On 24 and 25 September 2018, the UNESCO Khartoum office in collaboration with the Sudanese Ministry of Media, Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), Ministry of Education (MoE), Telecommunications and Post Regulatory Authority (TPRA), National Commission for Education, Science and Culture (NatCom), National Information Centre (NIC), UNESCO Institute for Life Long Learning in Hamburg (UIL),  International Telecommunication Union, Cairo office (ITU), organised a two day capacity building workshop on Smart Learning Policy Development, on the TPRA’s premises. Keynote speakers were H.E. Mr. Ibrahim Adam Ibrahim, the State Minister at MCIT, Dr. Yahia Abdalla, the Director General of TPRA, Dr. Pavel Kroupkine, the Head of UNESCO Khartoum office, Sara Bin Mahfouz from UNESCO HQ, Paris, and Karim Abdel Gani from ITU.

UNESCO and ITU agreed with the Sudanese MoE and MCIT to conduct a comprehensive review of Sudanese national policies for using ICT in education.  The main objective of the project is to ensure that Sudan does a good progress towards the Education 2030 Agenda targets as a part of Sustainable Development Goals in general. The policy review will contain:

A self-assessment exercise by a national team, using guidelines and technical support provided by UNESCO and ITU.

A desk-based policy research, carried out by UNESCO and ITU.

An in-country discussions to be led by UNESCO and ITU through meetings with the main stakeholders, civil society organizations, and development partners; and visits to schools and discussions with teachers, principals, families and local communities.

© UNESCO: Smart Learning Workshop in Khartoum, Sudan, on 24-25 September: the group photo.

The workshop also discussed issues linked to digital teaching and learning skills, and importance of digital literacy and a digital skills framework.