UNESCO-EBU workshop on educational broadcasting

At a time when 87% of the world’s student population is affected by COVID-19 school closures, UNESCO is launching a global education coalition to support countries in scaling up their best distance learning practices and reaching children and youth who are most at risk. Since closing schools to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have been deploying distance learning solutions and grappling with the complexity of provisioning education remotely, from delivering content and supporting teachers to providing guidance to families and addressing connectivity challenges. Equity is the paramount concern because closures disproportionately hurt vulnerable and disadvantaged students who rely on schools for a range of social services, including health and nutrition.

The Coalition, which the EBU is also part of, aims to:

• Help countries in mobilizing resources and implementing innovative and context-appropriate solutions to provide education remotely, leveraging hi-tech, low-tech and no-tech approaches
• Seek equitable solutions and universal access
• Ensure coordinated responses and avoid overlapping efforts
• Facilitate the return of students to school when they reopen to avoid an upsurge in dropout rates 

To support these goals, EBU and UNESCO are organizing a virtual workshop on educational broadcasting where three EBU Members will give presentations. This workshop is addressed to French-speaking countries in Africa, including Northern Africa, the Caribbean, Middle East (Lebanon) and the Pacific. 

Members who will speak today about their experiences are France Télévisions, Deutsche Welle and RTBF Belgium.