High-Level Political Forum 2022 Side Event on Education for Economic and Digital Transformation in the 21st Century

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Good morning, good afternoon, good evening I am very pleased to have this opportunity to contribute to the discussion on the important role of digital technologies in advancing quality education.

The importance of the technology for education has been very clearly highlighted by the COVID pandemic. During the pandemic 1.6 billion school and college students across the world had their studies interrupted, and many had to shift their studies online. 

However, not all could do so. One-third of the world’s schoolchildren were unable to access remote learning during school closures - closures which are estimated to result in a staggering $17 trillion lost in lifetime earnings for today’s students.

So the importance of digital connectivity in the educational environment is very clear. And this remains the case, even with schools open again. Access to online learning and information is vital for students everywhere. Connecting all schools is a priority and this remains a challenge, especially in rural and remote communities. Research estimates that connecting schools in countries with low broadband connectivity (which is most developing and least developed countries) can boost their GDP by up to 20%. 

Not only is getting schools connected a prerequisite for advancing quality education, but also to equip young people with the skillset needed to thrive in the digital world. It is a key challenge and ITU works with various public and private sector stakeholders to tackle it.

The Giga initiative, launched by ITU and UNICEF in 2019, seeks to connect every school to the Internet by 2030. Since its inception, it has connected over 3,200 schools, and more than 1 million students to the Internet. 

Recently at the ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference in Kigali, ITU Member States adopted a resolution on Connecting Every School to the Internet, and Every Young Person to Information and Communication Technology Services. This calls for specific actions, such as developing whole-of-government and public-private partnerships, to adopting national strategies for school connectivity.

Through the ITU Partner2Connect coalition we have received more than 130 pledges from governments, the private sector and others - worth over $12 billion so far - focussing entirely on education, skills and capacity development. 

We also work together with partners such as the International Labour Organization to help strengthen digital skills among young people so as to increase their employment opportunities.

By forging the right multistakeholder partnerships and alliances, where each partner brings their own specific competences and expertise to the table, I believe we will achieve far-reaching results.

ITU supports the digital transformation of education in other ways, too. We develop essential technical international standards, including for digital learning, and manage the international use of the radio spectrum and satellite orbits which provides for interoperability and lower costs. Many of the connections to schools in remote communities will rely on satellite connections and radio.

This year’s World Summit on Information Society Forum explored the importance of ICTs to education, with workshops and activities on topics such as reshaping the future of e-learning, to inclusive and equitable quality education for all - young and old alike. 

As Nelson Mandela said “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. This is equally true in the digital sphere as in the physical one. Digital connectivity offers huge potential for delivering quality education to greater numbers of people and empowering them to make this change. 

ITU looks forward to continuing to work with you all, and others to achieve this aim. Only by working together, can we promote the innovations, technologies, partnerships and skills that will ensure equitable, sustainable digital learning and fulfil the overarching aim to “Leave no one behind” by 2030.

Thank you

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