Over 50 representatives from national and international partners met in Tashkent on 12-13 June 2024 to explore the integration of digital technologies into the education system in Uzbekistan in support of children’s learning.
The workshop was the second phase of the Learning Pioneers Programme, a partnership between the Ministry of Preschool and School Education of Uzbekistan, UNICEF Uzbekistan, and the UNICEF Global Learning Innovation Hub. The programme, supported by the Government of Finland, aims to help address the global learning crisis and shape the future of learning now.
"Over the past couple of years, we have been striving to integrate more technological approaches into the teaching and learning process, an essential requirement of our era. Instead of resisting new technologies, the best approach is to use them effectively to streamline the learning process and make it more interactive. I am confident that through joint efforts and collaboration with our international partners, we will be able to achieve significant results in this field," said Sardor Rajabov, Uzbekistan’s Deputy Minister of Preschool and School Education.
Using design thinking approaches, four stakeholder groups – teachers, students, government officials, and development partners and NGOs – crafted a vision of a tech-enabled education system and delved into concept building for educational technology (EdTech) solutions for the country.
“With the support and expertise of the Learning Innovation Hub, the UNICEF education team in Uzbekistan is accompanying the country in transforming its education system, placing the aspirations of children and adolescents at its core. By identifying concrete solutions for digital learning that are accessible and effective for all children, the Learning Pioneer Initiative is providing a powerful catalyst for achieving quality and inclusive education,” said Alberto Biancoli, Chief of Education, UNICEF Uzbekistan.
The four teams focused on the design and features of potential EdTech tools that can support children as they acquire basic numeracy and literacy and learn better Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects while supporting the learning of children with special educational needs. In this respect, a key plus from the workshop was the participation of children with special needs who could articulate their needs in line with the human-centred design approach.
The challenges workshop participants focused on were previously identified at the Innovation Camp held in Helsinki, Finland in April this year with education officials from Uzbekistan and the UNICEF Country Office along with representatives from the other Learning Pioneer countries: Egypt, Ghana, Malaysia, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe.
The workshop, which is part of the ideation phase of the Learning Pioneers journey, used collaborative problem-solving and interactive activities to ideate on EdTech concepts, taking into account Uzbekistan's context. As a next step, Uzbekistan will be matched with EdTech tools that meet the concept and design features identified during the workshop. The EdTech tools will then be piloted for scaling throughout the country.
Workshop participants included representatives of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the British Council Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Preschool and School Education of Uzbekistan, Tech4Impact (an NGO), UNESCO, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The two-day workshop also included the unveiling of the results of the Eduten math platform pilot project in Uzbekistan supported by UNICEF. The results of the pilot were presented jointly by UNICEF Uzbekistan and the UNICEF Global Learning Innovation Hub. The Eduten pilot involved the introduction of the gamified math platform to 527 Grade 5 students in 20 schools in Uzbekistan’s Tashkent City and Tashkent Region to test its potential large-scale introduction in the country and understand whether it contributes to improving the math skills of students. Following the pilot, discussions are underway on potential expanded implementation.
Read more: Digital Learning – An Innovative Approach in the Education System in Uzbekistan
