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We’re celebrating at ProFuturo, because we’ve been committed to the transformational power of digital education for five years.  Our educational programme, promoted by the Telefónica Foundation and the “la Caixa” Foundation, now benefits 19.7 million children and has trained more than 914,000 teachers in 40 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. But when did this journey begin? 

We need to take a look back to appreciate the current-day scope of ProFuturo. In 2016 we arrived in Angola, the country where it all began and where we tested our pilot project in nine schools in Luena. The success of this initial experience soon led to us being able to continue to reduce the educational divide in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. We crossed over to Asia in 2017 and reached the Caribbean in 2019. The past year, beset by COVID-19, has confirmed the need to continue to support digital education to ensure that no child is left behind.

“In 2016 we could never have imagined that within four years the schools would have to close due to a global pandemic and that digital education would be key to providing continuity for the teaching and learning. However, we were certain that it was an extremely powerful tool for improving equality of opportunities and the quality of education. This is why we decided to opt for digital education and move ahead into the future”, explained ProFuturo CEO Magdalena Brier. 

What have we achieved in these five years?

1. Bringing high-quality digital education to the remotest parts of the world: Since 2016 we’ve trained more than 914,000 teachers in pedagogical and digital skills with the aim of introducing technology and innovative teaching methodologies into the classroom. This has been reflected in the 19.7 children who have benefited in 40 countries around the world. The communities in the different countries have also benefited from the arrival of ProFuturo.
2. Learning to teach during COVID-19: In 2020 we enhanced our range of open contents and training to ensure that teachers and students could continue training and learning from home. A total of 1,929,828 teachers enrolled on training courses, 267% more than in 2019. Moreover, we launched ProFuturo Education, the application that can download online contents which can later be used offline on a tablet or mobile. 
3. Adapting to the different realities of connectivity: At ProFuturo we don’t want anyone to be left behind. In the wake of the pandemic, we transformed our digital resources into podcasts and videos that could be broadcast on radio and television or sent via mobile messaging apps, as well as physical notebooks that were delivered in person from house to house. 
4. Expanding our work to emergency contexts:​​ Since 2017 we’ve been striving to promote access to high-quality and well-rounded education for children who’ve been forcibly displaced and turned into refugees in camps, reinforcement centres and informal settlements in urban and rural environments. Our project with refugees is already being implemented in Lebanon, Malawi, Jordan, Rwanda and Tanzania.
5. Creating a real impact on the world: Our work to bring digital education closer to the world, thanks to the activity carried out with our partners, has been acknowledged on different occasions with awards. This year we were selected as one of the finalists of the prestigious WISE Awards for Innovation in Education presented by the Qatar Foundation. In 2020, we also received the Go!ODS award presented by the Spanish Global Compact Network for our contribution to Sustainable Development Goal number 4.