- UNESCO, UNICEF, and ITU launch Charter for Public Digital Learning Platforms, urging governments to build inclusive, accessible, and safe digital education as a public good.
- The Charter emphasizes that digital learning should complement schools and teachers, uphold education as a human right, and prioritize equity, wellbeing, and responsible AI use.
- It provides seven guiding principles for trusted platforms, aiming to expand public digital learning globally, building on the Gateways to Public Digital Learning Initiative.
On the occasion of the International Day for Digital Learning, UNESCO, UNICEF, and ITU have launched a groundbreaking Charter for Public Digital Learning Platforms, calling on governments to build and sustain digital learning platforms that reflect education as a human right and a public good. The initiative emphasizes that in today’s increasingly digital world, education must meet learners where they are online while ensuring that technology serves the public interest.
The Charter provides a shared framework to guide governments in designing, governing, and improving public digital education infrastructure. It stresses that digital learning platforms should complement, not replace, schools and teachers, reinforcing the values and objectives of public education. By framing these platforms as digital commons, the Charter highlights the need for inclusivity, accessibility, social accountability, safety, and holistic student wellbeing.
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According to Stefania Giannini, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Education, the Charter offers a positive vision for digital learning in the public sector, while ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin highlighted the importance of building safe, interoperable, and trusted platforms that leave no learner behind. Pia Britto, UNICEF’s Global Director for Education and Adolescent Development, added that AI and other educational technologies must connect private-sector innovation with public-sector safeguards to support teachers and deliver quality education for all.
The Charter outlines seven guiding principles for trusted digital learning platforms: they must be public, inclusive, pedagogically sound, complementary to schools, open, focused on educational needs, and trustworthy. Platforms should prioritize accessibility for all learners, including those with disabilities or limited connectivity, and integrate AI responsibly as a tool to enhance learning outcomes.
Developed through international consultations and refined via public feedback, the Charter builds on the Gateways to Public Digital Learning Initiative, launched in 2022, which has supported countries such as Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Finland, Indonesia, Lebanon, and Uruguay in creating reliable digital learning resources for millions of teachers and students. Together, the Charter and the Gateways Initiative aim to ensure that digital learning strengthens public education systems, upholds the right to education, and expands equitable opportunities for learners worldwide.
