Launch of common framework to guide the digital transformation of education

24 September 2024

Last update:3 October 2024

The framework supports theGlobal Digital Compactadopted by governments during the UN Summit of the Future. It's prepared by UNESCO, UNICEF, ITU, the Global Partnership for Education, as well as public and private partners of theDigital Transformation Collaborative.

The new framework outlines 'six pillars' for positioning technology as an accelerator towards achieving national education priorities and advancing global educational equity.

Six pillars for the digital transformation of education: a common framework

Normén-Smith, Juliette

UNESCO

van Cappelle, Frank

Atis, Evans

Ghobashy, Dina

2024

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Today, we are leveraging our collective expertise to support countries in one voice. The six pillars framework gives us the common language to steer technology on our terms and expand access to quality lifelong learning for all

Stefania GianniniUNESCO Assistant-Director General for Education

Around the world, as major digital divides persist, digital technology is failing to promote greater inclusion in education. Globally, only 40% of primary, 50% of lower secondary and 65% of upper secondary schools are connected to the internet, according to UNESCO's 2023 Global Education Monitoring Report.

Holistic strategies needed

Over the past two years, UNESCO and partners have worked with governments and experts to identify six pillars that are essential for holistic strategies for using technology to achieve their education system goals:

• Coordination and leadership;
• Connectivity and infrastructure;
• Cost and sustainability;
• Capacity and culture;
• Content and curriculum; and
• Data and evidence.

During the launch, the Ministers of Education from Italy and Sierra Leone and the Deputy Minister of Ukraine reflected on how these pillars aligned with their national strategies for digital transformation.

The Global Digital Compact stresses the importance of governments working in collaboration and partnership with the private sector, civil society, international organizations, as well as the technical and academic communities.

The Digital Transformation Collaborative (DTC), which is part of UNESCO's Global Education Coalition, serves as an exemplar for such alliances, with multilateral agencies at the helm of a steering team comprised of foundations, NGOs, CSOs and industry partners.

The discussion highlighted a variety of complementary initiatives led by DTC partners, including UNICEF-ITU's 'Giga' initiative to connect every school to the internet, the UNESCO-UNICEF 'Gateways' to public digital learning, GPE's 'Tech4Ed' initiative for education transformation and UNESCO's 'Global Skills Academy' for building digital competencies for the future of work.

To realize a vision for leveraging technology to achieve education system goals and ensure that education remains a public good,sustainable and transparent partnerships with the private sector are often vital. The launch event was attended by the Ministers of Education from Italy and Sierra Leone and the Deputy Minister of Ukraine who reflected on how the six pillars aligned with their national strategies for digital transformation.

The event also spotlighted the contributions of private sector leaders to the DTC, featuring reflections of committed steering team members, Ericsson, Google and Microsoft.

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