WSIS&SDG TalkX on World Children’s Day : Connecting every school to the Internet and every young person to ICT​

Namaste, good morning, good afternoon, good evening it is a pleasure to join for this WSIS session marking World Children’s Day. Many thanks to Professor NK Goyal, President of the CMAI Association of India for his kind invitation. I am pleased to see we have so many top Indian educators as speakers. I have had a deep connection with India throughout my career, and it has been a pleasure to see the country emerge as a tech powerhouse, unlocking a whole new level of opportunity for India and the hundreds of millions of bright young people who call it home. 

In two days, we will mark World Children’s Day. We need to use this day as a reminder that not all children and young people have the same digital opportunities. Not all of them have access to the Internet at home. In fact, only 40 per cent of school-age children do. And when they have the chance to go to school, not all schools are connected. Giga, the ITU-UNICEF global initiative to connect every school to the Internet, has already mapped the location of over 1 million unconnected schools in 50 countries. Thanks to this initiative, more than 5 thousand schools have been connected in Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Access has been provided to more than 2 million students and teachers – that is 2 million more chances to change the world for the better. My colleague Alex Wong, who oversees projects like Giga, will explain more shortly. 

Connecting all schools is the aim, but it is a challenge, especially in rural and remote communities. Yet it is an essential for socio-economic development. Research estimates that connecting schools in countries with low broadband connectivity (which is most developing and least developed countries) can boost GDP by up to 20 per cent.  

ITU is rising to the challenge. Last June at our 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. Our “2020 Guidelines on Child Online Protection” were re-designed to reflect the significant shift in the digital landscape. This work is in line with ITU’s key role in building confidence and security in the use of ICTs, based on WSIS Action Line C5. ITU also develops essential technical international standards, including for digital learning, and manages 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.

It is not only a matter of getting schools connected, but also to equip young people with the skillset needed to thrive in an increasingly digital world. This is why ITU is redoubling its efforts to equip young people with job-ready digital skills through partnerships like the ITU-ILO Digital Skills for Jobs Campaign. By forging the right multistakeholder partnerships and alliances, where each partner brings their own specific competences and expertise to the table, I believe more than ever that we will achieve far-reaching results.

In 1931, Mahatma Gandhi gave a speech at the Royal Teachers’ Montessori College in London, where he said that “If we are to teach real peace in the world, we shall have to begin with our children.” Let us follow his advice and let us start to connect every school to the Internet and every young person to ICT.

ITU looks forward to continuing its excellent collaboration with India to achieve this aim.

Finally, I would like to congratulate all the winners of the CMAI International ICT & Education Excellence Leadership Awards and thank you for all your efforts to help young people achieve their full potential.

Thank you once again for joining us and I wish you a very fruitful session.

Thank you.

​