UNICEF and Ministry of Education and Science launch educational digital learning platform shkollat.org for 345,000 students

Prishtina, 1 February 2021 - Today, UNICEF and Ministry of Education and Science launched the education digital platform shkollat.org #LearningPassport for 345,000 students in partnership with Microsoft and University of Cambridge. The platform includes research and an education model, designed by the University of Cambridge, and a digital platform, powered by Microsoft, with full online and offline functionalities and capabilities. The platform currently provides 14,000 quality education video content to all children and youth, wherever they are.  The Platform shkollat.org serves local, contextualized content, like national curriculum, and has a library of supplemental content that administrators can customize to learners’ needs. The programme is designed to bring quality education to children whose education has otherwise been disrupted. 

​​​Children have been hidden victims of COVID-19. More than 1.57 billion students in more than 190 countries have had their education and access to critical services disrupted by school closures. “In Kosovo around 4 per cent are estimated to have missed the lessons due to lack of equipment or weak internet connections and/or the lack of an adequate, unified digital platform, thus affecting their right to education. With UNICEF, we are supporting schools to be the first to open and the last to close during COVID-19 and today with the launching of the platform shkoallt.org we are facilitating distance learning for all students, whoever they are and wherever they are” highlights Minister of Education and Science, Mr. Rame Likaj. 

Ms. Afshan Khan, UNICEF’s  Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia (ECA), and the Special Coordinator for the Refuge and Migrant Response in Europe says that “education is not only a basic right; it is also an enabling right that has a bearing on the realization of all other rights. This launch is a practical step in our collective mission to reimagine education; so that all children are able to realise these rights. UNICEF Regional Office in collaboration with the UNICEF Kosovo Office will, through LearnIn, complement shkollat.org in supporting students and teachers as life-long learners. LearnIn will provide quality, personalized and culturally relevant learning opportunities within a digital environment; fostering collaboration and shared practices.  

Schooling provides essential learning and when schools close, children and youth are deprived from opportunities for growth and development. The disadvantages are disproportionate for under-privileged learners who tend to have fewer educational opportunities beyond school. Schools are hubs of social activity and human interaction. When schools close, many children and youth miss out of on social contact that is essential to learning and development. "An expression of a wide range of partners. I'm thrilled from afar to see how Kosovo is leading this initiative to amplify and use inspiration for other countries. Inspirations like this through digital tools will enable education systems to be stronger", said Robert Jenkins, Chief of Education and Adolescent in UNICEF

On this note, UNICEF and Microsoft partnered to deploy the Learning Passport to serve the needs of all children and youth. Work continues to ensure the platform can be utilized for all populations that need access to continued, quality education. “Microsoft believes in its shared responsibility as a business and its role in society through a mission that focuses on empowering people. Partnerships play a crucial role as vehicles for mobilizing and sharing knowledge, expertise, technologies and philanthropic investments and resources and this is what we’ve committed in the development of the Learning Passport. Our partnership with UNICEF and work on the Learning Passport is a multi-year commitment that aims to scale access to continuous education.  Together we have been focused on working hand-in-hand with technical experts through key missions that have yielded critical learnings to ensure that we are creating a platform that is accessible, fit for diverse environments, and easy to use for facilitators, educators and young people alike. We firmly believe technology can be a force for good helping to innovate in challenging situations such as the COVID-19 response.  Microsoft is committed to applying technology for urgent public needs, sustaining economic and societal activity in the short-term, and promoting an inclusive recovery for the long-term, when every child can return to school”.

UNICEF Kosovo Office in partnership with Ministry of Education and Science is working to move forward with innovative and collective action to make sure that no child is left behind.

About shkollat.org

It is one stop center for all children and young people, including teachers. 14,000 videos will be uploaded, 345,000 students will have its unique e-mail address name.surname@shkollat.org

How will the data be collected? – teachers will ask students to provide basic information such as name and surname, name of parent, school, municipality and a phone number. Students will create their personal profile in the platform. Ministry of Education ensure that all data of children and parents will be kept confirmation and they will be used exclusively for the purpose of the learning platform.