The Shenzhen-based International Center for Higher Education Innovation under the auspices of UNESCO (UNESCO-ICHEI) has been addressing the shortage of higher education professionals with adequate digital literacy and related professional development resources in Belt & Road (B&R) partner countries. Their commitment revolves around providing training and professional development support to higher education institutions in these regions.
In December 2019, UNESCO-ICHEI established the International Institute of Online Education (IIOE) in conjunction with 15 higher education institutions and nine enterprises from China, Africa, Asia, and Latin America to enhance online blended teaching capabilities and digital literacy for educators in higher education institutions in B&R partner countries.
Between 2021 and 2022, UNESCO-ICHEI partnered with Cadi Ayyad University in Morocco to develop IIOE's first online training program on teachers' digital teaching competencies dedicated to Francophone Africa.
Some 100 teachers from 11 Francophone African countries enrolled in the module and participated in the training via the IIOE platform from September to October last year, according to UNESCO-ICHEI.
Thushani A. Weerasinghe, IIOE coordinator at the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka, said that IIOE's training sessions were timely and very useful during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sessions helped educators transfer their teaching and learning practices from physical classrooms to the online environment, equipping them with essential skills to enhance their online teaching, Weerasinghe said.
B&R partner countries are grappling with challenges associated with limited funds, inadequate capabilities, and outdated technologies in the era of digital transformation, leading to a digital divide. In response, UNESCO-ICHEI, alongside prominent educational technology enterprises in B&R countries, initiated the Smart Classroom Project, aiming to establish and continuously upgrade digital infrastructure to benefit B&R countries on a global scale.
The University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Lahore in Pakistan successfully deployed the Smart Classroom Project in July 2019.
Syed Mansoor Sarwar, vice chancellor of UET Lahore, expressed his satisfaction with the progress made by UNESCO-ICHEI in the digital transformation domain and "their support in implementing the Smart Classroom Project at UET Lahore."