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ICT in Education Policy Review in Mongolia
In the context of education response to COVID-19 Mongolia is making rapid progress towards building an inclusive on-line learning system to ensure learning continues during crisis. In order to build a solid e-learning system, the Ministry of Education and Science had collaborated with the technical assistance of the UN Agencies (UNRC-Mongolia, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNFPA) with the funding support from UN COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund (MPTF) to build the resilience of the education system.
On February 25, UNESCO Beijing Cluster Office, in partnership with the Mongolia Ministry of Education and Science (MoES), UN Agencies and the Mongolia National Commission for UNESCO, organized the National Validation Consultation on the Draft ICT in Education Policy Review Report for Mongolia.
The consultation was conducted virtually with the participation of experts, government officials and representatives from the Mongolian Ministry of Education and Science, the Mongolian Information Technology Center of Education, the Mongolian National Commission for UNESCO, and UNICEF Mongolia. The main focus of the virtual consultation was for the Mongolian government and education stakeholders to provide feedback on the Draft ICT in Education Policy Review Report prepared by UNESCO.
The key areas covered in the discussion was the mainstreaming of ICT at all levels of the education system, capacity gaps, infrastructure, national on-line learning platform, resource constraints, policy and regulatory gaps, monitoring, financing and governance issues. The political will and commitment, ownership and alignment of ICT in education policy and plan with the national ICT policy of the Mongolia Government. The participants agreed broadly the content, structure and layout of the draft ICT in education policy review report for Mongolia.
Based on the feedback of the meeting, the points will be incorporated in the final policy review report shall be submitted the Mongolia Ministry of Education and Science. The final report will constitute of evidence-driven policy recommendations to develop the ICT in education policy and subsequently an ICT master plan for the education sector in Mongolia.
Since the closure of all schools and educational institutions on January 27, 2020 due to COVID 19, pre-primary, primary and secondary education has shifted to learning through TV to ensure a certain level of continuity in learning. The restrictions affected learning opportunity of more than 900,000 children aged under 18. Thus, the UN organizations in Mongolia launched joint project under the UN COVID-19 Response and Recovery Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) to effectively respond to the critical issues that need to be addressed in setting up a solid e-learning system for pre-primary, primary, and secondary education in the country.
Within the framework of the UN joint MPTF initiative, UNESCO Beijing Office conducted the comprehensive ICT in Education Policy Review for Mongolia in 2020. Mongolia has approved its education vision for 2050 to establish an open education system, develop an integrated e-learning and distance learning platform and to fully integrate at all levels of education to e-learning. To make this vision a reality, the Government of Mongolia will develop a ICT Policy which includes a master plan of ICT for the education sector. The policy review was necessary to assess the current situation, achievements and identify areas to be addressed to strengthen the ICT mainstreaming at all levels of the education system in Mongolia.
The review of the ICT in education policy process was very timely and relevant in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, it was necessary to align the review with the SDG 4 targets, priorities, and the Education Sector Master Plan (2021-2030). The policy review will assist Mongolia to make informed decisions on the strategies and investments in the use of ICT in education, and to prepare for the first ICT in education master plan by taking stock of the current ICT initiatives in the sub-sectors and by reflecting on the lessons learnt.
During the consultation on 25 February, brief introductions of the context and the content of the policy review report were delivered by the UNESCO Beijing Office and the UNESCO consultant who drafted the report. Mr Ganbaatar Jadamba and Mr Dunjinnamdag O., officials from the MoES, presented the ongoing ICT policy preparation and future ICT projects in Mongolia. They reiterated the importance of promoting e-learning, building ICT capacities of educators, ensuring access to and inclusiveness in ICT infrastructure, and effectively coordinating with other ministries to achieve these objectives. Mr Robert Parua, Education Programme Specialist at UNESCO Beijing Office emphasized the importance of having a regulatory framework and master plan to pull together existing ICT projects and platform under one common framework to strengthen the ICT mainstreaming at all levels of the education system. Ms. Uyanga, Secretary General of the Mongolian National Commission for UNESCO, stressed in her remarks that the development of ICTs in Education policy and open and distance learning is crucial as a key education response to the learning challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants in the consultation agreed that the final policy review report could expand the sections of the draft report on public-private partnerships coordinated by MoES related to ICT mainstreaming and on the established working group responsible to monitor progress in the implementation of various ICT initiatives and platforms.
UNESCO had provided technical assistance for several decades to its Member States to review and develop ICT policies and master plans in addition to teachers’ ICT competency, e-learning, open and distance learning, Open education resources, best practices and ICT resources and policy guidelines. UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in Bangkok has been leading the ICT in Education platform in the Asia-Pacific region and sharing best practices in other regions. UNESCO Bangkok's ICT in Education assists Member States in the development of relevant ICT in education policies and strategies by conducting policy development workshops, providing a comprehensive policy review, and facilitating regional policy dialogues.
We wish to acknowledge the contributions to the UN Response and Recovery Fund by the governments of Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Republic of Korea, Finland, New Zealand, Croatia, Iceland, Thailand, Slovak Republic and Cambodia.
Reference:
ICT in Education, UNESCO:
Policy Advice for ICT in Education, UNESCO Bangkok Office:
