Digital Education
Shaping the Future of Learning in the Digital Age
The world remains in the grip of a profound learning crisis: 272 million children are out of school, and two-thirds of 10-year-olds in low and middle-income countries are unable to read with comprehension. As education systems face the mounting pressures of conflict, poverty, underfunding, climate shocks, and rapid technological change, the need for a bold and coordinated global response has never been greater.
UNICEF’s new Digital Education Strategy 2025–2030 is a call to action to transform learning through the smart, sustainable, and inclusive use of technology. Rather than simply digitizing traditional approaches, we are reimagining education to dramatically improve learning outcomes—placing teachers and learners at the centre and ensuring that digital solutions are evidence-based, accessible for all, and aligned with national education priorities.
Digital learning can be a lifeline: reaching children in conflict zones, supporting teachers in remote areas, and opening new pathways for girls, children with disabilities, and those out of school. By bridging digital divides and leveraging innovations like AI and adaptive learning tools, we aim to empower teachers, accelerate foundational learning, build critical 21st-century skills, and strengthen entire education systems.
Together with governments, educators, technology partners, and communities, UNICEF is committed to creating a future where every child can learn—safely, inclusively, and meaningfully—in our rapidly evolving digital world.
"We must use innovation, and technology to reach more children with high-quality learning – especially girls. And we have to think hard about how AI can help us in this effort.”
- Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF.
Digitally Transforming Education Systems: Five Strategic Focus Areas
The UNICEF Digital Education Strategy 2025–2030 focuses on five interconnected areas to accelerate learning outcomes, address inequities, and ensure digital education delivers at scale. The strategy has a particular focus on bridging digital divides to overcome persistent barriers to education – including gender, disability and linguistic – and on children in-school, out-of-school, and in disrupted education contexts with a particular focus on underserved areas and the most marginalised learners.
Teacher Empowerment
Empowering, training and retaining teachers has a significant impact on student learning outcomes, and digital technologies hold much potential in scaling teacher training programmes. UNICEF drives innovation in teacher training through scalable technologies — co-designed with teachers and local partners — that bring pre-service and in-service training and professional development opportunities directly to teachers, strengthening their capacity to effectively use and shape technology.
Foundational Learning
We prioritise adaptive, accessible, and inclusive digital solutions that build early literacy and numeracy skills, tailored to learners’ levels and languages, including through AI-powered tools and offline-friendly platforms. We help governments identify, evaluate, and scale high-quality digital solutions through the EdTech for Good Initiative.
Skills and Competencies
From digital literacy and socioemotional skills to green and AI skills, we are equipping learners with the competencies they need to thrive. We support flexible pathways to accredited learning, especially for girls and out-of-school youth.
Systems Strengthening
UNICEF works with governments to build resilient, data-driven, digitally transformed education systems—integrating digital technology into national education plans and financial models, generating local evidence of technology’s impact on learning outcomes, strengthening Education Management Information Systems (EMIS), and expanding connectivity through initiatives like Giga.
Thought Leadership
As a trusted thought leader for a range of audiences – from government leaders and private sector partners to teachers and school principals – UNICEF accelerates a global shift toward human-centred, inclusive, innovative, and evidence-backed approaches to the digital transformation of education. Through global guidance, rigorous research, and think pieces developed in collaboration with partners and world leading experts in education and technology, UNICEF helps shape policies and practices so every child can learn and thrive.