Teaching and the teaching profession in a digital world: COVID-19 and beyond

In January 2021, the ILO and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) launched an initiative entitled Teaching and the teaching profession in a digital world: COVID-19 and beyond. It was a second phase to an earlier ILO-GIZ initiative on Digitalization, the future of work and the teaching profession, which commenced in November 2019 and focused on five Eastern African countries. The second phase of the initiative, which built on the framework and research developed during the first phase, aimed to expand the knowledge-base on digitalization in teaching and education and promote dialogue within and between countries on existing and emerging challenges and opportunities. The partner countries of the second phase were Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Rwanda and Zambia in Africa, and Bosnia and Herzegovina and Germany in Europe. 

The second phase studies continued to explore how new technologies are impacting learning environments and the work of teachers, including in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. They aimed to identify elements contributing to successful integration of technology in teaching and learning, innovative and far-reaching digitalization initiatives and points of action and future directions for addressing challenges and ensuring equitable and inclusive integration of technology. The findings of the studies informed national discussions in the partner countries, which brought together governments and employers’ and workers’ organizations to develop actionable recommendations for inclusive and equitable approaches to digitalization in education.

The initiative aims to realize Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 on quality education, specifically target 4c, promote the principles of the ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, 1966 and contribute to the ILO’s work on the Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work, adopted in June 2019.  

Country studies

Contact us

Oliver Liang, Head of Public and Private Services Unit, liang(at)ilo.org, Sectoral Policies Department