Supporting the Republic of Uzbekistan in shaping the future of learning
In 2024 the Republic of Uzbekistan has been selected as one of 6 Global Champions that will participate in the UNICEF Learning Pioneer Programme
In 2024 the Republic of Uzbekistan has been selected as one of 6 Global Champions that will participate in the UNICEF Learning Pioneer Programme, funded by UNICEF Global Innovation Hub.
The Learning Pioneers Programme is a two-year programme with a focus on bringing innovative approaches and scaling world-class digital learning solutions that can transform education system.
The Ministry of Preschool and School Education of Uzbekistan will work hand-in-hand with UNICEF and Global Learning Innovation Hub, based in Helsinki, Finland, to identify, co-create and pilot digital tools with a high impact on learning. That can be further scaled up to improve students’ learning and developmental outcomes.
The selection of the Republic of Uzbekistan as a Learning Pioneer Country was based on the review of the digital and learning initiatives that country has recently launched with support from UNICEF.
Within the framework of UNICEF Giga Initiative, Uzbekistan was able to expand internet connectivity to almost all schools with at least 10 Mbps. UNICEF supported the mapping of the location and quality of internet connectivity in these schools in real time with an opensource visualization of available connectivity https://projectconnect.unicef.org/map/country/uz. The tracking of school connectivity status supports the transparency and accountability of service provision as well as efficiency of state recourses utilization. Since the adoption of the Digital Uzbekistan 2030 Strategy, schools are being equipped with computer labs. Also, and additional investments have been made on expansion to digital devices.
Availability of internet and computers alone is not a pre-requisite for improving learning outcomes as new technology requires digital solutions and tools to be used effectively by teachers. Starting in 2023, UNICEF supported Ministry of Preschool and School Education to pilot Eduten, a digital math learning platform. It combines Finnish educational excellence with gamified digital learning and Artificial Intelligence, in the Republic of Uzbekistan. Now, Uzbekistan is among 50 countries which benefit from Eduten. Globally more than a 1.3 million teachers and students use Eduten.
As part of the Learning Pioneer Programme, it is expected that the Ministry of Pre-school and School Education will contribute to the design and acceleration of new digital learning tools for improved children’s learning and developmental outcomes. That can be scaled up in Uzbekistan as well as in other countries around the world.
