UNESCO and Huawei have begun the implementation phase of the Technology-Enabled Open Schools for All (TeOSS) project in a three-year online learning program across Ghana, Egypt, and Ethiopia. 

In keeping up with the UN SDG4, TeOSS will serve as a foundation for driving the digital transformation of the education sector. TeOSS is committed to withstanding global disruptions such as COVID-19 by assisting the three UNESCO member nations in developing a solid education system. The implementations phase will inspect the project outcome and adjust where necessary to create strategies for launching out at a national level and establishing the project in other African nations.

The TeOSS project will connect schools, develop online platforms to connect school and home learning, create digital curricula that can be accessed remotely and without supervision, and provide online training for students and teachers on how to use online tools. The project will help students navigate the virtual world of e-learning confidently and afford teachers the skills required for handling old and new digital tools for better learning outcomes.

“The project is designed to test schooling models that can respond immediately to new challenges imposed by the pandemic and also leverage technology to help enable the development of future models of schooling,” said Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO.

The TeOSS project in partnership with the governments of Ghana, Ethiopia, and Egypt is built to fulfill the specific local needs of these countries.

A National Distance Learning Centre will be set up in Egypt for educators all over the countries to enable them to receive professional development. Structured ICT skills have been created for students and teachers in K12 schools. Teachers from primary and junior high schools, as well as professionals in the development of digital courseware, will be trained.

“Egypt’s new education system 2.0 emphasizes the integration of technology into the educational process with multiple digital learning resources and learning platforms to ensure education for all and achieve educational quality and access,” said Dr. Reda Hegazy, Deputy Minister for Teachers’ Affairs for the Ministry of Education and Technical Education in Egypt.”

In Ethiopia, the project will aim at building a Learning Management System integrated with a Teacher Training Platform, and ICT infrastructure to link pilot schools.

“Ethiopia understands very well the need for ICT and digitalization in our future schooling system to deliver quality and inclusive education equitably for all, without any disruptions, as stipulated in our new education sector roadmap,” said Dr. Fanta Mandefiro from the State of Ministry of Education of Ethiopia.

The TeOSS project in Ghana will develop digital content for all disciplines and offer training for teachers and students in primary and secondary schools. The initiative will also create an e-repository, which teachers will utilize to publish content; learners will be able to access the online and offline with little or no supervision.

The Minister of Education for Ghana, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum said he is pleased to note that this UNESCO-HUAWEI collaboration builds on previously established partnerships and collaborative efforts with our national institutions, particularly CENDLOS, which is the institution mandated by the Ghanaian government to facilitate the integration of ICT across the education system.

The TeOSS project is in line with the Tech4Edu domain of Huawei’s digital inclusion scheme TECH4ALL. The scheme promotes quality and equity in education with technology.

“The digital platforms that Technology-enabled Open Schools for All will create mean that learning never needs to stop – whatever the future holds,” said Kevin Zhang, CMO of ICT Infrastructure for Huawei.

Digitalizing education and facilitating equal and inclusive access to lifelong learning opportunities for everybody is the goal of the TeOSS project and the collaboration that has endorsed it.