Children today are growing up in an era of fast-paced transformation, with unprecedented challenges and opportunities. At the same time, as many as seven out of every 10 children are unable to read and understand a simple text by the age of 10. Business-as-usual approaches are not increasing learning outcomes fast enough.

As the education sector continues to adapt to multiple challenges, including school closures caused by changing climate patterns, fragility or conflict, technology is increasingly seen as an accelerator to provide multiple pathways for learning and education continuity, particularly for hard-to-reach and vulnerable children.

Growing up in the digital age

Children and young people are a vast reservoir of energy, creativity and boldness. With the right education, skills and opportunities to engage, they can become a powerful engine to tackle major global challenges.

The education system’s ability to foster key 21st century skills such as innovation, problem solving and technology literacy is crucial to ensuring a smooth transition towards a more digital world.

It has the potential to improve access and learning for children who traditionally face barriers, including girls and refugees.

GPE Tech4Ed Initiative

Scaling promising technology approaches remains a key challenge, especially in countries where contexts can vary greatly even within cities or regions. Ministries of education are challenged to effectively select and deploy technology to help address children’s access to education and learning needs.

To respond to a growing demand from partner countries for support to navigate this complex landscape, GPE has launched the Tech4Ed Initiative to support the use of technology to improve education access, learning outcomes and system efficiency.

The initiative will offer targeted, on demand support to countries for scaling up technology for education and will include an assessment and integration of technology in education strategic and operational plans.

The Initiative will also offer opportunities for peer exchange and learning between partner countries, which is an area of need that some partners have highlighted.

As a result of the Tech4Ed Initiative, education ministries will benefit from:

• Strengthened capacity to effectively identify and leverage adequate tools and resources to integrate technology across their education system;
• Strengthened ability to leverage technology to facilitate the provision of timely and relevant data for education planning and management ; and
• Better positioning to lead and coordinate cross-sectoral strategies, policies, programs and financing on Tech4Ed.

GPE has invited accredited grant agents to submit expressions of interest to further explore and identify the capabilities, expertise, solutions and innovations available to meet country-specific needs around the use of technology for education.

The selected grant agent(s) is expected to work in 2 GPE partner countries using a consortia approach, with the potential to scale support to additional countries based on initial results.

We expect that the initiative will include a window for engaging with private sector partners that have digital technology resources and expertise in partner countries, to pilot a collaboration model that includes their support.

The deadline for submission is December 20, 2023.

Way forward

As countries look to technology to help facilitate education’s transformation, GPE is well positioned to help them apply a system approach, with a focus on children facing the toughest circumstances. We are helping lay the foundation for re-imagining education and strengthening systems for future crises.

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Learn more on GPE technical assistance initiatives