Digital technology, a new core tool for the education systems of tomorrow

Education plays a major role in the economic and social development of a country. In Africa in particular, these issues are at the centre of the agenda and France’s new strategy for international cooperation, as is the case with the Presidential Development Council, whose priority objectives include education and teacher training.

Expertise France takes a two-pronged approach, by supporting both the contribution of digital technology to education, along with the development of digital literacy, and the development of basic and advanced skills in the field of new technologies.

In 2023, several projects are being developed on digital education. They include the creation of digital spaces for in-service teacher training, and support for the creation and dissemination of innovative educational resources, both for classrooms and students at home. Digital inclusion is a crosscutting priority area for Expertise France. It is working on this issue, alongside the European Union (EU) through programmes to structure digital training in the context of the Global Gateway, which aims to reduce the digital divide and promote innovation by private and public actors in its partner countries.

In Africa, digital technology enhances the professional skills of teaching staff and students

Development of teachers’ digital skills

During the Global Gateway Forum in Brussels last October, the Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, signed a contract worth €46 million to move forward the implementation of a Regional Teachers Initiative in Africa – RTIA. This new mechanism aims to support the development and implementation of sustainable policies for education and professional development for teachers in Africa. This programme will be implemented in Team Europe format by Expertise France, Enabel, and EDUFI.

“As a former teacher, I know personally that there is no quality education without trained teachers! […] Supporting the teaching workforce in Africa is an essential element to deliver on the commitments the international community took at the Transforming Education Summit last year,” said Mrs. Urpilainen.

In addition to ensuring that policies for teachers and their practices in Sub-Saharan Africa contribute to providing quality education for all, this regional initiative aims to test innovative teacher training solutions by stepping up the deployment of learning tools and programmes based on sustainable digital skills. This common base is to be set out in a regional framework to effectively centralise and harmonise knowledge about digital education.

Digital skills of young people

The EU is committed to strengthening its cooperation and strategic partnerships with African countries, and digital innovation is one of its areas of focus. More specifically, its objective is to strengthen the existing Digital Innovation Hubs (DIH) in Africa and facilitate cooperation between Africa and Europe.

In this context, the AEDIB|NET project financed by the EU contributes to developing key infrastructure, and establishing strategic cooperation mechanisms to promote bridge-building activities for technical capacity building and technology transfers between African and European innovators, in particular universities. In this respect, the support for innovators and start-ups (such as AfriLabs and Digital Africa) includes training in issues related to digital technology and new technologies provided by European expertise.

In Côte d’Ivoire, the mismatch between the skills acquired by job seekers and the needs of tech companies hinders the vocational integration of young people. To address this issue, the EU and actors in the sector, including Mr. Koffi N'Guessan, Minister of Technical Education, Vocational Training and Apprenticeship (METFPA), have set up the VET Toolbox 2 project to refocus youth training on labour market priorities and the future challenges in terms of digital skills.

Co-financed with €1 million from the EU and the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation, VET TOOLBOX II is a programme that aims to improve access to employment in high-potential economic sectors in Côte d’Ivoire, through continuous training for young people and women, who make up a total of almost 64% of the population.

The project primarily aims to encourage European investment in the sector of new information and communication technologies (NICTs). “The project’s objective will be to train 500 young people, with 30% being women, who will be selected and trained in the new technologies sector. There needs to be a match between supply and demand for young people, they need to be professionalised so that they can find real opportunities,” said Francesca Di Mauro, European Union Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire.

This refocusing of financing for Ivorian education programmes is part of an approach to adapt to new labour-market directions, as pointed out by Dramane Soulama, VET Toolbox 2 project manager in Côte d’Ivoire for Expertise France: “The VET TOOLBOX programme would like to achieve an integration rate of 75% and specialise young people for the needs of companies.”

Libya, a model for the integration of digital technology in national education systems

Building on the success of the Raqam-e project, implemented until 2022, which aimed to promote the economic integration of young people and women through the creation of coding schools in Libya, the country has undertaken to continue its efforts by launching the Raqameyon project, with the financing and mobilisation of Expertise France. It will last an additional 12 months, with the aim of improving the digital skills of young Libyans to prepare them to enter the era of digital transformation. The Raqameyon project builds on the lessons learned from Raqam-e, by capitalising on training sessions on IT development, capacity building programmes, and hackathons.

“The General Information Authority works to support digital transformation in Libya at several levels, including developing a comprehensive national strategy for digital transformation in the country. This strategy will only be feasible to implement on the ground if the digital culture is spread in the educational and work environments, the capabilities of public and private sector employees are raised, and the level of training provided to young people interested in technology is improved in Libya. The Raqameyon project will contribute to enhancing our future vision and is considered a positive step in achieving our goals,” said Mr. Abdul Basit Al-Baour, Chairman of the General Information Authority in Libya.

The project aims to train more than 2,000 public and private actors in the fundamentals of new technologies, assist the Ministry of Education with the deployment of a formalised digital training platform and training sessions in 5 Libyan schools, and provide training in digital skills to more than 240 entrepreneurs.

Technology and digital technology: In Latin America and the Caribbean, the EU is committed to training young people for employment

In El Salvador, the Government has launched a project with EU financing to develop the digital skills of young people. To this end, the LAMARR initiative aims to build the technological skills of vulnerable people, which will facilitate access to better employment opportunities. The project aims to support training centres and universities on several aspects: educational content, training of trainers, and integration of the digital dimension. Work placements are organised to facilitate access to employment and economic opportunities for the target population, and involve companies in the training.

“This training initiative, implemented by Expertise France, helps match profiles to the constraints of the labour market, and supports development opportunities in the field of technology for disadvantaged young people,” said François Bonet, former French Ambassador to El Salvador.

One of the components of the LAMARR programme includes customised technological training to enable young people to access better positions in the labour market.

“It’s through projects to train human talent that we seek to provide the people of El Salvador with the skills and competences required by the digital services sector. We aim to provide intensive and high-quality training to build more competitive profiles for the participants in the digital and technological sector, now and for the future,” said the Minister of Economy, Maria Luisa Hayem.

Like El Salvador, the entire Latin American region is engaged in a process to take better account of digital technology in the education system for young people and in higher education training programmes.

Through the Digital for Development (D4D) Hub platform, in which Expertise France is particularly active, Latin American and Caribbean countries aim to strengthen synergies with the European Union in sharing expertise on the issues of the future (cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, geospatial technology). This alliance between the two continents aims to export EU expertise to the Latin American and Caribbean region and promote contacts, partnerships and investments in the digital economy in the region.

Through this platform, the EU is also contributing to the creation of a digital accelerator to promote partnerships between the various stakeholders and the private sector, as well as competitiveness, skills, and innovation in the digital field. This includes promoting impact investments and supporting the deployment of online services by public and private entities.