ProFuturo has joined the global coalition launched by UNESCO to combat the impact of the Covid-19 health crisis on the education sector in vulnerable environments. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, more than 1.5 billion learners across 165 countries have been affected by school closures, making it necessary to find alternative solutions to enable them to access education. UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay has said that a paralysis of the education sector on this scale has never before been seen and she highlighted the importance of fostering public-private partnerships to implement collective measures that mitigate the effects of the crisis on education, especially among those most vulnerable, who suffer the most at times of difficulty.
School closures will prevent millions of children from accessing such essential services as nutrition and health, so the coalition led by UNESCO will mobilise resources to support teachers and students by implementing innovative, context-sensitive educational solutions to guarantee access to education, regardless of whether they have Internet connectivity. In addition, it will coordinate the actions in various countries to prevent an overlap of efforts.
#Coronavirus is disrupting education worldwide.
We cannot let that happen!
Today we launch the Global Education Coalition for #COVID19 Response, bringing the World together to ensure #LearningNeverStops.
📰 https://t.co/duZSFksYdA pic.twitter.com/evYGf2X2Zc
— UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳 (@UNESCO) March 26, 2020
The coalition includes international organisations, private companies, foundations, NGOS and media organisations. Some of the leading institutions to have joined the initiative are technology giantsMicrosoft, Google and Facebook, multilateral bodies like UNICEF, the UN Refugee Agency (ACNUR), and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), y and digital education programmes such as ProFuturo and the Khan Academy.
Media organisations like the BBC are also on board, and will disseminate educational content, as well as informing the various audiences about how Covid-19 might affect them.
ProFuturo’s educational resources, available for all
As a result of the health emergency, ProFuturo will open up its digital learning platform to the entire education community. Firstly, it will provide teachers with more than 160 courses and content so that they can continue to acquire training and support their students. It will also provide educational resources and multimedia activities for students, with their families’ support, to strengthen their knowledge of mathematics, language, science and technology from home.
We have always believed that technology brings people closer together and is a platform for quality education. At times like this, it becomes a fundamental tool, according to ProFuturo Managing Director Magdalena Brier, for whom the programme’s commitment to reducing the educational gap worldwide by means of digital education now makes more sense than ever.
Accordingly, although the educational resources will be made available to all those accessing the platform from any country, ProFuturo will strive especially to disseminate its #SeeYouInDigital initiative in the 38 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia where it implements its programme in vulnerable environments to ensure nobody is left behind.
