Stefania Giannini, assistant director general for Education UNESCO at the Rewired Summit. Ruel Pableo for The National
Stefania Giannini, assistant director general for Education UNESCO at the Rewired Summit. Ruel Pableo for The National
Stefania Giannini, assistant director general for Education UNESCO at the Rewired Summit. Ruel Pableo for The National
Stefania Giannini, assistant director general for Education UNESCO at the Rewired Summit. Ruel Pableo for The National

Unesco and Dubai Cares tackle learning inequalities in digital age


Anam Rizvi
  • English
  • Arabic

Dubai is backing a global mission to tackle learning inequalities and deliver access to education for all in the digital age.

Dubai Cares, a philanthropic group, has joined forces with Unesco to ensure teaching practices keep pace with advances in technology. They will also promote more investment in free digital education content.

The two organisations have developed the RewirEd Declaration on Connectivity for Education in an effort to ensure no learner is left behind during a growing shift to online teaching at a time when close to half of the world's population is still without internet connectivity at home.

The partnership was announced at the RewirEd education conference at Expo 2020 Dubai on Tuesday.

“Although most countries have now rapidly moved towards remote learning, we still have over 1.3 billion children aged three to 17 who still don't have access to connectivity at their homes,” said Tariq Al Gurg, chief executive of Dubai Cares.

“It is, in fact, estimated that just under half of all households in the world have no internet connection today.

“This represents a learning inequality of the greatest proportions that can have a lasting effect on the future.

“With education becoming increasingly digital, the negative consequences of the structure and inequities increase. Therefore, as the speed of digitalisation rises, the urgency to bridge the digital divide on connected or connected individuals does.”

He said creating the declaration took more than 14 months in a process steered by Unesco.

The declaration was created with the input of a 22-person group of expert advisers and a global consultation process, involving governments, civil society, young people, teachers, researchers and private sector companies.

Mr Al Gurg said the pandemic magnified the divide that exists between those who are connected and those who are not.

“Let us remember that one small virus caused one of the biggest crises of our time, resulting in a global lockdown for the 1.6 billion children and youth and over 16 million teachers out of academic institutions in more than 190 countries,” said Mr Al Gurg.

Technology must face no barriers

Stefania Giannini, assistant director general for education at Unesco, speaking during the RewirEd summit in Dubai. Ruel Pableo for The National
Stefania Giannini, assistant director general for education at Unesco, speaking during the RewirEd summit in Dubai. Ruel Pableo for The National

Stefania Giannini, assistant director general for education at Unesco, said that too often technology and innovation benefited the privileged, so the declaration would focus on those who had been left behind.

“We must find new balance and must find new ways that work for the most in need of opportunities, for refugees, for students with disabilities, for girls and women and for teachers in remote areas,” said Ms Giannini.

She said this must be the starting point, not an afterthought.

“The second point is to expand investment in open, free and high-quality digital education content,” she said.

She said online connectivity must open doors, not be a barrier.

She said the declaration would also look at innovation in the way children were taught.

She said the world needed to stop replicating models of in-person schooling in digital spaces and work on interacting with children.

“It's about personalising learning pathways, rather than one size fits all,” she said.

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  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The Bio

Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?

1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull

2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight

3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge

4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own

5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed

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5.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh90,000 1,400m | Winner: Ajwad, Gerald Avranche, Rashed Bouresly

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7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Dh70,000 2,200m | Winner: Shareef KB, Fabrice Veron, Ernst Oertel

7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh90,000 1,500m | Winner: Bainoona, Pat Cosgrave, Eric Lemartinel

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
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Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
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Profile

Company: Justmop.com

Date started: December 2015

Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan

Sector: Technology and home services

Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai

Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month

Funding:  The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups. 

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The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo

Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm

Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm

Transmission: eight-speed auto

Price: from Dh122,745

On sale: now

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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

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Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

The most expensive investment mistake you will ever make

When is the best time to start saving in a pension? The answer is simple – at the earliest possible moment. The first pound, euro, dollar or dirham you invest is the most valuable, as it has so much longer to grow in value. If you start in your twenties, it could be invested for 40 years or more, which means you have decades for compound interest to work its magic.

“You get growth upon growth upon growth, followed by more growth. The earlier you start the process, the more it will all roll up,” says Chris Davies, chartered financial planner at The Fry Group in Dubai.

This table shows how much you would have in your pension at age 65, depending on when you start and how much you pay in (it assumes your investments grow 7 per cent a year after charges and you have no other savings).

Age

$250 a month

$500 a month

$1,000 a month

25

$640,829

$1,281,657

$2,563,315

35

$303,219

$606,439

$1,212,877

45

$131,596

$263,191

$526,382

55

$44,351

$88,702

$177,403

 

MATCH INFO

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Man of the match Harry Maguire (Manchester United)

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Jonathan Gornall, Simon & Schuster

Specs
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Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
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Updated: December 15, 2021, 3:30 AM`