Education: Taking down the Digital Barrier

Context

Education ministers from countries in the Global South reiterated their shared commitment to overcome the digital divide for all learners.

About

Commitment to Education:

The meeting of Education Ministers in Global South Summit stated that the digital divide in learning can be overcome by addressing the barriers to technological infrastructure and work collectively to develop affordable technology ecosystems and learning resources, including in local languages.

The Summit — with the theme “Together, for Everyone’s Growth, with Everyone’s Trust” — will focus on sharing with countries of the Global South the key outcomes achieved in various G20 meetings over the course of India’s presidency.

The ministers also agreed to encourage collaborative solutions, innovations, sharing of best practices to promote quality teaching, learning and skilling as well as foster academic collaborations among educational institutions and encouraging student and faculty exchange programmes.

Ministers and dignitaries of 14 countries from the Global South — Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Georgia, Tunisia, Iran, Lao PDR, Malawi, Myanmar, Republic of Palau, Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, Albania, Malaysia, Zimbabwe, Cameroon — participated virtually in the session and shared their insights.

The Education ministers stated their commitment to overcome the digital divide for all learners by addressing the barriers to technological infrastructure and work collectively to develop technology ecosystems and learning resources, including in local languages that are affordable and easily accessible.
India’s Education Minister has mentioned that the New Education Policy (NEP) is a philosophical document which “can act as a template for emerging economies towards developing comprehensive strategies and agile policies”.
Other ministers in their addresses shared success stories, the challenges faced and the strategies to address those.
- They unequivocally commended India’s effort to strengthen cooperation in education and skilling among the countries of the Global South.
The summit builds on the foundation laid during the inaugural Voice of Global South Summit in January that focused on uniting voices and purposes from 125 countries of the Global South, reflecting India’s commitment to addressing key priorities of the developing world, particularly in education and skill development.
The second Voice of Global South Summit aims to serve as a platform to share the outcomes of various G20 meetings, sustain momentum generated from the previous summit and discuss ways to achieve shared aspirations for inclusive and equitable international development.
Deliberations will also focus on harnessing digital technologies to bridge the digital divide and strengthening cooperation in developing life, technical and vocational skills.