News

Digital skills are key for literacy teaching in the twenty-first century. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, demonstrated that many educators have limited capacities to use technologies for instruction and would benefit from locally relevant, structured training in this area. To promote quality literacy provision by increasing effective use of technologies in literacy instruction and learning, the UNESCO-led Global Education Coalition (GEC) and the Global Alliance for Literacy (GAL) launched the first national workshop to develop contextualized digital competencies training modules for literacy educators in Egypt from 22 to 25 August 2022. 

Twenty-one key literacy stakeholders contributed to the workshop, organized by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, the UNESCO Cairo Office and the Adult Education Authority of the Arab Republic of Egypt. Participants adapted the UNESCO-developed training modules and tools to respond to Egypt’s context and the needs of its adult educators. In line with Egypt’s strategic direction under Education 2.0 and Digital Egypt 2030, this is an important milestone on the journey to enhance educators’ digital competencies for teaching, communication, collaboration and continuous professional development. With a supportive community of practice and relevant training, technology can be more effectively harnessed by educators to help their adult learners meet the diverse literacy needs of today. 

One participant, Gamila El Said Abdallah, adult educator with the Adult Education Authority, commented: “I benefited so much from this training so that I can now understand the significance of digital technology… I made the decision to develop myself in the field of digital technology because it is the language of the era and this training was wonderful to develop our teamwork and hear our voices.”

Once the contextualization process is complete, the course will be rolled out to build the capacity of 5,500 youth and adult literacy educators across Egypt through a multi-stakeholder approach. Support from UNESCO throughout this process will enhance the capacities of important stakeholders in Egypt, such as the Adult Education Authority, universities, and non-governmental organizations that train and support youth and adult literacy educators.

“This is just the beginning and not the end,” said Prof. Mohamed Yehia Nassef, President of the Adult Education Authority. “We are paving the way for more development and improvement through constructive and fruitful collaborative partnerships. We should leverage the technology in literacy and educational programmes for its efficiency in terms of time and effort.”

The Arabic Republic of Egypt is the first of five pilot countries of this GEC-GAL initiative to enhance literacy educators’ effective use of technologies in literacy instruction and learning. More countries and organizations will join the initiative in 2022 and in the following years. 

Background

Since its launch in 2016, the Global Alliance for Literacy within the Framework of Lifelong Learning has driven international discourse and guided the agenda for literacy provision globally for those who need it most. The Alliance includes 29 countries committed to improving youth and adult literacy. It serves as a platform for its members to collectively discuss progress and challenges, and exchange knowledge and good practices. 

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