Get an opportunity to pitch your tech-focused ideas that address the COVID-19 pandemic impact on education to the world’s leading education donors and funders
The EdTech Hub, mEducation Alliance, and Global Innovation Exchange (GIE) are launching a call for tech-focused ideas to respond to the learning emergency caused by COVID-19 school closures in low- and middle-income countries.
According to the latest figures released by UNESCO, over 1.5 billion learners around the world were not able to attend school or university, and 192 governments have now ordered countrywide closures of their schools and universities.
This is in addition to 258 million learners who were out of school before the outbreak of COVID-19.
Longer-term consequences of this disruption will be felt long after the immediate crisis response has passed and schools reopen, such as:
- Continued disruption of student enrolment and retention in school
- Negative impacts on the cognitive, academic and socio-emotional development of students
- Stalled or even reversed learning gains in affected regions reduced educational attainment of marginalised children, such as girls, children with disabilities, and those in refugee and internally displaced communities in particular
These impacts will be especially felt and more difficult to recover from in lower-income environments across Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Benefits of participation
- Selected applicants will be invited to virtual EdTech Pitch Days with a global network of potential funders
- Support in adapting and scaling in response to COVID-19, and connections for onward collaboration and funding.
- Receive a combination of support to scale and accelerate their ideas to help mitigate the COVID-19 learning emergency
- Addition to GIE’s COVID-19 Innovation Hub
- Direct links into programmes and matchmaking to others who are working in this space for onward collaboration.
Edtech hub seeks to support a range of technology-enabled initiatives with a focus on:
- Innovative methods for distance learning and education content for students out-of-school and in non-formal settings, particularly focused on foundation literacy and numeracy
- Support for teachers and school education leaders
Within these focus areas, Edtech hub seeks interventions that support:
- Formal assessment and examination systems
- Parents, caregivers and/or other community champions
- The psychosocial and socio-emotional impacts of COVID-19 on learners including through the use of play and games
- Marginalised learners including girls, those with disabilities and those in internally-displaced and refugee communities
- ‘Learning-adjacent’ needs such as a feeding programmes and a safe place,
- Strengthen education systems, such as data management systems for local or national governments and analysis of system readiness for use of technology
These ideas that have been proven and are more speculative will get considered:
- Initiatives with proof of impact currently working within the education sector, which could be pivoted or quickly scaled to respond to educational challenges related to COVID-19.
- ‘What if’ ideas with potential to be rapidly tested and implemented in areas of greatest need
- Ideas from anywhere: we welcome ideas from start-ups, non-profits, government officials, individual researchers, or anyone else seeking to further education outcomes during COVID-19
- Ideas that incorporate as much as possible the principles of Universal Design for Learning
- Bottom-up concepts designed and built by those affected by COVID-19.
Note that some applicants have been notified of their selection on Friday, May 15, 2020 and they will pitch on Wednesday, May 27, 2020.
The new set of applicants will get notified by Friday, May 29, 2020, and pitch on Wednesday, June 10, 2020. Interested applicants can apply here.
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