Educational Leadership

Half of the total number of learners – some 826 million students – kept out of the classroom by the COVID-19 pandemic, do not have access to a household computer and 43% (706 million) have no internet at home, at a time when digitally-based distance learning is used to ensure educational continuity in the vast majority of countries.

These figures were compiled by the Teacher Task Force, an international alliance coordinated by UNESCO, on the basis of data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and the International Telecommunication Union.

Disparities are particularly acute in low-income countries: in sub-Saharan Africa, 89 per cent of learners do not have access to household computers and 82% lack internet access. 

Furthermore, while mobile phones can enable learners access to information, connect with their teachers and with one another, about 56 million learners live in locations not served by mobile networks, almost half in sub-Saharan Africa. 

A UNESCO report suggests that much of the world will fail to achieve basic education goals by the end of the 21st century.

Automation, digitalization, and technological advances are changing the workplace, requiring employees to be up to date and continuously learning new skills. However, the responsibility for keeping up is falling mainly to individuals, who must not only find the time but also the means to keep learning. What are governments doing to drive adult education?