Artificial Intelligence and Education: Protecting the Heritage of Humanity

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed our lives in more ways than one. It has not just alerted us to the vulnerabilities of our health systems but also how ill-equipped our education systems are to cope with disruptions of this scale. When the pandemic forced schools to shut down and learners had to completely switch to online learning systems, the transition was anything but smooth. As part of the coordinated global education response to the COVID-19 pandemic, UNESCO, UNICEF and the World Bank conducted a Survey on National Education Responses to COVID-19 school closures. According to this joint report, 108 countries reported missing an average of 47 days of in-person instruction due to school closures - the equivalent to approximately one quarter of a regular school year – a long gap in the life of a student.