Huawei and UNESCO talk education equality through education
The just ended Global Education Webinar on Digital Initiative TECH4ALL entitled “Driving Equity and Quality with Technology”, with emphasis on connecting schools and skills development gave insight on Huawei’s two key ways to improve equitable and quality education.
The webinar was joined by leaders and experts from UNESCO, GSMA, the Ministry of National Education of Senegal, universities and educational institutions, as well as the private sector.
Speaking during the event, Huawei Deputy Chairman Ken Hu said Huawei and its partners have noted with concern that 50% of the world’s population still does not have Internet access, and many people lack the skills needed to use digital devices as a result, the digital divide in education continues to widen.
Hu however explained that Huawei will help to provide access to high-quality educational resources such as digital curriculums and e-learning applications, and teacher and student training by connecting school to the Internet in collaboration with various partners.
“We believe that everyone, everywhere has the right to education and the equality of opportunity it brings. As a technology company, Huawei wants to help with connectivity, applications and skills by focusing on two important areas of connecting schools and developing digital skills respectively.” Ken Hu said.
Commenting in a separate development on the just ended Webinar, Huawei Zambia Director of Public Relations Hechen He said through collaborative efforts, TECH4ALL Initiative can benefit many African nations. He explained that Huawei was also trying to bridge Zambia’s digital education divide through capacity building especially for higher institutions of learning.
Mr. He explained that Huawei recently signed a Smart Education Zambia Project MoU with the Zambian Government through the Ministry of Higher Education, aimed at ensuring Smart learning for all learners across the country.
“A number of higher education institutions have benefited greatly under the smart education project. ICT equipment has been donated to boost e-learning even though there is still so much that needs to be done to completely bridge the gap and this takes collaborative efforts from all stakeholders” Mr. Hechen He said.
And UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education Stefania Giannini said Huawei has stepped up its efforts through its TECH4ALL initiative in support of UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition, set up to tackle the global challenges impacting education due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
She explained that the TECH4 ALL initiative especially during the current COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated that expertise and resources should be matched up with local needs to ensure learning continuity, especially for the most marginalized students, adding that local teachers will be provided with connectivity, digital devices and skills training which will benefit more many students across the world.
The Global Education Webinar focused on the two topics of “Distance Learning for Better Education Continuity” and “ICT Innovation for Inclusive Learning”. The best practices and experience of China, France, Luxembourg, Senegal, South Africa and other countries were shared and discussed.
Borhene Chakroun, Director of UNESCO’s Policy and Lifelong Learning Systems, reiterated that “with at least 63 million primary and secondary teachers affected, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for developing teachers’ capacity to effectively engage in distance learning, which will become part of the education and training provision in the future”.
To find out more about the Global Online Education Webinar, click here to watch the video. To watch Ken Hu’s speech and read his blog post on education, please visit https://blog.huawei.com/2020/06/23/driving-education-equality-with-technology/
Source: Huawei
