Huawei – UNESCO donate ICT equipment to Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – UNESCO and Huawei donated ICT equipment to the Ethiopian ministry of education last week under the Technology-enabled Open School Systems for All project (TeOSS), which the two partners have been running in Ethiopia, Egypt, and Ghana since 2020.

As part of the three-year project, which ends this year and is positioned under Huawei’s TECH4ALL initiative, UNESCO and Huawei provided 480 tablets, 48 access points, and 24 smart boards to 24 beneficiary secondary schools in different regions of Ethiopia.

“I extend my gratitude once again to UNESCO and Huawei for their dedication to education and for this significant donation at this very critical time,” said Ayelech Eshete, state minister for ministry of education in Ethiopia. Referring to the secondary school beneficiaries, Eshete added: “It will enable them to explore diverse educational resources, expand their knowledge beyond textbooks, and connect with a vast global network of information and learning experiences.”

The equipment will go some way to supporting the project’s broader aims of reducing the digital divide and enhancing education inclusion and equity by building the capacity of educators and institutions.

“We mark a significant milestone in this journey as we witness the delivery of the latest ICT equipment to secondary schools across Ethiopia,” said Dr Rita Bissoonauth, director, UNESCO Liaison Office to AU, UNECA, and representative of Ethiopia.

“These schools, which have been carefully selected by the MoE and respective regional education bureaus as beneficiaries of this project, will now have the occasion to integrate technology into their classrooms, providing students with opportunities for enhanced learning, collaboration, and skills development.”

In Ethiopia, the three-year TeOSS project is focusing on ICT infrastructure build-out to connect pilot schools, train teachers and students, and build a Learning Management System integrated with a Teacher Training Platform. The project broader aims include creating crisis-resilient school systems that ensure learning continuity in both normal and crisis conditions by making education resources available in the home, classroom, and other scenarios.

Since the inception of the project in 2020, project partners have designed and evaluated project outcomes in Ethiopia, Egypt, and Ghana with a view to scaling up the project in Africa. A particular emphasis is reaching schools in low-resource nations, and transforming them into technology-enabled schools that can underpin lifelong learning opportunities for all and education equity and quality for students.

The UNESCO and Huawei partnership is underpinned by the continued efforts of the government of Ethiopia to empower its students and citizens to become active participants in the digital world, ensuring that they are well-prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the future.