Challenges

Countries in Africa and Asia are accelerating digital transformation and building innovative and value-oriented industries. The national education departments have strengthened the development of educational and human resources in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) education. However, they are challenged by insufficient resources and fragmented practices. There is a lack of data on ICTs in schools. Digital learning materials and users of online educational services are few and scattered. ICT resources and trained teachers for elementary and secondary education are not widespread in institutions outside metropolitan areas. In higher education, there are limited media and information literacy programmes such as the ethics of using technologies. Furthermore, with the adoption of open-source applications, 5G, programming and artificial intelligence, the digital divide in ICT skills and information literacy education is likely to become even wider, especially between urban and rural areas. Finally, the access of young women to education and employment opportunities requiring STEM skills is likely to be restricted.

Toward a Solution

In April 2021, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and its strategic and financial partner CODEMAO, the largest kids’ coding online education platform in China, jointly launched the UNESCO-CODEMAO Youth Coding Initiative in primary and secondary schools in Kenya, Namibia, Republic of the Congo and Thailand. In line with UNESCO’s Operational Strategy for Priority Africa in 2022-2029, the major objective of the initiative is to promote the inclusive and safe use of technology to advance equitable education in Africa and Asia. It aimed, through a certifying training, to strengthen teachers’ methodological and pedagogical skills in coding, with the final objective of developing the digital competencies of African and Asian youth. Notably, the activity introduced the “Kitten Editor” to teachers, a programming platform with a variety of coding blocks, and provided teachers with the necessary teaching and learning materials to begin teaching coding in an interactive way in the classroom.

The initiative, planned for a four-year duration, is coordinated by the Priority Africa and External Relations Sector’s Contextual Analysis and Foresight Unit and co-implemented in close collaboration with CODEMAO, the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE) based in Moscow (Russia) and four UNESCO Field Offices in Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Namibia and Thailand.

In collaboration with the Field Offices, IITE and CODEMAO jointly launched the project’s pilot phase in December 2021. A series of coding webinars were provided to around 100 teachers from more than 30 secondary schools. As part of their learning activities, teachers used the Kitten Editor to create personalized coding projects. This activity allowed them to apply the skills they had learned throughout the training. The organizers received 99 projects from participants in four target countries, with 45 per cent of projects prepared by female teachers. The overall feedback on these projects was very positive, highlighting a solid grasp of the learning materials and a high level of creativity.

At the beginning of 2022, teachers received 10 lesson plans and other teaching materials provided by CODEMAO for teaching coding to their students. From January to March 2022, trained teachers developed personalized coding projects using the graphical coding platform, with 51 per cent of these projects submitted by female teachers. They then used and adapted the materials to teach coding to their students. In parallel with their coding lessons in the classroom, teachers took an evaluation to assess the range of coding skills they had acquired throughout the training.

From 2022 to 2025, the project will launch a series of coding trainings for secondary school students and teachers in four countries; establish Artificial Intelligence (AI) labs in local schools; develop customized pedagogical content and lesson plans for teachers; organize international activities for student knowledge-sharing; create a sustainable network for coding education; and foster a more global understanding of the ethical principles related to AI in Africa and Asia.

Overall, by providing teachers with basic coding trainings and teaching materials, the project initially aims to establish a “training-of-trainer” model in local schools and continue to maintain the transnational schools’ network through regular pedagogical support to teachers and their students for higher-level trainings after completing the previous levels. Over the four years of the project, youth from different schools and countries will have the opportunity to communicate and establish networks with each other by participating in national and international coding competitions. Ultimately, this project will contribute to creating a sustainable environment for coding education in Africa and Asia.