which saw significant benefits for educators.
Aligned with UN SDG4, TeOSS aims to enhance education systems' resilience, inclusivity, and future readiness by utilizing technology to offer digital resources, training, and policy assistance to educators and learners. UNESCO's Assistant Director-General for Education, Stefania Giannini, highlighted the pivotal role of education in the ongoing digital transformation, emphasizing the need to leverage technology for creating inclusive and equitable learning environments.
During Phase I, which operated from 2020 to 2024, UNESCO and Huawei collaborated with the ministries of education in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Ghana to pilot open school systems. This phase involved designing, implementing, and evaluating projects aimed at enhancing educational accessibility and quality through digital means.
Hegazi Idris, Advisor to the Minister for Literacy and Lifelong Learning in Egypt, emphasized the project's objectives, which include integrating digital learning platforms and content aligned with the curriculum and teachers' digital skills. Furthermore, the initiative seeks to advance open education models through the development of national digital learning policies.
At the UNESCO seminar, representatives from Brazil, Thailand, and Egypt discussed their respective countries' educational challenges and how TeOSS Phase II could address them. Suthep Kaengsanthia, Permanent Secretary for Education in Thailand, highlighted the country's Digital Thailand initiative aimed at promoting digital education through connectivity, content, and competency development.
Overall, TeOSS Phase II aims to build upon the successes of the initial phase, extending its impact to new regions and further advancing the goal of fostering resilient, inclusive, and technology-enabled education systems worldwide.
