At the invitation of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) took part in the “Transforming Education Summit”, held on September 16-19, 2022 at the UN Headquarters in New York, USA. ALECSO was represented by Dr. Mohamed Jemni, Director of ICT Department, and Dr. Rami Iskander, Director of Education Department.
As a side event of the Conference, ALECSO organized, on September 17th, a session on “The Digital Solidarity Initiative: Learning and Education Connected Computer Devices for All”. This event was organized in collaboration with UNESCO as well as with Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, and Mauritania.
In his statement on this occasion, delivered on his behalf by Dr. Mohamed Jemni, H.E. Dr. Mohamed Ould Amar, Director-General of ALECSO, stressed that “ALECSO has accompanied the process of preparing, setting and following up the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 4 which aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. It has made incessant efforts, jointly with its Member States, to implement its targets and meet the 2030 deadline.”
The Director-General added that “with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic which has caused significant education disruptions around the world, it turned out that we were not ready to provide a digital alternative with the needed platforms, program contents, and adequately trained teachers. It was thus necessary for ALECSO to leverage its experience and expertise in order to provide emergency solutions in terms of distance education/learning. In a short lapse of time, the Organization was able to develop e-learning platforms and make them available for use by the countries that needed them. At the same time, many Arab countries have developed their own platforms. The Organization has also provided an integrated training program for teachers and technicians in those countries on the management of online platforms, thousands of computers were donated to some Arab countries, as part of ALECSO’s partnership with “Millennium@EDU Sustainable Education”, “Intel” and “jp.ik”.
The Director-General indicated that “through its Observatory, ALECSO collects, processes, and analyzes data and indicators related to the state of education, culture and science in the Arab countries. On the occasion of this Summit, the Observatory has issued a special Statistical Bulletin that includes relevant indicators, based on which it provides an analysis of the state of digital education in the Arab world. The Bulletin highlights the significant efforts made by Arab States to promote the provision of electricity, Internet access, and computers for educational purposes. It also reveals a clear disparity among social groups and regions in access to distance education, a situation that requires prompt action.”
“Considering that education – as confirmed by UNESCO – transforms lives and is a means of eradicating poverty and promoting justice among people,” the Director-General called for “launching an initiative for global digital solidarity. The aim of this initiative is to reduce the digital divide among students and to help poor countries keep pace with digital transformations and the technological revolution”. He thus urged “all members of the international community, including governments, organizations, civil society, and individuals, to contribute their money and expertise to this initiative, and to leverage the individual and collective genius to find smart solutions to the problems of electricity supply and Internet connection for the populations of rural areas and villages and for all those who lack access to the needed infrastructure. In that way, we make sure no one will be left behind, and promote justice among people, which is the core purpose of the Charter, and is – as Ibn Khaldun said – the basis of civilization.”
Dr. Jemni then offered an overview of ALECSO’s initiative, designed mainly to contribute to developing an Arab strategic vision for the implementation of Goal 4 of the 2030 Agenda, especially Target 4.a which seeks to “build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all”. He stressed that providing a connected computer for each student and teacher is now a prerequisite to achieve Goal 4. The initiative involves six commitments:
- Cooperate to develop Reference Design for Learning and Education Connected Computer Devices adapted to the requirements and needs of the Arab States
- Promote the development of Services to facilitate the management and usage of Connected Computer Devices
- Support the development of Local Production of Connected Computer Devices and its added value in the Country’s economy including Cluster Creation
- Create an Initiative to make available to ALL Students and Teachers Education and Learning Subsidized Connected Computer Devices
- Measuring and Reporting SDG Indicator 4.a.1. a) Electricity – b) Internet – c) Computers
- Promote an integrated approach of the Initiatives and Actions related to Digital Transformation and Education through the development of ICSTs Planning Tools
Session Link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM65krBKSX0
