The Digital Transformation of Education:: Connecting Schools, Empowering Learners

The Digital
Transformation of Education:
Connecting Schools,
Empowering Learners
September 2020
The Digital Transformation
of Education: Connecting
Schools, Empowering Learners
Acknowledgements
This report has been written collaboratively, drawing on insights and contributions from the
participants of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development’s Working Group on
School Connectivity. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the position
of the Broadband Commission members, or their affiliated organizations. As such, the views
expressed here are not attributed to any one organization or individual, except in the case studies
contributed by respective Working Group members. The Working Group was co-chaired by
Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT), ITU, Audrey
Azoulay, Director General, UNESCO, and Henrietta Fore, Executive Director, UNICEF and
consisted of Commissioners and External Experts.
The report has been written and compiled by Ana Sepúlveda and facilitated by Doreen Bogdan-
Martin (Director of Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU), Alex Wong (ITU Focal Point
and Giga Co-Lead) and Chris Fabian (UNICEF Focal Point and Giga Co-Lead), Borhene Chakroun
(UNESCO Focal Point), Anna Polomska (Broadband Commission Secretariat, ITU), and Samantha
O’Riordan (Giga Secretariat). A special word of thanks also goes to the ITU team – Miguel Alcaine,
Istvan Bozsoki, Vladimir Daigele, Jose Maria Diaz Batanero, Hani Eskandar, Aminata Amadou
Garba, John Garrity, Farid Nakhli, Sylvia Poll Ahrens, Martin Schaaper, Christine Sund, Nancy
Sundberg, Sandeep Taxali and Cleveland Thomas; Frank McCosker, Global Good Networks;
James Lo, Softbank; Fengchun Miao, UNESCO; UNICEF team – Jaime Archundia, Janice Dean,
Sophia Farrar, Sunita Grote, Aditi Poddar, and Naroa Zurutuza; Nanjira Sambuli and Kavita Gupta;
for their strategic directions and inputs into this report.
We wish to thank the Broadband Commissioners and Commissioners’ Focal Points Members
of the Working Group and External Experts for their invaluable contributions, kind reviews and
helpful comments.
Members of the Working Group
(By alphabetical order of institution, followed by alphabetical order of surname):
BROADBAND COMMISSIONERS:
• América Móvil (Carlos Jarque)

• Columbia University (Jeffrey Sachs and Radhika Iyengar)
• Digicel (Denis O'Brien and David Gaery)
• EUTELSAT IGO (Piotr Dmochowski-Lipski and Estelle Schnitzler)
• Facebook (Kevin Martin, Chris Hemmerlein, and Robert Pepper)
• Global Partnerships Forum (Amir Dossal)
• GSMA (Mats Granryd, Genaro Cruz, Lauren Dawes, and Belinda Excelby)
• Huawei (Sun Yafang and Ivan Huang)
• Inmarsat (Rupert Pearce and Donna Murphy)
• Intelsat (Stephen Spengler and Jose Toscano)
• ISOC (Andrew Sullivan and Constance Bommlear)
• ISTIC (Dato' Ir. Lee Yee Cheong)
• ITSO (Patrick Masambu and Renata David)
• ITU (Doreen Bogdan-Martin)
• KT Corporation, (Dr Ku and Byungki Oh)
• Microsoft (Paul Mitchell)
• MTN (Rob Shuter and Mophete Molestane)
• Nokia (Pekka Lundmark)
• Novartis Foundation (Ann Aerts and Lucy Seitan)
• Rwanda (Patrick Nyrishema)
• UNCTAD (Mukhisa Kituyi and Severine Excoffier)
• UNESCO (Audrey Azoulay)
• UNHCR (Filippo Grandi, Olivier Madjora, Dustin Okazaki, Jacqueline Strecker, John Warnes,
and Eva Zakie)
• UNICEF (Henrietta Fore)
• Verizon (Hans Vestberg, Sarah Altschuller and Nicole Karlebach)
• World Bank (Makhtar Diop, Doyle Gallegos, Boutheina Guermazi, and Lucine Park)
• World Childhood Foundation USA (Dr. Joanna Rubinstein and Lina Fernández)
• Worldwide Web Foundation (Adrian Lovett and Sonia Jorge)
EXTERNAL EXPERTS:
• ACTAI Global (Bill Tai)

• Artificial Intelligence Development (Kathleen Siminyu)
• AT&T (Amy Alvarez)
• Blue Like An Orange Sustainable Capital (Amer Baig)
• Center for Innovation in Brazilian Education (Lucia Dellagnelo)
• Convergence Partners (Andile Ngcaba)
• DBSA (Mohan Vivekanandan)
• DIAL (Laura Walker McDonald)
• Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation, Sierra Leone (David Sengeh)
• Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General (David Kelly)
• Fundación CEIBAL (Maria Florencia Ripani)
• Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children (Marija Manojlovic and Howard Taylor)
• Government of Kenya (Rose Mosero Maina and Philip Thigo)
• Government of Niger (Ibrahima Guimba Saido)
• IADB (Antonio García Zaballos)
• IEEE (Sampathkumar Veeraraghavan)
• Instituto de Informática Educativa (Enrique Hinostroza)
• Intel (Turhan Muluk and John Roman)
• LAMAP Foundation (David Jasmin)
• NetHope (Lauren Woodman)
• New York Academy of Science (Ellis Rubinstein)
• Norad (Liv Marte Nordhaug)
• NYU (Angelina Fisher)
• Olin College of Engineering; Mangata Networks (Whitney Lohmeyer)
• People Centered Internet (Mei Lin Fung)
• PowerSchool Group (Mike Lawrence)
• Brazilian Network Information Center (NIC.br) / Regional Center for Studies on the
Development of the Information Society (Cetic.br). (Alexandre Barbosa)
• Royal Holloway, University of London (Tim Unwin)
• Smithsonian Science Education Center (Carol O'Donnell)
• Social Accelerator for a Green Economy (Naza Alakija)
• SoftBank (Catherine Lenson)
• Teach for All (Tarek Chehidi)
• Telecom Infra Project (Vishal Mathur)
• UNESCO-UNEVOC (Shyamal Majumdar)
• United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (Vera Songwe)
• University College London (Mutlu Cukurova)
• University of Johannesburg (Shafika Isaacs)
• University of Pennsylvania (Christopher Yoo)
• Virgin Orbit (Monica Jan)
• Zerde National Infocommunication Holding, Kazhakstan (Pavel Koktyshev)
© International Telecommunication Union, United Nations Educational, Scientific

and Cultural Organization, and United Nations Children’s Fund 2020.
DISCLAIMER
The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply
the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of ITU and of the Secretariat of the ITU,
UNESCO or UNICEF concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its
authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
The mention of specific companies or of certain manufacturers’ products does not imply that they
are endorsed or recommended by ITU, UNESCO or UNICEF in preference to others of a similar
nature that are not mentioned. Errors and omissions excepted, the names of proprietary products
are distinguished by initial capital letters.
All reasonable precautions have been taken by ITU to verify the information contained in this
publication. However, the published material is being distributed without warranty of any kind,
either expressed or implied. The responsibility for the interpretation and use of the material lies
with the reader.
The opinions, findings and conclusions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect
the views of ITU, UNESCO or UNICEF or their membership.
ISBN:
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978-92-61-32261-8 (Electronic version)
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978-92-61-32281-6 (MOBI version)

Foreword
In today’s increasingly digital world, 3.6 billion people still have no access to the Internet. Those
without access are typically the most vulnerable: minorities, people with disabilities, indigenous and
marginalized groups, as well as women, children and youth from disadvantaged socio-economic
backgrounds or living in areas affected by conflict and violence. Lack of Internet access reduces
paths to a world of information available online, and limits the potential to learn and grow, all of
which contribute to the digital divide. If we are to succeed in “Leaving no one behind”, as established
in the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda, then we need to ensure that we are working to provide
everyone, especially children and young people, with safe and secure access to the Internet, not
to mention the digital skills they need to learn and improve their lives.
The COVID-19 crisis has shown us how Internet connectivity is crucial to everyday activities such
as work, learning and staying in touch with family and friends. Children lacking quality and reliable
Internet access were disproportionately impacted by global shutdowns, as they were unable to
continue their education. Today more than ever, there is a need to strengthen national infrastructure
to ensure that connectivity is more widely available. Equally important is the need to strengthen
school connectivity plans and to invest in quality learning in order to improve the educational
access, learning outcomes and earning potential of young people, as well as the socio-economic
development of their communities and countries.
The Broadband Commission Working Group on School Connectivity was launched in September
2019 with the goal of addressing the global school connectivity challenge. Co-chaired by the
ITU, UNESCO and UNICEF, this group brings together Broadband Commissioners, development
partners and external experts to examine the issues faced by many governments when developing
and deploying school connectivity initiatives. Over the past year, the Working Group has shared
experiences, examined innovative ideas, and documented case studies to help countries address
this issue. Discussions looked at ways to better understand the school connectivity landscape and
requirements, evaluate the benefits of different technologies for different environments, and analyze
business and financial models, as well as suitable content articulating connectivity with quality, safe,
and inclusive learning. Using schools as an access point to provide meaningful connectivity to
communities and citizens was another key driver behind the efforts of the Working Group.
The Working Group provided advice for the development of two global initiatives aimed at connecting
schools to the Internet: Giga, a joint initiative between ITU and UNICEF to connect every school to the
Internet and every young person to information, opportunity, and choice; and UNESCO’s e-schools
Initiative, which seeks to ensure the value for learning of connectivity and to align infrastructure
investment with education sector plans and ICT in education policies. This has led to the recognition
of the Giga Initiative in the UN Secretary General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation as a Key Way
Forward in developing regional infrastructure and accelerating digital connectivity. It has also
contributed to the work and initiatives of the Global Education Coalition launched by UNESCO in
2020 to support the continuity of learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the Working Group on School
Connectivity for their valuable input and commitment. With their combined knowledge, resources
and expertise, we have produced a comprehensive report that builds upon the lessons learned by
previous school connectivity initiatives, establishing a solid foundation for future work.
Today there is an unprecedented opportunity to address the issue of education and connectivity
both at school and at home. Together we can help close the digital divide and work towards
connecting all schools to the Internet, making sure that every young person has safe access to
the information, opportunity and choice they need to fulfill their potential. We ask the members
of the Working Group to join our efforts by leveraging their respective resources and networks
to turn our discussions into actions. Join ITU and UNICEF in their efforts to connect every school
in the world through Giga, and follow our progress through the Giga Interim Experts Group, and
support UNESCO and the 150 partners in the Global Education Coalition as they work to provide
connectivity to all teachers and learners.
We also ask the Working Group and other members of the Broadband Commission to build on
outcomes and capitalize on the momentum for technology in education. Only in this way can we
ensure that connectivity is a driver for inclusive and gender-equal learning, employability and
v
livelihoods especially for the most marginalized. This is the goal of the political process that UNESCO
intends to launch with a view to adopting a declaration on connectivity for education by 2021.
Governments, international organizations, industry, civil society and the wider community need
to act in a collaborative and aligned fashion, not only by placing emphasis on infrastructure,
affordability, regulatory and technology-related challenges, but also by focusing on closing the
gaps between learners and teachers when it comes to digital and literacy skills.
Schools need to continue being a safe place where children and youth can gather, grow and learn.
Through connectivity, schools and other education institutions can become hubs of knowledge,
prosperity, and sustainable development.
Audrey Azoulay, Director General, UNESCO, Co-Vice Chair of the Broadband Commission.
Henrietta Fore, Executive Director, UNICEF.
Houlin Zhao, Secretary-General, ITU, Co-Vice Chair of the Broadband Commission.
Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT), ITU and

Executive Director of the Broadband Commission.
vi
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements �� ii
Foreword�� v
Index of boxes, figures and tables�� ix
Executive Summary�� x
SECTION A. CONNECTING SCHOOLS�� xi

SECTION B. EMPOWERING LEARNERS�� xvii
Introduction �� 1
How the COVID-19 pandemic forced the digital transformation of education��3

Why connecting schools and learners is of utmost importance…now!��5
The Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development and the
Working Group on School Connectivity��6
Objectives and Structure of the Report��11
Section A. CONNECTING SCHOOLS ��12
1. MAP the schools��16
1.1 Methodology for mapping schools and their connectivity��20

1.2 Frameworks and principles for collecting, validating, sharing, and
governing data��24
1.3 Conclusions ��27
1.4 Case Studies ��28
1.4.1 Kyrgyzstan��29
1.4.2 Brazil��31
1.4.3 Sierra Leone��34
1.4.4 Ghana and Mali��37
2. CONNECT the schools��39
2.1 Methodology and principles for connecting schools��41

2.2 Tools for Implementation – ITU’s Last Mile Connectivity (LMC) Toolkit��49
2.3 Conclusions ��51
2.4 Case Studies��52
2.4.1 Nicaragua��52
2.4.2 Suriname��53
vii
2.4.3 Turkey�� 56
2.4.4 Brazil- Amazonia�� 58
3. FINANCE School Connectivity�� 60
3.1 Methodology and financial model for school connectivity�� 62

3.2 Why investing in school connectivity �� 74
3.3 Conclusions�� 75
3.4 Case Studies �� 76
3.4.1 Malawi�� 76
3.4.2 Caribbean Regional Communications Infrastructure Program
(CARCIPP)�� 79
Section B. EMPOWERING LEARNERS��81
4. EMPOWER Learners�� 87
4.1 High quality content, solutions and platforms for empowering learners
and teachers�� 87
4.2 Approach for identifying and deploying high-quality content, solutions
and platforms�� 88
4.3 Child Online Protection (COP)�� 95
4.4 Conclusions��104
4.5 Case Studies��105
4.5.1 Uruguay’s Plan Ceibal ��106
4.5.2 Niger’s Smart Villages��108
4.5.3 Rwanda Child Online Protection��110
4.5.4 Ukraine Child Online Protection��112
5. Going Forward��115
How To Get Involved��119
ACRONYMS��120
REFERENCES��125
viii
Index of boxes, figures and tables
Boxes
Box 1. Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development 2025 Targets.

Targets 2, 3,4, and 7.�� 7
Box 2. Giga.�� 9
Box 3. UNESCO's e-school Initiative.�� 10
Box 4. Giga. Mapping Schools Location and their Connectivity.�� 24
Box 5. Giga. Connectivity Tools.�� 50
Box 6. Giga. From Aggregating Demand, to Facilitating Access to Financing
School Connectivity.�� 63
Box 7. Giga. Stakeholder Groups for Financing School Connectivity.�� 64
Box 8. Giga. Financial Services Model.�� 73
Box 9. Digital Public Goods and the Digital Public Goods Alliance.�� 86
Box 10. Giga. Empowering Learners through Country Activities.��102
Box 11. UNESCO's Model for Technology-Enabled Schools.��103
Figures
Figure 1. Rwanda School Mobile Coverage. Giga Mapping.�� 20

Figure 2. Kyrgyzstan School Connectivity Before Giga Mapping. �� 30
Figure 3. Kyrgyzstan School Connectivity Following Giga Mapping and
Improvement Measures.�� 30
Figure 4. Distance to the Nearest Transmission Network Node (yellow lines).�� 36
Figure 5. Axes for Categorization of Technology Interventions.�� 42
Figure 6. Dimensions and Iterative Approach for Selecting Technology
Solutions for School Connectivity.�� 48
Figure 7. Business Model for the Return on Investment (ROI) of School
Connectivity.�� 66
Figure 8. Population within Reach of Fiber. March, 2019.�� 71
Figure 9. Kenya's Example - Value of Mobile Money Transactions and
Projected Growth in e-Commerce.�� 74
Tables
Table 1. Proportion of Schools with Access to Internet for Pedagogical

Purposes, 2017 or 2018 (%).�� 18
Table 2. Summary - Cost Structure for School Connectivity, Funding and
Expected Returns.�� 67
Table 3. Opportunities, Impact and Outcomes.�� 68
Table 4. Some Examples of Political and Regulatory Risk Mitigation Instruments.�� 70
Table 5. Supply and Demand Factors Affecting Scale Up of High-Quality
Learning Content and Solutions.�� 94
Table 6. Resources on Child Online Protection.�� 99
ix
Executive Summary
Education, the Internet and broadband connectivity have a tremendous potential to solve
some of the world’s most pressing challenges including the achievement of the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs). Nevertheless, today 3.6 billion people still have no access to the
Internet and about 258 million children are out of school. For those enrolled and attending
school, the COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented challenge, forcing 94 percent of
learners worldwide to continue their education at home regardless of whether they were lucky
enough to have connectivity and safe access to the Internet. The pandemic has undoubtedly
caused a big impact to the global outlook for connectivity and education; it could even reverse
some of the progress made in recent years in the attainment of the SDGs, especially those related
to education, gender equality, industry, innovation and infrastructure, reduced inequality, and
the promotion of peace and end of violence and abuse.
But not everything related to the pandemic is negative. The COVID-19 crisis also brought much
needed attention to the importance of connectivity both at school and at home. It also brought
a deeper understanding of the many dimensions of the digital divide, equity gaps, and issues
around children’s safety online. It showed governments the need to work closer with development
partners to remove technological barriers and lower connectivity costs, as well as the need to
invest in digital infrastructure and digital literacy, especially for marginalized populations.
The Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development advocates, showcases and

documents the power of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and broadband-
based technologies in achieving the SDGs. It has set seven ambitious targets to be accomplished
by 2025, four of which are specifically linked to affordability, connectivity, digital skills, and
empowerment of youth and adults. The Working Group on School Connectivity, co-chaired by
the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency
Fund (UNICEF), and established by Broadband Commissioners and other development partners
and external experts, advocates and provides advice and guidance for the implementation of
key projects aimed at connecting schools to the Internet and at turning schools into entry points
for connecting entire communities.
This report is the result of the effort, research and discussions held during the past year by the
Working Group on School Connectivity and identifies a set of core principles, which aim to help
governments and other interested stakeholders to develop more holistic school connectivity
plans. It focuses on school connectivity and introduces a methodology and framework for
connecting primary and secondary schools to the Internet based on a four pillars approach:
MAP, CONNECT, FINANCE and EMPOWER.
Getting all schools of the world connected to the Internet is indeed an ambitious task requiring
multiple stakeholder collaboration to identify: where schools are actually located, the reasons
why they are disconnected in the first place, and how they can serve as anchors for demand
aggregation. Furthermore, it recognizes the importance of analyzing a variety of technologies
and funding mechanisms to increase affordable and safe Internet access in schools, especially in
hard to reach areas. But equally important, it looks at the human element of connectivity, and the
type of solutions and content that can help empower learners, teachers and entire communities
once connectivity has been established. Schools are at the center of most communities the
x
world over, and so the power of meaningful connectivity can also help them transform into
digital hubs of prosperity.
The content of this report has been developed based on the outcomes of the discussions
and the consultation process provided by the Working Group to two global initiatives aimed
at connecting schools to the Internet and at turning schools into entry points for bringing
connectivity to entire communities: Giga and UNESCO’s e-schools Initiative. The Executive
Summary compiles hereunder the core principles and some of the key insights and conclusions
outlined in the report, which address the issue of school connectivity across the above-
mentioned pillars.
SECTION A. CONNECTING SCHOOLS

• All children must have access to high quality education; articles 28 and 29 of the United
Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) clearly state the importance of
the right to learn and the goals education should pursue. Having access to high quality
education is undisputable and should be granted to every child regardless of its gender,
ethnicity, socio-economic background, geographic location, legal or refugee status, and
personal, physical or cognitive abilities.
• Connectivity and access to information can pave the way to providing other essential
services such as health to children and can also play a very important role in the creation
of opportunities that uplift entire communities. Schools are therefore a very important unit
for aggregating demand for connectivity as they can also serve as an anchor to further
connect and empower the communities that surround them. Connecting schools to the
Internet has a broader impact and therefore should not be seen as a mere “education”
related effort.
• Accurate data about schools’ location is critical to the provision of high-quality education
and the promotion of life-long learning (SDG4), to ensure equal access to opportunity
(SDG10), and eventually to reduce poverty (SDG1).
1. MAP THE SCHOOLS
• Mapping schools and their connectivity is a core building block for any strategy or
connectivity plan; knowing where schools are and what they need, as well as preparing
the ICT landscape should be the first steps towards school connectivity.
• Accurate Mapping of school locations and their connectivity can help governments
improve their overall education system and development goals by:
o Helping estimate data about the number of children out of school, and in conjunction
with other elements, help identify factors that impact learning outcomes.
o Having a publicly available baseline dataset, which can help ensure that equity is at the
core of national connectivity programs and that necessary resources such as access to
information and opportunities also reach the most vulnerable.
o Aggregating demand, thereby providing governments with the tools they need to
build a more solid business case for investing in un-served and underserved areas.
o Better estimating the costs and requirements of extending broadband connectivity to
every school and classrooms through the overlaying of school connectivity data with
other datasets such as topography, electricity or infrastructure. This helps governments
enable the development of appropriate financial models thereby unlocking the
corresponding sources of funding.
o Using comprehensive datasets around educational facilities to inform programs across
different sectors (i.e. health, education, emergency preparedness and response),
xi
improving planning and resource allocation for governments and international
organizations.
o Using data better to coordinate delivery and response efforts during national or global
emergency crises such as forced displacement or the COVID -19 pandemic: better
estimations of the number of children impacted and their educational needs; broader
understanding on how to provide critical information and other supplies to schools
and communities; better mapping the levels of vulnerability of the communities
surrounding schools.
o Using reliable data on the number of schools, children and communities impacted to
identify gaps, better design national tenders or bids for school connectivity programs,
and mobilize the necessary funds to get all schools connected.
o Using reliable research and survey data to better understand existing digital inequalities
in schools, providing feedback to policymakers to incorporate changes in ongoing
policies or other actions that may be formulated.
o Bridging digital gaps and working towards the attainment of the sustainable
development goal SDG4.
• Real time monitoring of school connectivity:
o Is a way to address challenges faced by governments when monitoring progress

of school connectivity programs at scale. It provides a means to hold providers
accountable in the fulfillment of their contractual obligations regarding connectivity
levels, by allowing decision makers to monitor progress in the implementation of their
connectivity programs. This helps reduce inefficiencies, and increase transparency.
o Might also help governments optimize their education systems by improving the
measurement of data around broadband Internet connectivity, schools, and education
services as a whole. Moreover, once schools are connected, the concept of real time
monitoring can also be used as part of the overall school connectivity strategy, to
measure data and real time progress of learning outcomes, as well as the real time
needs of students and teachers. Real time monitoring is a powerful evidence for multiple
stakeholders to advocate for increased and meaningful connectivity around the world.
o Might also help governments optimize their education systems by allowing school
actors (teachers, students) and community (parents, mediators) to monitor schools’
infrastructure reality, making comparisons, identifying, gaps and empowering them
to act as transforming agents of their present and future possibilities.
• Data analysis allows policymakers to assess and monitor policies’ effectiveness and
anticipate outcomes. Data analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based systems can
benefit from real-time data to work on predictive models that allow a better understanding
of school and policy settings. Using reliable data on where schools are, which schools need
broadband connectivity (and how much), and how many children and their communities
are impacted, helps governments identify gaps, better design national tenders, and
national/regional bids for school connectivity programs and mobilize the necessary funds
to get them connected.
• Data Sharing Principles:
o Public data gathered with public money creates public goods. Digital cooperation is a
key enabler for school connectivity. It is reflected in the priorities of many organizations
and recommended by the United Nations Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on
Digital Cooperation.
xii
o School location data is a public good. The ability to know where education and other
foundational resources can be found is a public good, similar to any health center or
government building. In most places where data exists, school locations are already
shared publicly on sites like Google Maps, 2GIS, and OpenStreetMaps.
o Child Online Protection should always be prioritized. Adherence to Child Data
Protection Policies and Principles of Responsible Data for Children is of utmost
importance and relevance. Mapping initiatives should aim to provide information
that can have a positive impact without putting children at risk.
• Data sharing frameworks must differentiate between raw vs. processed connectivity data.
School demographic data for example, should always be treated as sensitive.
• Connectivity data is critical to the mission of connecting every school to the Internet; this
data is essential in order to determine where and how connectivity must be extended.
• Mapping schools and their connectivity is a major but necessary undertaking for any
country, which requires the collaboration of multiple stakeholders and the development of
consistent and thorough frameworks and principles for collecting, validating, maintaining,
safeguarding, sharing and governing data.
Giga. Mapping of School Connectivity. 2020 (www.projectconnect.world).
2. CONNECT THE SCHOOLS
The following principles are recommended when designing a methodology for connecting schools:
1. Reviewing the already existing options for connectivity
• After the mapping of schools has taken place, all existing solutions and interventions
for connectivity must be analyzed. In here it is key to look at: the types of interventions
currently available, the schools’ connectivity requirements, affordable business models,
as well as technology and regulatory frameworks.
• A proper analysis of a school’s connectivity requirements must be done considering
the needs of teachers, learners, administrators and parents alike.
• Understanding the school’s readiness and that of the country’s educational system
is primal to integrating connectivity. School readiness refers not only to technology
and infrastructure, but also to the human and regulatory aspects (educators’ adoption
readiness, regulation, government support, and data privacy policies). It also refers to
xiii
the readiness of the community to which the school belongs: parents and children’s
basic knowledge and awareness of the Internet, its benefits and risks.
• When evaluating business models that could help increase school connectivity, is always
useful to consider different mechanisms to target remote and hard to reach areas by
looking at aggregating demand and by clustering schools according to socio-economic
indicators, proximity to backhaul, urban vs. rural, and Ministries of Education related
criteria. Governments must see schools as anchors of the surrounding communities.
• When it comes to connecting schools to the Internet, there is no one fit all technology.
Connectivity models and interventions must be technology agnostic and respond to
specific needs of the target populations. There are many technologies that can support
governments’ connectivity plans and their efforts for getting schools connected to the
Internet. Different technologies can be used depending on the context, the specific
connectivity needs and the intended usage. In many instances it might even be required
to mix different types of technologies in order to grant connectivity. The end result
should be to provide schools with affordable, fast and high quality connectivity, a
goal that should be technology independent.
2. Selecting affordable, financially viable and sustainable solutions
• Identifying the most feasible and affordable connectivity solution should be an

iterative process requiring identification and refinement of the options made within
the principles of Affordability, Usage, Financial Viability, Structure and Sustainability:
o Affordability. Ensuring that connectivity service user pricing falls within

affordability thresholds.
o Usage. Identifying the applications and services that need to be available, and the
level of Quality of Service (QoS), that those applications and services require.
o Finance Viability. In the case of schools connectivity projects (as these often are
associated with high socio-economic pay offs even with limited financial viability),
this principle is more focused towards “efficiency” or choosing the right technology
option/business model to connect schools.
o Structure. Articulation of the business model of the service delivery, and identifying
any regulatory constraints on the model and technologies utilized.
o Sustainability. An understanding of the revenue model of the service, and any
potential subsidy (one-time, and/or recurring) if necessary.
3. Implementing interventions
• Must be done considering present and future usage needs for all stakeholders
(students, teachers, administrators, community), and understanding the school and
community readiness and that of the education system (learning programs, teacher
skills, training needs, percent of computers at schools and homes, child online
protection and safeguarding).
• School location and basic indicators of infrastructure needs to be shared across ministries
(cross-sectorial data share). This will ensure that integrated solutions will reach the
schools in terms of health, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), nutrition and others.
• Connectivity models and interventions must allow for expansion of economically feasible
service provision and cater for one-time financing or limited subsidy interventions that
de-risk private investment.
• Enabling policies and regulatory frameworks should adopt flexible “light-touch”, multi-
sectorial, forward-looking, neutral and transparent policy and regulatory approaches.
xiv
These should foster competitive and investment friendly environments, and provide
incentive regulations for infrastructure, service and applications development while
achieving social goals. School connectivity and the effective management and use of
real-time data, can help make and accelerate policy decisions to achieve the SDGs.
• An ambitious (yet realistic) vision of school connectivity should include safe “out
of school” access to the Internet and should be supported by the appropriate
technologies that enable high quality learning. An active involvement of the different
key stakeholders, a strong commitment from the government, as well as the local
community (including teachers and students), is key for any effort oriented towards
mapping and connecting schools. Recognizing that there is no one-way to connect
schools and that all relevant options, technologies and approaches are valid is also a
critical element for success.
© UNICEF/UNI232306/Noorani
A girl child smiles while using her tablet at the UNICEF supported Debate e-Learning Centre in a village on the outskirts
of Kassala in Eastern Sudan.
3. FINANCE SCHOOL CONNECTIVITY
• School connectivity has the potential to bring in long term returns through economic
growth coming from more skilled and knowledgeable populations that create stronger
digital economies with higher consuming spending power. Ensuring affordability of access
to reliable, fast and secure networks (as well as to devices and equipment) is of utmost
importance to guarantee long-term success in any school connectivity plan.
xv
• Developing a holistic approach enables the overall sustainability of connectivity plans; a
holistic approach includes boosting the demand side, ensuring access to relevant content and
services (including government services), and building capacity to teach the skills needed to
go online and be able to use those tools. Any government support for broadband networks
aiming for a holistic approach should ensure that these issues have been addressed, to
increase uptake and usage, which in turn will help to promote further investment.
• Financing connectivity should be technology agnostic and establish a model that awards
business to the most appropriate solutions based on specific connectivity requirements.
Identifying the most feasible and affordable connectivity solution should be an iterative
process requiring identification and refinement of the options made within the principles
of Affordability, Usage, Financial Viability, Structure and Sustainability.
• Affordable and economically sustainable financial models for last mile connectivity must
engage the community who would be the customers of the new service, in a participatory,
multi-stakeholder process.
• Aggregating demand helps tackle costs, generate economic returns, and bring
investment by:
o Clustering attractive opportunities for investment thus creating “clusters of connectivity

demands”, which could reduce information asymmetries, fragmented offerings and
models, and ultimately lower the costs of deploying or expanding connectivity.
o Providing an opportunity to combine different levels of risks in the same “package”,
facilitating access to finance to those countries/locations that may be perceived as
higher risks and making the overall package more interesting to investors.
o Using schools as anchor for demand aggregation. They are physical places to which
students can relate to and benefit from a safe and secure space to learn. Moreover,
they are also neuralgic cells, which can act as an anchor for connecting and uplifting
the communities that surround them, and making a more attractive case for investment
in un-served and underserved areas.
• When building a case for investment in school connectivity projects, governments must
think of models that target the interests and needs of several stakeholders according to
key principles that ensure inclusiveness and openness. This can be achieved by:
o Using principles for data transparency, regulatory reform and public financing to help
establish the “case for investment”.
o Leveraging public sector funding to subsidize the creation of fast-growing connectivity
markets that enable private investors to achieve outsized returns comparable to those
of typical private sector infrastructure financing projects.
o Developing cost models from the bottom up (by using school location and user
profiles to determine school bandwidth needs, the appropriate last mile technology
solutions and the costs to procure and maintain that technology), which help develop
targeted and more structured investment and business models.
o Introducing concepts such as cost sharing of network deployment to the extent
possible for the last mile; this helps strengthen the business case and ensures inclusion
of un-served and underserved populations.
o Combining private and public funding and establishing partnerships to cover
connectivity infrastructure, build out, and operation costs to offer a more holistic
approach to financing of school connectivity.
o Using private venture capital to cover community empowerment related costs that
could contribute to the development of local entrepreneurship ecosystems.
xvi
o Projecting revenue from the economic growth and Internal Rate of Return (IRR%) from
connected communities.
o Using best practices in accountability and governance to help assess the level of
investment needed for deploying solutions, building capacity, and ensuring economic
sustainability.
• Finding solutions to address school connectivity challenges depends on understanding the

reasons on why schools are not connected in the first place, as well as on the “opportunities”
that could be used to maximize investment. Careful identification and assessment of
“opportunities” can help reduce cost or increase value so that there is a business case for
investment. Understanding the impact of “opportunities” in lowering costs and enhancing
returns can help create attractive packages for funders and donors. It might even contribute
to de-risk investments in technology.
• The development of proactive risk mitigation measures, including and in particular
political and regulatory risk mitigation will be essential to attract investors.
SECTION B. EMPOWERING LEARNERS

4. EMPOWER LEARNERS
• The success of school connectivity programs requires a comprehensive approach; it

equally depends in addressing supply side related challenges (e.g. access to infrastructure,
affordability, regulation, and available technologies that are safe for children), as well as
in addressing demand driven factors like: digital skills and literacy barriers; open, relevant
and localized educational content; lack of awareness of the importance of connectivity;
fear of adoption, as well as socio-cultural norms that exclude minorities and girls.
• Educators are powerful change agents who can deliver the educational response needed
to achieve the SDGs. Their knowledge and competencies are essential for restructuring
educational processes and educational institutions towards sustainability.
• Education systems all over the world need to regularly update and reform teacher
preparation and professional development programs to ensure that all teachers can
harness technology for education.
• Education and connectivity must serve a greater purpose than merely getting schools
online: they must empower learners and help them develop the self-discipline and self-
responsibility required to move forward in life, and the resilience and confidence needed
to face life challenges.
• EMPOWER is about bringing solutions for learning on top of connectivity; it is also about
facilitating access to partners, resources and technical assistance that increase access to
information, opportunity and choice for children as well as safety, once connectivity has
been established.
• EMPOWER is also about helping governments identify, assess and support solutions that
facilitate the use of digital technologies for quality learning in school environments and through
remote learning, as well as guarantee inclusiveness, facilitate local ownership and decision
making, and generate value for the countries developing and deploying these solutions.
• School connectivity must also be about empowering those who are online by providing
them with high quality, meaningful, inclusive and relevant content that is accessible
through safe and secure platforms and delivered by innovative methods of instruction.
• For the purpose of this report, high quality, meaningful, inclusive and relevant content
refers to: resources, tools, and applications, learning material, solutions, platforms and
Open Educational Resources (OERs) that meet the needs of the learner alongside with
those of teachers and instructors, who also play an essential role in the achievement of
learning outcomes. This type of content, solutions, applications and platforms, should
have the following characteristics:
xvii
o Should be developed by taking into account the local context and language of the
school and the surrounding community.
o Should be ambitious in order to provide learners with knowledge, skills, values, and
attitudes that allow them to reach their highest potential, to protect themselves, and
to thrive in society.
o Should prepare learners for a faster, more connected, and uncertain world by
equipping them with core competencies in: communication, collaboration, critical
thinking, creativity, problem solving, and appreciation of diversity, environmental
consciousness, and learning to learn techniques.
o Must be inclusive, thereby addressing the needs of girls, children and youth belonging
to minorities, indigenous and marginalized groups, refugees and forcibly displaced
populations, as well as children with disabilities.
o Must be suitable and safe, and must be developed and delivered according to
principles that guarantee the online protection of children at all times.
o Must be deemed most appropriate by teachers in order to advance the learning of
their students. Efforts should be made to give teachers a wide selection of content;
schools should work to obtain content recommended by teachers and, whenever
possible, give teachers the ability to tailor content or make their own.
o Should be built on the basis of open copyrights and open source codes and under
open ecosystem principles, so users are not thrust into others’ walled gardens.
o Must be made available online to every child and young person in the world and
facilitate local ownership and decision making, while generating value for the local
ecosystems creating and deploying these solutions.
o The school closures generated through the pandemic highlighted the fact that a
great percentage of children and young people among vulnerable populations in the
developing world have no access or limited access to the Internet. Learning content
should be made accessible online in formats that are also suitable to low connectivity
contexts, and alternative analogue platforms if necessary.
xviii
© UNICEF/UNI320750/Frank Dejongh
Ange, an 8 year old girl, is preparing herself to take classes on television at home, in Man, in the West of Côte d'Ivoire.
• When assessing high quality content and solutions the following dimensions must be
considered:
o Ensuring “product quality and openness”.

o Usability of the content or solutions and how they will be used in real life contexts;
integration of solutions in the education processes; usage in building teachers
capacities; monitoring and evaluating its use, and adaptability to local contexts.
o Inclusion to local Edtech providers who can adopt, curate, support and build on top
of solutions. This third dimension is critical to ensure that content and solutions will be
owned, maintained and adapted by the local publishing ecosystem to ensure cultural
appropriateness and relevance to local contexts.
• Vetting criteria must be put in place for examining digital solutions and content, specifically
related to educational outcomes, impact and adaptability to local context. Vetting,
assessment, and monitoring of content and solutions should also be real time and include
principles and practices for Child Online Protection. Moreover, vetting criteria should be
applied to both: educational content and cultural consumptions. Since almost half of the
population has no access to the Internet, there is still a large dependency on radio and TV
content for pedagogical continuity; vetting criteria should also be applied to the content
delivered through these channels.
• In order to increase access to vetted and secure content, it is important to determine value
added business models that can be applicable for the learning content and solutions selected.
These must be developed in accordance to the context of the country where those solutions
and content will be deployed and used. This also implies localization and translation efforts,
and ensuring that vetted solutions adhere to cyber-security practices, and the principles of
intellectual property, data privacy, data ownership, and Child Online Protection.
• Teachers are another element to help increase access. The way in which they interact with
open educational resources and digital content; how they incorporate new pedagogical
xix
practices for interactive learning, and whether they have the appropriate skills set to do
that, highly impacts adoption and usage of digital content in the classroom.
• Institutional capacity and the development of local ecosystems for the production
of vetted, high – quality content and Digital Public Goods (DPGs) are also key to the
sustainability of any school connectivity program. Moreover, the human factor is one of
the key ingredients for making connectivity work for learning. Teachers are key in driving
successful adoption of high quality content, DPGs, and technology. Teacher training
allows them not only to acquire new skills and competences, but also to overcome fears
of using technology; this in turn helps in the deployment and adoption of online tools
and content, and empowers them to become more vested in the process of vetting and
assessing those solutions.
• When deploying and using learning content and solutions, planning and allocating
resources and partners that could provide support in local adoption, rollout and piloting
activities, must be accounted for, as well as support for increasing usage of vetted content.
Community approaches that leverage teacher engagement to produce and publish
content helps increase adoption and enrich platforms while creating ownership, and
increasing visibility.
• Monitoring and assessing the learning outcomes that should occur through the delivery
of high quality online content and DPGs is essential when evaluating the success of any
connectivity initiative.
• Child Online Protection (COP) must be a top priority not only for governments, but also
for providers, the private sector and all stakeholders involved in education and technology.
There is a need for stronger collaboration among these stakeholders to disseminate and
enforce many of the tools already available. Access to the Internet needs to take place in
a safe and secure way that protects children from online dangers:
o Children are more acceptive of new tools and technology and therefore they should
be actively encouraged to adopt and use the tools that empower them and help to
avoid risks in the online space.
o Children need to be empowered with information and tools for online safety (incl.
raising awareness about how to report and respond to harmful content and abuse).
o Parenting guidance and advice is also needed to prevent children from online harm
(including improving parent’s digital literacy).
o Online learning experiences must be created “safe” for students from the beginning on.
o Making online platforms safe and accessible for children (including through
collaboration with industry and regulators) should be a priority for governments and
the industry.
o Governments need to strengthen their national preparedness and response (incl.
through legislative action) to address the issue of Child Online Protection.
o More collaboration needs to take place between governments and the tech industry
to integrate safety into their products according to “safety by design” principles.
o Child Online Safety (COS) education should be mandatory for students, teachers
and caregivers.
o Detection and reporting of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) on educational
platforms should also be mandatory.
o The private sector should make available broadcasting capacity for Child Online Protection.
It should also provide safe, secured and transparent platforms for education and digital
tools for children, parents and teachers, and provide access to reporting mechanisms.
o Children and their communities should be better prepared for interacting and learning
online. There is a need to raise awareness among communities about the importance of
xx
COP even before connectivity arrives. As the required infrastructure might take time to
be deployed, it is important to provide communities with tools regarding digital skills and
basic knowledge on online safety so children are ready when connectivity is established.
o Governments also need to encourage/promote the development at national level of
an appropriate regulatory framework and environment for data protection and privacy:
ethical standards, use, share and store of data, respect and enforcement in the learning
environment.
o Child Online Protection is a very important and sensitive element that must be present
in the design and deployment of any strategy for school connectivity.
• Connectivity has to be more than just connecting schools. In order for school systems to
be resilient, shock absorbent, and crisis respondent, connecting learners should also be
part of the focus of any connectivity program and strategy.
• The engagement through partnerships and appropriate coordination of multiple
stakeholders (Telecommunication companies, Content providers and developers, Teacher
Training institutions, among others) is an imperative for designing technology-enabled
crisis-resilient school systems.
Now is the time to act and make global school connectivity a reality. There has never been
an opportunity like this one to raise the issue of education and school connectivity, and the
importance of connectivity overall and everywhere: at school and at home. School connectivity
must be addressed with a comprehensive approach that looks not only at infrastructure,
affordability, regulation and technologies, but also at the human component, which includes:
closing digital and literacy barriers for all learners and teachers, having localized and meaningful
content, measuring the impact on learning outcomes and strengthening the capacities and the
role of educators.
Schools need to continue being the building blocks they are to societies and economies.
Through the future work of Giga and UNESCO’s e-Schools Initiative, the key learnings and
proposals coming out of this year of collaboration will continue making an impact at the country
level. These two initiatives will ensure schools get the support they need to go online, and that
learners are provided with the right skills for employability and for safe access to information,
opportunity, and choice.
© UNICEF/UN051294
Bashar (foreground), 11, grins while using a laptop computer at a UNICEF supported Makani centre in the Za’atari
camp for Syrian refugees. Mafraq Governorate, near the Syrian border.
xxi
The Digital Transformation of Education: Connecting Schools, Empowering Learners
Introduction
The Internet and broadband connectivity have a critical role in solving many of the world’s
most pressing challenges. The Internet offers important avenues for countries to transform
themselves into hubs of knowledge, innovation and progress; broadband technologies are
a means to access the Internet, and they are also widely recognized to make a significant
contribution to productivity and employability. Globally, an increase of 10 per cent in fixed
broadband penetration yields an increase of 0.9 per cent in Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
per capita, and in the case of mobile broadband the increase is about 1.5 per cent.1 More
specifically, in the Americas for example, fixed broadband penetration is associated to 1.9
per cent increase in GDP;2 some econometric models from institutions such as the Inter-
American Development Bank (IADB), associate high broadband penetration in the region
with 2.61 per cent higher productivity, and an average of 67,016 new jobs.3 The Internet and
broadband technologies can even help accelerate progress towards national and international
development targets, and in particular, towards the achievement of the United Nations (UN)
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).4
As stated by the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, digital

technologies “make a significant contribution to the realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development”.5 Moreover, the UN-backed report: “The State of Broadband 2019” 6 developed
by the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development underscores the urgent need to
find new ways to reach those still unconnected, and to focus on meaningful connectivity to drive
global development. Meaningful connectivity encompasses broadband adoption that is not just
available, accessible, relevant and affordable, but that is also safe, trusted, empowering users
and leading to positive impact. Broadband and Information and Communications Technology
(ICT) advancements play an important role in bridging socio-economic and digital gaps, thereby
achieving inclusion and equality. The International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) “Connect
2030 Agenda for Global Telecommunication/ICT Development” highlights the importance of
building more inclusive information societies by extending access, affordability and effective
use of ICT to all peoples including women and girls, youth and marginal populations, people
from lower socio-economic groups, indigenous peoples, refugees and forcibly displaced
populations, older persons and persons with disabilities.7
Education sits at the center of sustainable development, for it is not only a human right, but
also a powerful mechanism for lifting people out of poverty and for bridging inequality.
1
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2018). The Economic Contribution of Broadband, Digitization and
ICT Regulation.
2
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2019). The Economic Contribution of Broadband, Digitization and
ICT Regulation. Econometric model for the Americas.
3
Interamerican Development Bank, (IDB). (2012). Socioeconomic Impact of Broadband in Latin American and
Caribbean Countries.
4
United Nations. (2020). Sustainable Development Goals.
5
United Nations. (2020). High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation. Recommendations 1A – Global Connectivity:
"..by 2030 every adult should have affordable access to digital networks..." and 1B – Digital Public Goods: "a broad,
multi-stakeholder alliance, involving the UN, to create a platform for sharing digital public goods...”.
6
ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development. (2019). The State of Broadband: Broadband
as a Foundation for Sustainable Development.
7
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2020). Agenda 2030.
1
Providing citizens with access to inclusive and quality education, as well as with lifelong learning
opportunities must be a priority for all governments.
Although some progress has been achieved, in 2018, 17 per cent of the global population
of children and youth were still out of school; that is: about 258 million people, of which, 59
million children were of primary school age, 62 million of lower secondary school age, and 138
million of upper secondary age.8 According to the World Bank, as many as one third of these
children lived in 2018 in fragile countries or in conflict zones.9 Children in already vulnerable
positions (gender, disability, caste, ethnicity, war) are among the first to be left out of school
thereby perpetuating the cycle of poverty, exclusion and violence. If the ultimate goal is to
achieve SDG4 on education thereby ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and
the promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all, it is clear that more work needs to be
done and faster.
The Internet and broadband connectivity have an enormous potential to bridge education
divides. They enable innovative ways to reach out to learners, including those belonging to
minority or disadvantaged groups, as well as those with special needs. By increasing access to
information and educational resources, the Internet and broadband connectivity help equip
learners with many of the skills they need to thrive in the digital era. However, this is only
possible if people actually know how to leverage those technologies and do so in a safe
and protective manner. Digital and soft skills development depends on a number of factors
including: strong government involvement, teacher training, multi-stakeholder collaboration
and local engagement.10
Notwithstanding the global awareness about the importance of the Internet, broadband
connectivity, and their linkages to education and socio-economic progress, today about 46.4
per cent of the world’s population (3.6 billion people) still live without Internet access, of which
90 per cent reside in developing countries.11 Only 48 per cent of women globally are connected
to the Internet12 and 184 million fewer women than men own a mobile phone.13 This is despite
the fact of 97 per cent of the world population living within reach of a mobile cellular signal
and 93 per cent within reach of a 3G or higher network.14
Connecting those offline is undoubtedly a major development challenge faced by many

countries, especially those in the developing world. It requires leadership, multi-stakeholder
collaboration, a rethink of existing telecommunication regulatory frameworks and policies,
sustained efforts to lower the cost of networks and devices, and the development of innovative
infrastructure financing mechanisms to extend existing networks to unconnected communities.
It must also go beyond the supply-side of the problem, and focus on demand side issues such
as lack of awareness of the importance of connectivity; fear of adoption; digital skills, socio-
cultural norms, and digital and literacy barriers.
8
UNESCO Institute for Statistics, (UIS). (2018). Out of School Children and Youth.
9
The World Bank. (2018). World Development Report. LEARNING to realize Education’s promise.
10
ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development. (2017). Working Group on Education: Digital
Skills for Life and Work.
11
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). ITU Statistics. (2019).
12
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2019). The digital gender gap is growing fast in developing
countries.
13
Equals Global Partnership. (2020).
14
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). ITU Statistics. (2019).
2
How the COVID-19 pandemic forced the digital transformation of education

With the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, it became obvious that connectivity and access to
the Internet are now more urgent than ever. As the virus started spreading, global health efforts
to contain it forced entire countries into lockdown and pushed businesses, cultural venues,
congregation centers, and schools into closure. According to the United Nations Policy Brief:
“The Impact of COVID in children,15 ” 42 to 66 million children this year could fall into extreme
poverty, adding to the estimated 386 million children already in extreme poverty in 2019. The
pandemic is also expected to exacerbate children’s malnutrition due to the suspension of
school meals across 143 countries, impacting 368.5 million children;16 the heavy toll in global
immunization campaigns (which have come to a halt in at least 23 countries) is also expected
to be devastating. Moreover, the well-being of children and their mental health might also
be affected due to the stress caused by isolation and by missing out on friends and time out.
By mid-April 2020, 94 per cent of learners worldwide were affected by the pandemic,
representing 1.58 billion children and youth, from pre-primary to higher education, in 200
countries.17 The potential losses on educational attainment are expected to be significant as
a result of postponed or rescheduled exams in at least 58 countries, and canceled exams in
11 countries.18 Moreover, the implications of school closures for children living in the poorest
countries are expected to be disastrous: children are now more vulnerable to violence and at
an increased risk for sexual abuse, exploitation, radicalization, child labor, and marriage. The
effect of the COVID-19 pandemic could even reverse progress made on the attainment of
SDG5 on gender equality,19 and on SDG16 (in particular target 16.2).20 In those places where
schools have been reopened, teachers are noticing that girls are notably absent. Some are
getting married (being married off), forced to work or falling pregnant, all whilst remaining
without access to their teachers who might provide them with support in these difficult times.
For many children, the school’s safe and secure environment vanished in the blink of an eye.21
The unprecedented nature of this challenge prompted many UN organizations to move

the issues of school connectivity and education to the forefront of their agendas. Giga, a
global Initiative launched by ITU and UNICEF is one example of a global multi-agency and
multi-stakeholder collaboration to address the issue of school connectivity; another example
is UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition, which involves several multilateral organizations
(including the ITU, and UNICEF), as well as multiple stakeholders to provide distance education
to all learners, so that learning continues despites schools and university closures.
The COVID-19 crisis also prompted many governments (whether prepared or not) to take
measures and make an overnight switch to online learning: during the pandemic, 65 per cent
of lower middle-income countries, and less than 25 per cent of low-income countries have
set up remote learning platforms.22 This option is however not available to everyone: as many
as 465 million children and youth (almost 47 per cent of all primary and secondary students
15
United Nations. (2020). Policy Brief: The Impact of COVID-19 on Children.
16
17
United Nations. (2020). Policy Brief: Education during COVID-19 and beyond.
18
19
United Nations. (2020). Policy Brief: The Impact of COVID-19 on Women.
20
SDG16: “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and
build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.” SDG 16 Target 16.2: “End abuse, exploitation,
trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children.”
21
End Violence Against Children. 2020. Safe to Learn during COVID-19: Recommendations to prevent and respond
to violence against children in all learning environments.
22
World Economic Forum. (2020). Torn safety nets: How Covid-19 has exposed huge inequalities in global education.
3
being targeted by national on-line learning platforms), do not have access to the Internet at
home.23 But even in those places where Internet connectivity at home is not an issue, the crisis
revealed that device accessibility at home and the digital skills gap of parents and caregivers
are important barriers that affect the quality of online learning. The crisis brought a deeper
understanding of the many dimensions of the digital divide, equity gaps, and issues around
children’s safety online. It showed governments the need to work closer with development
partners to remove technological barriers and lower connectivity costs, as well as the need
to invest in digital infrastructure and digital literacy, especially for marginalized populations.24
For those children who are fortunate enough to access the Internet at home, whether
permanently or intermittently, whether for learning or for entertainment, the pandemic is also
increasing their connectivity time and reliance on online platforms, thereby augmenting their
risk to inappropriate content and cyber-bulling, including the worst forms of online child sexual
exploitation and abuse.25 Children represent more than 33 per cent of today’s Internet users;26
during the pandemic, the number of individuals searching for child sexual abuse content has
increased, as well as access to adult content online.27,28 Any government effort or program
aimed at connecting learners online must take all necessary measures to safeguard the privacy
and vulnerability of children. The Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development in
its “COVID-19 Agenda for Action for Faster and Better Recovery” urges governments, the
private sector, international organizations and academia to provide online training and safe
digital tools to parents and teachers to keep children safer online, and to use the broadcasting
capacity to provide guidance to the general population on child online safety, data protection
and cyber security measures.29 To support this work, the End Violence Global Partnership, ITU,
UNESCO, UNICEF, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), WePROTECT
Global Alliance, the World Health Organization (WHO), and World Childhood Foundation USA,
have released a technical note and a resource pack to support key stakeholders in implementing
these measures to mitigate potential risks, and ensure children’s online experiences are safe
and positive during COVID-1930.
The COVID pandemic has also exposed deep systemic failures in entire education systems,
even in those places where connectivity and access to online learning is more or less granted.
At present, 53 per cent of children in low and middle-income countries cannot read and
understand a basic text at age 10; in poor countries, the figure is as high as 80 per cent.31
Increasing connectivity alone will not help in the ultimate goal of granting universal access
to better and higher quality education. Quality learning requires a comprehensive approach
that goes beyond connectivity, and that includes safe and friendly environments, qualified
and motivated teachers, and content that is relevant and that provides all children with the
appropriate skills for thriving in society and for making an impact to their communities. Quality
23
Giannini Stefania. UNESCO. (2020). Distance Learning Denied.
24
25
End Violence Against Children, UNICEF, ITU, UNODC, WHO, UNESCO, WPGA, World Childhood Foundation.
(2020). Technical Note: COVID-19 and its implications for protecting children online.
26
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2019). Children's Online Safety: What is the best approach? Key
findings from recent research.
27
Europol. (2020). Exploiting isolation: Offenders and victims of online child sexual abuse during the COVID-19
pandemic.
28
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2019). How Codiv-19 has increased the need for Child Online
Protection.
29
ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development. (2020). COVID-19 CRISIS. Broadband
Commission Agenda for Action for Faster and Better Recovery.
30
(2020). Technical Note: COVID-19 and its implications for protecting children online. Resource Pack.
31
The World Bank. (2019). Learning Poverty.
4
learning also requires that learning outcomes are monitored and fed back into instruction;
measuring learning outcomes and identifying the gaps between what is been taught and what
it is actually learned by students should also be a top priority for education systems going
forward. Teachers will have a fundamental role in accomplishing this, especially once children
return to school after the pandemic closures. Teachers need therefore not only to be equipped
with sharper ICT competencies but also with the assessment and pedagogical skills required
to implement the accelerated curricula and differentiated learning strategies.32
© UNICEF/UNI317268/Frank Dejongh
In Côte d'Ivoire, UNICEF, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, started recording video capsules, which
will be broadcast on national television, to give children the opportunity to continue learning from home during the
corona crisis.
Teachers and school administrators more than ever will be under pressure to cope with the
challenge of up-skilling themselves while at the same time having to upgrade platforms,
educational content and instruction methods. As learning moves online, divides are deemed
to grow bigger not only between those having access to the Internet, but also between those
advantaged enough to profit from it and those who unfortunately are not.
Why connecting schools and learners is of utmost importance…now!

If there is something the world is learning with the COVID-19 crisis, it is that things will never be
the same again, nor they should be. The world needs to embrace the lessons from the pandemic
and emerge out of this conundrum wiser, more united, and more aware of the huge human,
socio-economic, and environmental challenges we will face in the next decade. With only ten
years left for hitting or missing the targets set by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, this
is an unprecedented opportunity for governments, civil society, multilateral organizations, the
private sector, the donor community and for humanity at large to work cohesively towards the
resolution of these challenges once and for all.
32
5
Education is at a global state of emergency, and the sudden transformation it is undergoing

has fortunately brought much needed attention to this sector making it more relevant than it
was before. Government leaders are starting to see first-hand how providing learners with high
quality instruction, technology, connectivity and access to new and better resources now will
have an impact in the speed at which nations recover economically and socially in the years
to follow. The economic damage of children dropping out of school is large. The World Bank
estimates that if schools remain closed for five months because of the pandemic, pupils will
forgo US $10 Trillion of future earnings in today’s money.33 That could rise if COVID-19 is not
curbed and schools stay closed for longer.
The challenges for connecting schools and learners are many, and so are the lessons learned
from past and present attempts aimed towards that effort: lack of tools for identifying the
geographic locations of schools and their connectivity requirements; slow recognition and
adoption of new technological advancements; lack of appropriate forecasting of school
connectivity costs; capacity building and staff turnover; real time data, as well as its management
and use in school administration and assessment processes; out of school connectivity; lack
of high-quality, localized content; fear of adoption, and lack of knowledge on how to best
incorporate hybrid learning models, are just some of those hurdles.
Nevertheless, the opportunities and conditions for increasing school connectivity are also many,
and could not be more favorable than they are now:
1. Financing: New global financing instruments are now more sophisticated and can be
better applied to school connectivity when having access to the right data.
2. Technology: Connectivity technology advancements now make identifying schools and
building coverage easier.
3. Accountability: New ways are emerging for monitoring progress, increasing transparency,
and ensuring service continuity.
4. Focus: Concentrating on “schools” as an entry point for investment increases the chances
to bring connectivity investments into target communities.
5. Awareness: The pandemic helped the education sector by shedding much needed light
to the issue of school connectivity and the importance of using schools as gateways to
empower communities.
The time to act has come. Children will hopefully and eventually (physically) go back to school;
thanks to the digital revolution that started through the pandemic and the many lessons that
are coming out of this process, governments inevitably will have to review their approach on
school closures, their education systems as a whole, the importance of connecting schools and
learners, and the role ICT has in it.
The Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development and the

Working Group on School Connectivity
The Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development advocates, showcases and
documents the power of ICTs and broadband-based technologies in achieving the SDGs. It
campaigns for higher priority to be given to the development of broadband infrastructure and
services, to ensure that the benefits of this technology are realized globally. The Broadband
Commissioners and the leading experts it assembles embrace a multi-stakeholder approach to
33
The Economist. (2020). Learn today, earn tomorrow. School closures in poor countries could be devastating. And
governments are building their response.
6
promoting the roll out of broadband in developing countries and underserved communities.
The Commission’s ultimate aspiration is to help “connect the other half” of the world allowing
3.6 billion people benefit from key social and economic resources. In order to achieve this, the
Commission has set seven ambitious targets, four of which are specifically linked to affordability,
connectivity, digital skills, and empowerment of youth and adults.
Box 1. Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development 2025 Targets. Targets

2, 3,4, and 7.34
Target 2: By 20205, entry-level broadband services should be made affordable

in developing countries at less than 2 per cent of monthly Gross National Income
(GNI) per capita.
Target 3: By 2025, Internet user penetration should reach: a) 75 per cent

worldwide; b) 65 per cent in developing countries, and c) 35 per cent in Least
Developed Countries.
Target 4: By 2025, 60 per cent of youth and adults should have achieved at least
a minimum level of proficiency in sustainable digital skills.
Target 7: By 2025, gender equality should be achieved across all seven targets.
With these targets in mind, and more specifically, with the objective of addressing the global
school connectivity challenge, in September 2019, the Broadband Commission launched
the Working Group on School Connectivity. Co-chaired by ITU, UNESCO and UNICEF, and
established by Broadband Commissioners and other development partners and external
experts, the group advocates and provides advice and guidance for the implementation of
key projects aimed at connecting schools to the Internet and at turning schools into entry
points for connecting entire communities. The group also builds on previous work developed
by other Broadband Commission Working Groups such as the ones on Education, Child Safety
Online, and Digital Gender Divide.
Over the past decade there have been multiple initiatives aimed at bringing schools online.
Through the advisory process provided this past year by the Working Group on School
Connectivity, data from approximately 180 initiatives worldwide has been analyzed, including
several ones championed by the ITU, UNESCO and UNICEF themselves. The analysis carried out
demonstrates not only the importance that school connectivity has had and continues to have in
the agendas and mandates of these Institutions and on those of most governments worldwide,
but also, exposes the difficulties and localization pitfalls that emerge from such endeavor.
As part of the advisory process, the Working Group on School Connectivity has also provided
input on the challenges and opportunities to connect schools to the Internet including:
technologies, business models, funding mechanisms, and suitable content that articulate
connectivity with quality and inclusive learning to ensure that schools provide students with the
right skills for employability, and access to information and opportunities. Getting all schools
of the world connected to the Internet is an ambitious task that goes beyond technologies,
34
ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development. (2018). 2025 Targets: "Connecting the Other
Half".
7
networks and prices. Access to the Internet must also be able to empower those online:
learners, teachers and communities at large. Schools are at the center of most communities
the world over, and the power of meaningful connectivity can also help them transform into
digital hubs of prosperity.
The content of this report has been developed based on the outcomes of the discussions
and the consultation process provided by the Working Group to two global initiatives aimed
at connecting schools to the Internet and at turning schools into entry points for connecting
entire communities: Giga and UNESCO’s e-schools Initiative. Launched in 2019 by UNICEF
and the ITU, Giga is an initiative that sets the goal of providing connectivity to every school in
the world. It aims at bringing the power of meaningful connectivity to fast track young people’s
access to educational resources and opportunities.
© UNICEF/UN0143487/Prinsloo
Twelve-year-old Waibai Buka (second left) teaches her friends how to use a computer tablet. Baigai, northern Cameroon.
8
Box 2. Giga.35
Launched in 2019 by the ITU and UNICEF, Giga is an initiative to connect

every school to the Internet and every young person to information,
opportunity and choice.
Giga is anchored in the UN Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation1’s

recommendations 1A and 1B, which state, respectively, that by "2030 every adult should have
affordable access to digital networks" and calls for "a broad, multi-stakeholder alliance, involving
the UN, to create a platform for sharing digital public goods”. Giga aims to ensure that every child is
equipped with the digital public goods they need, and empowered to shape the future they want.
Giga also serves as a platform to create the infrastructure necessary to provide digital connectivity
to an entire country, for every community, and for every citizen. It is about using schools to identify
demand for connectivity, as well as using schools as an analogy for learning and connecting where
the community can come together and support its next generation in a world where we are all
increasingly digital, where the skills that are required are not formal ones, necessarily, and where
learning happens continuously.
Giga addresses the school connectivity challenge with a four-pillar approach (MAP, CONNECT,
FINANCE, and EMPOWER). It identifies and maps schools, and aggregates community demand for
connectivity by using student populations; it evaluates the appropriate technologies for connectivity
and creates the financing models needed to bring in institutional and public funding to ensure
connectivity for all. It also aims at empowering not only the learners, but also the communities they
belong to, by identifying and scaling open source solutions and digital public goods, which are
home grown thereby encouraging the development of local ecosystems.
Giga currently focuses its efforts on 13 countries in three regions: Central Asia, Eastern Caribbean,
and Sub-Saharan Africa.
In Central Asia, Kazakhstan signed on as the “Regional Lead” in January 2020 and the first financial
model is being developed for this region. A Giga Regional Center and regional team in Nur-
Sultan has been established to implement this initiative. So far, 10,200 schools in Kazakhstan have
been integrated into Giga’s global mapping platform. In Kyrgyzstan, Giga and the government
have connected 691 unconnected public schools. Giga has also generated $200 K savings a year:
by seeing all the schools on a map, which previously did not exist, and their connectivity, the
government renegotiated contracts, got a lower rate per Gigabyte (by 50 per cent) for its schools,
and lowered the total cost.
In the Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Giga has been working on completing the mapping of
school connectivity, and in establishing a Giga Regional Centre and a regional team for OECS to
implement the initiative.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, Giga has been working with the governments of Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda
in mapping school connectivity real-time, and developing financial models to make connectivity
affordable and sustainable.
Giga is moving full speed to map every school and to raise public and private funding to connect
them2. In the 13 initial countries (Rwanda, Kenya, Niger, Sierra Leone, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Uzbekistan, El Salvador, Honduras, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and
Granada), Giga intends to:
• Share open-source remote education tools, as well as innovation in software, learning systems
and content that support tele-work, tele-education, tele-health, and financial services.
• Provide additional insights to partners engaged in emergency response by using data that is
generated, for example, about school location.
• Work with telecommunication/connectivity partners to use their networks and services to
immediately connect disconnected schools.
• Create financing packages for national connectivity and help match those with possible
financing partners.
1
UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation.
2
GIGA. Connecting Every School to the Internet. UNICEF Office of Innovation.
35
GIGA. (2020).
9
UNESCO’s e-schools Initiative is a global effort aimed at articulating connectivity with inclusive
and quality teaching and learning, better learning outcomes and employability for learners. It is
based on UNESCO’s model for technology-enabled schools, which provides a comprehensive
framework that incorporates: policy and resources enablers; technology, content, and human
infrastructure; teaching, learning, and assessment into school connectivity programs.
Box 3. UNESCO's e-school Initiative.
UNESCO’s e-School Initiative is an effort for connecting schools and learners

through institutions whether formal, non-formal or informal, in any given context,
involved in the adoption of digital technologies to enable equitable access to
quality learning and achieving relevant learning outcomes, teaching, and efficient
school management.
The Initiative has been built based on UNESCO’s Model for Technology-Enabled Schools, which
is structured around three tiers: Policy and resources enablers; Technology, content, and human
infrastructure; Teaching, learning, and assessment. The model also advocates for leveraging any
technologies available to enable an open form of school systems that can ensure continuity and
quality of learning during crises, and a continuous access to school education programs outside
physical school spaces.
The e-schools Initiative has supported the design and setting-up of e-schools in resource poor
settings in Mozambique Rwanda, and Zimbabwe, and has also provided training on development
of digital resources and on teachers’ pedagogical use of ICT in teaching. It aims at helping
governments develop e-school models around the premises of establishing a clear vision for
school-wide programming; creating and updating school-wide mobile learning environments
and practices; developing strategies for capacity building and incentives; and measuring results
against targets to ensure broader impact and sustainability.
Through the e-schools Initiative, UNESCO provides countries with:
• Access to school readiness assessment framework and toolkit.
• Localized assessments to better understand the response framework.
• Access to a community of practices.
• Capacity building support for the schools leadership.
• Opportunities to contribute to knowledge production.
• Introductions to Global Education Coalition members who could support the country’s e-
school initiative.
10
Objectives and Structure of the Report

Through this report, the Broadband Commission Working Group on School Connectivity seeks to:
• Highlight the importance of school connectivity and the potential linkages it has with the
improvement of education systems, and the overall achievement of the SDGs, specifically
those related to education, gender equality, industry, innovation and infrastructure,
reduced inequality, and the promotion of peace and end of violence and abuse.
• Deliver a valuable tool with a suggested methodology, and a set of core principles and
frameworks that will further help governments in the establishment and deployment of
school connectivity strategies.
• Provide input for future Broadband Commission Working Groups such as the 21st Century
Financing Models,36on innovative financing, funding and investment strategies to achieve
the Commission’s targets for broadband connectivity and adoption.
• Motivate the private sector, non-profits, international organizations and the world at large
to get engaged and support the cause of school connectivity.
The report focuses on school connectivity and introduces a methodology and framework for
connecting primary and secondary schools to the Internet based on a four pillars approach:
MAP, CONNECT, FINANCE and EMPOWER. The MAP pillar draws attention to the importance
of identifying the geographic locations of schools, and using schools as units to aggregate
demand for connectivity, and as a mean for extending connectivity to communities so they
can access digital goods and services; it also introduces a methodology for mapping schools
and their connectivity requirements underscoring the importance of real-time monitoring and
the existence of frameworks for data sharing and governance. The CONNECT pillar addresses
the use of practical tools for countries to determine and contextualize the most affordable and
sustainable solutions for school connectivity, that can be either technologies, regulations or
business models. The FINANCE pillar explores some of the funding mechanisms to address the
main cost structures related to school connectivity, especially for the middle and last mile. This
pillar also analyses the potential returns on investment envisioned for each of the stakeholder
groups interested in financing school connectivity, as well as the possible “opportunities” and
risk mitigation measures that could be used. The EMPOWER pillar helps come full circle in the
suggested methodology for school connectivity. It introduces core principles for identifying,
assessing, supporting and deploying high quality, meaningful, open source content and home-
grown solutions through safe and secure platforms that leverage community ownership and
generate value for countries and local players. Throughout the report, specific case studies
are introduced highlighting global leading practices that address core principles across each
pillar. The final chapter of this report presents an outlook for school connectivity and an open
invitation to governments, the private sector, non-profits, international organizations and the
world at large to engage and stand behind the school connectivity challenge.
This report is the result of one year’s multi-agency, multi-stakeholder collaborative efforts and
several meetings held between the ITU, UNESCO and UNICEF, and the participants of the
Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development Working Group on School Connectivity.
36
ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development. (2019). Working Group on 21st Century
Financing Models.
11
Section A. CONNECTING SCHOOLS
All children must have access to high quality education; articles 28 and 29 of the United
Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)37 clearly state the importance
of the right to learn and the goals education should pursue. Having access to high
quality education is undisputable and should be granted to every child regardless of its
gender, ethnicity, socio-economic background, geographic location, legal or refugee
status, and personal, physical or cognitive abilities.
Without skills for lifelong learning, children face greater barriers to earning potential and future
employment. They are more likely to suffer the consequences of adverse health outcomes and
less likely to participate in decisions that affect them and their surrounding communities. Inclusive
and equitable quality education sits at the core of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
(SDG4);38 increasing school connectivity is an important instrument to achieving this goal.
Over the past two decades, several governments around the world have been working towards
achieving high quality education for all, not only because of their commitment to broader national
and international development agendas, but also due to a much clearer understanding of the
overall benefits and extended impact that education and school connectivity can bring to society.
Evidence of the link between education, connectivity, and economic performance has also
grown stronger, and most recently, its importance has been reinforced through the educational
response to COVID-19. The pandemic has demonstrated how having access to digital
technologies and connectivity worldwide can help not only in responding effectively to crises,
but also in planning for recovery and in building the resilience of education systems. By having
a wider pool of educated people, enterprises can take advantage of economic opportunities,
increase performance, and economic output; this can lead to greater wealth, which in turn
increases the resources and opportunities available to education.39 Education can influence
economic performance by augmenting the capacity of the economy to innovate, by acting as
a conduit to spread knowledge, and ultimately by improving the skills and productivity levels
of a nation’s human capital.40 Human capital is the most important component of wealth41
globally, and its importance grows as countries become more prosperous: it makes up 41
per cent of wealth in poor countries, and over 70 per cent of wealth in countries belonging to
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).42 Without complete
education and health, a child born today, by the age of 18, will be only 56 per cent as productive
37
United Nations. (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child.
38
SDG-Education 2030 Steering Committee Secretariat. (2020). Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4).
39
David Earle, Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis and Reporting Division. Ministry of Education of New Zealand.
(2010). How can tertiary education deliver better value to the Economy?
40
Human Capital is defined as the set of skills possessed by the labor force; it also comprises the knowledge and skill
sets that enable people to successfully create new enterprises (Davidsson and Honig 2003; Snell and Dean 1992).
Human capital is regarded as an asset, and it encompasses the notion that investments in people (e.g. education,
training, health) can increase an individual’s productivity (or the capacity of creating more output and wealth).
Human capital is often calculated as the present value of an individual’s expected lifetime employment-related
income; it factors in education and skills, as well as experience and the likelihood of labor force participation at
various ages.
41
A country’s wealth includes produced capital (buildings, machinery and infrastructure); natural capital (land, forests,
minerals, oil, coal and gas reserves); human capital and net foreign assets.
42
12
as they otherwise could be.43 Poor education outcomes hence impact decent work creation,
entrepreneurship and inclusive growth, as well as the overall future and well-being of nations.
Education and connectivity widen the opportunities young people have in life and improve the
outlook of those attending school. Affordable and reliable Internet access is a building block
of any forward looking education system as it reduces geographical barriers, and equalizes
access to information and resources.
Connectivity and access to information can pave the way to providing other essential
services such as health to children and can also play a very important role in the creation
of opportunities that uplift entire communities. Schools are therefore a very important
unit for aggregating demand for connectivity as they can also serve as an anchor
to further connect and empower the communities that surround them. Connecting
schools to the Internet has a broader impact and therefore should not be seen as a
mere “education” related effort.
Despite this realization, connecting schools remains a complicated endeavor. It is undoubtedly

a significant development challenge, and a complex problem that requires commitment,
funding, and multi-stakeholder collaboration to:44
• Review existing telecommunication regulatory frameworks and policies.

• Deploy/upgrade and provide access to the relevant infrastructure, technologies, and devices.
• Develop innovative financing win-win mechanisms to extend networks to unconnected areas.
• Develop safe, relevant content that is delivered through secure platforms and innovative
methods that empower learners and teachers.
It also requires having ample access to accurate data about the number of schools, their location
and connectivity status, the number of children reached by those schools, and many other
factors, which in most cases have never been gathered, or if so, have hardly ever been updated.
Accurate data about schools’ location is critical to the provision of high-quality

education and the promotion of life-long learning (SDG4), to ensure equal access to
opportunity (SDG10), and eventually to reduce poverty (SDG1).45
Since the end of the nineties, many countries around the world have launched school connectivity
programs; some with a certain degree of success (e.g. Uruguay, United States and Australia),46
and some with less. Issues such as affordability, and the lack of a more accurate forecasting
of the schools’ future connectivity requirements have severely impacted the sustainability of
some programs. Other challenges faced by governments when trying to connect schools
to the Internet in the past included: lack of flexibility of school connectivity programs; poor
alignment and lack of engagement of all relevant stakeholders; failure to anticipate the
impact that the mobile revolution would bring to education; slow recognition and adoption
of new technological developments for learning; effective management of ICT equipment’s
43
44
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2020). Mapping schools worldwide to bring Internet connectivity:
the ‘GIGA’ initiative gets going.
45
Project Connect. AI-Assisted School Mapping. (2019).
46
World Economic Forum. (2019). Schools must look to the future when connecting students to the Internet.
13
obsolescence; lack of appropriate mechanisms for accurately forecasting all costs related to
school connectivity (e.g. utilities, system administration costs, related hardware, maintenance
costs, etc.); understating the importance of building capacity and strengthening the skills of
teachers and school administrators; understanding that data analysis must be accompanied by
end-user training and specific case studies;47 and last but not least, overlooking the importance
of out of school connectivity, which is the ability of students to connect to the Internet from
home or outside of the school premises.
Failure to recognize the effect of the “homework-gap” (which refers to school age children
lacking the connectivity to complete homework at home vis-à-vis those who have access) also
has had an impact in the success of connectivity programs. Moreover, fear of adoption, and lack
of knowledge on how to best incorporate learning models such as the “flipped classroom”,48
hybrid and personalized learning, and approaches such as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)49
have also been difficult challenges to overcome even in those places where access to reliable
connectivity, devices, and electric power is granted.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought much needed attention to the importance of out of school
connectivity. Overnight, schools in 200 countries were closed and about 1.58 billion children
and youth were sent home to continue their education there, whether or not the school itself
was ready for it; whether children had the infrastructure, digital skills and equipment/devices
required to access the Internet from home safely, and whether or not the learning environment
of the child at home was conducive.
The crisis has been a very hard test, which exposed whether countries had effectively prepared
their systems, teachers, and students earlier on for being ready for technology use in the years
to come. If all countries are to become learning societies, learning cannot be confined to school
hours within the school walls. All students must have the opportunity to connect from home
and to continue their learning within the principles of safety, privacy, and high-quality content.
Having out of school connectivity is also a key element for more inclusive, sustainable and
successful connectivity programs that could also leverage the cultural capital of the community
and the role it plays in education.50
Connecting schools, learners, and teachers goes beyond designing networks and business
models, and beyond giving students the possibility to access the Internet and the school’s
learning platform also from home. As highlighted in the Introduction chapter, connectivity is
not the silver bullet, but rather a very important tool for increasing access to better and higher
quality education; a means to a higher end. Connectivity must serve an ultimate purpose, and
that is to empower those who are online by providing them with high quality, inclusive and
relevant content that is accessed through safe and secure platforms, and that is delivered by
innovative methods of instruction. Disregarding the importance of content, how it is delivered
47
Radhika Iyengar, Angelique R. Mahal, Liya Aklilu, Annika Sweetland, Alia Karim, HaeIn Shin, Balaraba Aliyu, Ji Eun
Park, Vijay Modi, Matt Berg & Prabhas Pokharel. (2016). The Use of Technology for Large-scale Education Planning
and Decision-making.
48
Flipped classroom or flipped learning is a pedagogical approach in which direct instruction moves from the group
learning space into the individual learning space, and the resulting group space is transformed into a dynamic,
interactive learning environment where the educator guide students as they apply concepts and engage creatively
in the subject matter. Flipped Learning Network, 2014.
49
BYOD, Bring Your Own Device is commonly used to mean allowing students to bring personally owned mobile
devices (laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc.) to their institution and to use them and incorporate them as tools for
the instruction process.
50
Radhika Iyengar, and Haein Shin. Prospects (Paris). (2020). Community-based programs to tackle environmental
education and COVID-19: A case study from Millburn, New Jersey.
14
and integrated into the curricula and how it helps achieve learning outcomes continues to
be an area for improvement when deploying school connectivity plans. The success of any
connectivity program will be measured by the quality of the learning outcomes it yields; that
translates into students’ attainment, and the development of skills that help them find and create
job opportunities that empower not only individuals, but also entire communities and nations.
© UNICEF/UNI284505/Chinyenze
ICT students at Dandora Greenlight Vocational Training Centre, Kenya.
15
1. MAP the schools

How many schools are there in the world? Where are they located? And how many of them
are connected to the Internet?
So far, no one has been able to provide accurate answers to these questions. There is no definite/
exact count of the number of schools in the world, nor the number of children reached by those
schools, or exact information about schools’ connectivity gaps. Lack of accurate data is one of
the biggest challenges to overcome: in many places, school location data does not exist; if it
does, it is often invalid or lacks information on whether the school is connected to the Internet.
There is also not enough data about bandwidth speeds for those connected schools, or about
the technical complexities for connecting those that are unconnected. Governments’ monitoring
capabilities is another major challenge: many governments cannot monitor the progress of their
connectivity programs at scale. This is sometimes due to theoretical speeds being reported by
providers on a monthly or even an annual basis, not reflecting reality on the ground.
Without access to this kind of information, how can connectivity programs be successful in the
near and long term? And how can funders and donors be mobilized for investing in connectivity
(especially in hard to reach areas) when the target population and their needs are unknown,
and when the results of their interventions are not monitored properly?
The absence of accurate information showing us where schools need connectivity has the
potential to increase the digital education divide, as schools already connected to the Internet
will receive more technology-based resources while schools currently disconnected will be
left behind.51 Accurately mapping52 schools is necessary to measure and improve the quality
of learning; the data collected through this endeavor can be used to reduce the digital divide
in education and improve access to information, digital goods and opportunities for entire
communities. Moreover, understanding the data can help governments and international
organizations gain critical insights about the needs of vulnerable populations, and better
prepare and respond to shocks as disease outbreaks, forced displacement or natural disasters.53
The objectives of the MAP pillar are to:
• Introduce a methodology for mapping schools and their connectivity requirements, which
can be applied to both: unconnected schools, and those schools already connected but
with challenges in the quality of their connectivity.
• Underscore the importance real time data and monitoring have not only for assessing the
quality of school connectivity, but also for measuring learning outcomes and the overall
improvement of education systems.
• Highlight the importance of developing frameworks for data sharing and data governance,
as well as for developing criteria for collecting, validating and maintaining data on school
connectivity.
• Draw attention to the importance of using schools as units to aggregate demand and as
a means for connecting and empowering communities.
This chapter summarizes the key reflections coming out of the advisory process provided by
the Broadband Commission Working Group on School Connectivity to the Giga Initiative
51
Sara Jacobs. UNICEF. Office of Innovation. (2018). Launches First of Its Kind, Interactive Map Visualizing the Digital
Divide in Education. Project Connect, in Partnership with UNICEF's Office of Innovation.
52
The word: “Mapping” in this report refers to a series of techniques and procedures used to determine the physical
and geographical location of a school, as well as its connectivity requirements.
53
16
on the MAP pillar. It provides a brief review of former attempts to map schools, as well as
the challenges and suggested approaches on how to address them. It reviews methods and
technologies for mapping schools and their connectivity, as well as tools and approaches
for real time monitoring. The chapter also introduces some criteria for data collection and
validation, as well as a proposed framework for data sharing. The final section of the chapter
is dedicated to case studies that address some of the core principles for mapping school
connectivity, highlighted in the MAP pillar.
The MAP pillar focuses on both unconnected schools and schools already connected but with
challenges in the quality of their connectivity. It does not split between rural or urban areas
or between private versus state sector. Nevertheless, the model and frameworks outlined in
this chapter only focuses on schools where primary and secondary instruction is provided;
tertiary education institutions were not part of the discussions with the Working Group and are
therefore excluded from the initial scope of analysis.
Former attempts to mapping schools
In past years, there have been some attempts to estimate how many schools are connected
to the Internet. The World Summit on Information Society (WSIS), has done some work in this
regard and so have the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 54 the ITU, and other organizations.
The UIS collects data on the proportion of schools connected to the Internet for pedagogical
purposes, as part of SDG indicator 4.a.155, which is under their guardianship. The data shows a
mixed picture. Globally, about 60 per cent of schools in secondary education are connected to
the Internet, ranging from just over 30 per cent in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to virtually
all schools in Europe and North America. In primary education, the percentages are generally
a bit lower, especially in LDCs, where only 17 per cent of schools have access to the Internet.
54
UNESCO Institute for Statistics, (UIS). Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).
55
SDG4 Target 4a: “Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide
safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all”. Indicator 4.a.1 measures the proportion
of schools offering basic services, by type of service, with the following services: access to electricity; access
to the Internet for pedagogical purposes; access to computers for pedagogical purposes; access to adapted
infrastructure and materials for students with disabilities; access to basic drinking water; access to single-sex basic
sanitation, by education level; access to basic hand washing facilities.
17
Table 1. Proportion of Schools with Access to Internet for Pedagogical

Purposes, 2017 or 2018 (%).56
Primary Lower Upper
Secondary Secondary
Least Developed Countries 17.0 35.7 32.6
World .. 61.7 61.3
Arab States 71.7 80.4 84.7
Central and Eastern Europe .. 94.4 97.7
Central Asia 76.7 77.8 83.0
East Asia and the Pacific 83.0 74.5 86.5
Latin America and the

44.0 63.8 68.8
Caribbean
North America and Western

95.3 97.2 97.7
Europe
South and West Asia .. .. 46.7
Sub-Saharan Africa .. .. ..
Small Island Developing States 56.1 .. ..
Despite these efforts, the number of all schools connected to the Internet is yet to be determined.
In 2017, Project Connect57 (in partnership with UNICEF) started mapping schools and their
connectivity. The idea came from a request expressed by many UNICEF partners and Country
Offices, who needed to know where schools were located and how connected they were in
order to inform programs related to education, health and emergencies. The project soon
realized that the first step towards connectivity was to map the exact locations of schools and
then gather all relevant data around them. Project Connect is an initiative that aims to map
every school in the world and provide real time data assessing the quality of each school’s
Internet connectivity.58
When talking about school connectivity, in addition to knowing geographical locations, it is also
important to understand why schools are not connected in the first place. Lack of connectivity
could be related to supply driven factors such as:
• The school is located in an “un-served” area, which is difficult to reach (unconnected

and not close).
• The school is located in an “un-served” or “underserved” area, but close (last mile) to an
area enjoying connectivity.
• Connectivity prices are too high and out of reach.
56
UNESCO Institute for Statistics, (UIS). UIS database.
57
58
Council on Foreign Relations. (2017). The Challenges of Connecting Schools to the Internet in the Developing
World.
18
But it could also be related to demand/adoption driven factors:
• A lack of awareness or lack of digital skills to get schools online.59

• Unavailability of educational content in the local language and with the characteristics of
the student community it intends to impact.
• False perceptions, skepticism, and unfounded fears about technology and its use in
the classroom.
• Cultural norms and exclusion of minorities and women.60
A real-time map of every school and their Internet connectivity, will help governments, investors,
donors and society at large to better address the factors listed above, and to better allocate
resources thereby helping improve education systems as a whole.
Why Mapping, Why Schools?
Before embarking into any school connectivity effort, a number of very basic questions need
to be answered. First of all: How is a school defined for the given connectivity project or
initiative? Where are schools located? How many schools is the initiative aiming to connect?
Are those schools privately run or are they run by the state? What kind of connectivity do the
schools currently have? How many learners do they cater for? What are the requirements on
connectivity after school hours?
Many governments don’t have the answers to these questions nor the capability to monitor in
real time the levels of connectivity of those schools, which are connected. There are simply not
many reliable sources for measuring connectivity. Answering these questions is a challenging
endeavor for developed nations, and more so for least developed ones. Not having accurate
data61 of how many schools exist in a given country or region, where they are located, and what
kind of connectivity (if at all) they enjoy, is no doubt one of the toughest hurdles to overcome.
Schools are very useful units to identify the demand for connectivity. The number of students in
a school gives an indication of the number of people in a community, which in turn might help
estimating the overall demand for connectivity. For the purpose of this report, and particularly
for the MAP pillar, a school is defined as a place where children go to receive an education,
and where equipment (hardware) can be located to connect them and the whole community to
the Internet. It is a building or location for learning that can be used (as it often is in emergency
settings) in several shifts, to teach more than the regular number of students, and after school
hours, to also fulfill the connectivity demands of local communities.
59
In 40 out of 84 countries for which data are available, less than half the population has basic computer skills, such
as copying a file or sending an e-mail with an attachment. International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2019).
Measuring Digital Development. Facts and Figures.
60
Overall, the proportion of all women using the Internet globally is 48 per cent against 58 per cent of all men. More
men than women use the Internet in every region of the world except in the Americas, which has near-parity.
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2019). Measuring Digital Development. Facts and Figures.
61
Some available tools like the ITU Broadband Maps might help in this effort by tacking stock of global networks
and ICT infrastructure availability, thereby identifying gaps and connectivity investment opportunities. International
Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2020). Public Map. The Broadband Map; Terrestrial Backbone Data Research
Summary: Route Km 15,270,633; Transmission links 39,400.
19
1.1 Methodology for mapping schools and their connectivity
Mapping schools and their connectivity is a core building block for any strategy or
connectivity plan; knowing where schools are and what they need, as well as preparing
the ICT landscape should be the first steps towards school connectivity.
Mapping the location and Internet access of every school in the world is undeniably ambitious.
There is no single approach that will allow us to achieve this goal. In this section, the Working
Group on School Connectivity introduces the approach taken by Giga to address this challenge,
which served as the basis of the discussions for the MAP pillar. This approach combines a variety
of methods to build full, live maps that have never existed before.
Figure 1. Rwanda School Mobile Coverage. Giga Mapping.
The mapping process can be separated into two phases, each with different methods to solve
different challenges:
1. PHASE 1 - Building a base layer of school location and connectivity data that serves as
the foundation for consequent phases. This static dataset makes it possible to identify
gaps and aggregate demand.
2. PHASE 2 - Building a live connectivity map that monitors Internet access in real-time
and serves as an accounting platform for ensuring that providers meet Service Level
Agreements (SLAs). This second layer reduces inefficiencies, increases transparency, and
provides a sustainable model for future delivery.
Challenges and Methods for PHASE 1 – Building a Base Layer of School

Location and Connectivity Data
Some of the challenges that impact the process of data collection and validation are:
• Inexistence of schools’ location data: in some instances, the number of schools that exist
in the country is known, but their location is unknown, or in the case of refugee hosting
20
schools for example, they are often less likely to be prioritized for digital learning initiatives
at the national level even if they are registered within the national system.62
• Validity of schools’ location data: if location data for schools exist, some times the
information is wrong and not valid; or the Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates
do not correspond to a school, but rather to another location.
• Lack of School’s Internet data: in other instances, there might be information about the
school and its coordinates; even it could be known that the school has coverage but not
enough information to determine whether the school is actually connected to the Internet.
These challenges can be addressed by using the following methods:
1. Machine Learning: Train machine learning algorithms to identify features of schools based
on high-resolution satellite imagery. This allows the mapping of new schools, validating
the accuracy of existing school location data, and automatically updating maps when
school locations change in the future.
2. Partnerships: Bringing all involved stakeholders to the table and identifying appropriate
incentive structures that allow an easy sharing of school location and connectivity to
develop better maps. Engaging Ministries of Education, Ministries of ICT, as well as
Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and other technology
companies can help develop open source datasets for schools and telecommunications
infrastructure.
3. Data collection from the field: For those cases when data simply does not exist,
governments, communities, and local groups can be engaged to develop datasets from
the ground up and crowd source missing data such as school location and connectivity,
as well as validating school coordinates.
Challenges and Methods for PHASE 2 – Building a live connectivity map to

measure real-time connectivity and to ensure quality access once schools
are connected
Once schools are connected, the next hurdle to overcome is determining whether the quality
of that connectivity is actually good enough to support learning. Measuring the quality of
connectivity real time is an issue, and currently, most governments do not have the capability
to monitor the progress of their connectivity programs at scale. The challenges include:
• Frequency of reporting: operators and providers might typically report theoretical speeds on
monthly or annual basis. These speeds often do not match with real speeds on the ground.
• Lack of knowledge on whether connectivity is actually reaching schools: this results in
increased inefficiencies and lack of accountability.
• Inaccurate measurement of the real-time usage of connectivity: properly identifying the
type of learning applications and activities that are supported by the present connectivity;
adequately assessing whether these, actually meet the current and future learning and
instruction needs of students and teachers.
Real time monitoring is a way to address these challenges. It provides a means

to hold providers accountable in the fulfillment of their contractual obligations
regarding connectivity levels, by allowing decision makers to monitor progress in the
implementation of their connectivity programs. This helps reduce inefficiencies, and
increase transparency.
62
UNHCR.
21
Real time measurement tools help obtain periodical updates on the quality of service of the
Internet at schools and create a live map of connectivity. These tools can be either hardware
or software based depending on the context. Some of the options include:
Option 1: Partner with ISPs
The most efficient, reliable option to measure the Quality of Service (QoS) is to connect to the
Network Operation Centers or Network Management Systems of the providers.
Pros Cons
• Software already in place • Requires agreements with different
• Data easy to access providers (which can be time consuming)
• Low cost
Given the time that it usually takes to set up this type of agreements, this option could be started
immediately, in parallel with other solutions.
Option 2: Hardware connected to router
By installing a probe on a Local Area Network (LAN) port of the router at the school, the device
measures different QoS Internet indicators directly from the router and sends the data to a database.
Pros Cons
• Measures on Wide Area Network (WAN) • Per-unit price expensive
• Self-reliant device • Staff intensive (distribution and
• Easy plug & set-up coordinating logistics)
• Managed reporting
An option to reduce costs, is to install the hardware based solution in a sample set of schools
and use it to validate the data obtained through alternative methods.
Option 3: Software on User Device
These applications measure different QoS of Internet indicators by installing new software on
user devices, such as laptops, tablets or mobile phone and send the data to a database.
Pros Cons
• Scalable • Measures on LAN
• Easy to distribute and install • Requires device to be on for measuring to
• Low cost occur
22
Real time monitoring might also help governments optimize their education systems
by improving the measurement of data around broadband Internet connectivity,
schools, and education services as a whole. Moreover, once schools are connected,
the concept of real time monitoring can also be used as part of the overall school
connectivity strategy, to measure data and real time progress of learning outcomes,63
as well as the real time needs of students and teachers. Real time monitoring is a
powerful evidence for multiple stakeholders to advocate for increased and meaningful
connectivity around the world.
Real time monitoring might also help governments optimize their education systems
by allowing school actors (teachers, students) and community (parents, mediators)
to monitor schools’ infrastructure reality, making comparisons, identifying, gaps and
empowering them to act as transforming agents of their present and future possibilities.
Data analysis allows policymakers to assess and monitor policies’ effectiveness and
anticipate outcomes. Data analytics and AI-based systems can benefit from real-time
data to work on predictive models that allow a better understanding of school and
policy settings.
63
Radhika Iyengar, Sarah Muffly, Charles Akomaning-Mensah, Alia Karim, Prabhas Pokharel, Sarayu Adeni. Columbia
University. (2016). Using Real-time Data and Corrective Teacher-feedback as a Mechanism to Improve Children’s
Reading Skills.
23
Box 4. Giga. Mapping Schools Location and their Connectivity.
Since its launch in 2019, Giga has mapped1 connectivity availability and
speeds for 800,000 schools in 25 countries and built an open data product
to help governments and partners eliminate the digital divide globally.
This is been done through a variety of approaches including: collecting existing data, crowd-
sourcing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML). The map is hosted on an open
source data platform, and together with ITU broadband mapping data it constitutes the foundation
for Giga, to connect every school to the Internet by year 2030. Giga’s platform has also developed
a real time visualization of every school’s Internet connectivity. This real-time map brings together,
and showcases a wide range of data including: school location, geographic coordinates and other
key attributes, as well as information on school Internet connectivity requirements, both in terms
of speed (Mbs) and type. Giga also has developed a framework for data sharing and established
core principles for data collection and validation. Giga’s mapping platform is helping identify where
the gaps are, understand the level of connectivity that exists at each school, and do its best to
channel partners and resources to help. In Colombia for example, Giga used Artificial Intelligence
techniques to automatically map schools from satellite imagery and provide the government with
the location of 7,000 schools that were not part of their official datasets.
Colombia. School Connectivity Map. Giga Mapping.
1
UNICEF. Office of Innovation. (2018). School Mapping. To map every school in the world and show their
connectivity real-time.
1.2 Frameworks and principles for collecting, validating, sharing, and

governing data
Using reliable data on where schools are, which schools need broadband connectivity
(and how much), and how many children and their communities are impacted, helps
governments identify gaps, better design national tenders, and national/regional bids for
school connectivity programs and mobilize the necessary funds to get them connected.64]
Data is at the core of any school connectivity program. In order for it to be relevant and useful,
it must be: accurate, inclusive, current, of good quality and properly maintained. Moreover,
64
Nevertheless, in order to achieve the SDGs in education, parallel efforts will still need to be made to school the
millions of children who are currently not part of any education system.
24
this data must be safe, and it must be handled with strict protocols that guarantee its safety at
all times, as it concerns children and youth, vulnerable populations that must be protected.
The development of solid frameworks on data sharing, as well as key principles for collecting and
validating data are of utmost importance. These frameworks not only help safeguard the data
of children and youth, but also help governments incorporate sustainability and accountability
into their connectivity programs and build optimized processes for decision-making.
Data Collection and Validation
When collecting and validating data, some fundamental principles must be observed:
1. Determine whether there is already data available, and if so, the mechanisms through
which it were gathered, it’s quality and whether it is current or not.
2. Identify relevant regulation and administrative procedures that may affect data collection
activity and communicate those within the team(s) that will work on data collection.
3. Ensure data quality.
4. Transparency is key to building trust, especially when children and school information
are at play.
5. Establish mechanisms to safeguard data and protect the safety of children. This implies
working with technical teams to develop secure backups, malware, antivirus software and
firewalls protection systems.
6. Use technology (e.g. crowdsourcing, satellite imagery, drones with radio frequency
sensors, block chain, etc.) to collect, protect, and validate data on school location and
school coordinates, as well as on ancillary services such as electricity.
7. Data collected must be protected. As highlighted by the UN Secretary General’s High-
Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, “effective personal data protection and the protection
of the right to privacy in line with internationally agreed standards are imperative”. 65
Frameworks for data privacy, data sharing, and data protection must therefore be in
place when launching any plan aimed at connecting schools online.
Data Sharing
The MAP pillar is guided by the core belief that data is a public good. In line with UNICEF’s
Strategic Framework for Data for Children, smart demand, supply and use of data drives better
results for children. Data has the potential to improve access to critical services and resources
for children and youth and their communities. In many cases, these services are found in and
provided by schools.
When designing school connectivity programs, solid frameworks with clear principles for data
sharing must be established. The framework introduced below (used by the Giga Initiative) is
centered around three core principles:
65
United Nations. (2020). Report of the Secretary-General. Roadmap for Digital Cooperation.
25
1. Public data gathered with public money creates public goods. Digital
cooperation is a key enabler for school connectivity. It is reflected in the priorities of
many organizations and recommended by the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel
on Digital Cooperation.66
2. School location data is a public good. The ability to know where education and
other foundational resources can be found is a public good, similar to any health center
or government building. In most places where data exists, school locations are already
shared publicly on sites like Google Maps, 2GIS, and OpenStreetMaps.67
3. Child Online Protection should always be prioritized. Adherence to Child

Data Protection Policies and Principles of Responsible Data for Children is of utmost
importance and relevance. Mapping initiatives should aim to provide information that
can have a positive impact without putting children at risk.
Data sharing frameworks must differentiate between raw vs. processed connectivity
data. School demographic data for example, should always be treated as sensitive.
Data Protection for Children
There are unique risks and responsibilities when using data about and for children. The goal
to improve outcomes for children is inseparable from the need to ensure the effective and
positive impact of the data collected, stored, analyzed and shared.
In line with the UN Privacy Policy Group’s Principles on Personal Data Protection and Privacy,
as well as UNICEF’s Personal Data Protection Policies for Children, only school location should
be made public. This means that all school demographic data (e.g. number of students, age
of students, gender of students) should be kept strictly sensitive. Furthermore, any data that
is not purpose-driven, including individualized student data (e.g. names, contact information,
address, family information) should not be collected.
Recognizing that there are situations where even a school location might be too sensitive to
share, given context-specific security issues, risk assessments should be conducted to evaluate
whether data sharing in a country, or region of a country, is of particular concern. If a risk is
identified, a baseline aggregation level of data that can be publicly shared for that country
(or region), or set of data, should be determined in partnership with the country government.
Data Sharing for Connectivity Data
Connectivity data is critical to the mission of connecting every school to the Internet; this
data is essential in order to determine where and how connectivity must be extended.
In this context, connectivity data is inclusive of both infrastructure data (e.g. mobile coverage,
fiber networks, electricity coverage) and school connection data (e.g. type of internet
66
Digital Cooperation. (2019). The Age of Digital Interdependence. Report of the UN Secretary-General's High-Level
Panel on Digital Cooperation.
67
UNICEF. (2018). UNICEF school mapping using the OpenStreetMap Platform.
26
connectivity, bandwidth, latency), and each has a specific purpose. Infrastructure data is
necessary for determining how unconnected schools can best be connected and for developing
cost estimates that drive fundraising and investment. On the other hand, school connection
data helps to develop an accurate, live map of Internet quality in connected schools that ensures
reliable delivery of services and justifies ongoing investment.
When collaborating with providers and operators to map school connectivity, a dynamic
approach is often needed to share connectivity data and infrastructure maps.
Beyond these minimum requirements, it is also important to work with partners who share
data to define specific licensing that will make that partnership possible. Open standards for
connectivity and infrastructure data are goals to be achieved both inside and outside of the
context of schools.
The governance of data is also an important component of data sharing. It refers to those
guidelines, rules, principles and policies that define how data is used, authorized, accessed,
and managed. Having a data governance framework in place also helps bring in control and
accountability to the entire data management cycle, as well as transparency, and integrity to
school connectivity programs.
1.3 Conclusions
Mapping schools and their connectivity is a core building block for any strategy or connectivity
plan; knowing where schools are and what they need, as well as preparing the ICT landscape
should be the first steps towards school connectivity. Accurate data about schools location
and its appropriate management is critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,
in particular those related to: high-quality education and life-long learning, equal access to
opportunity, and eventually, poverty reduction, peace and the end of violence.
Accurate Mapping of school locations and their connectivity can help governments improve
their overall education system and development goals by:
• Helping estimate data about the number of children out of school, and in conjunction
with other elements, help identify factors that impact learning outcomes.
• Having a publicly available baseline dataset can help to ensure that equity is at the core of
national connectivity programs and that necessary resources such as access to information
and opportunities also reach the most vulnerable.
• Aggregating demand, thereby providing governments with the tools they need to build
a more solid business case for investing in un-served and underserved areas.
• Better estimating the costs and requirements of extending broadband connectivity to
every school and classrooms through the overlaying of school connectivity data with other
datasets such as topography, electricity or infrastructure. This helps governments enable
the development of appropriate financial models thereby unlocking the corresponding
sources of funding.
• Using comprehensive datasets around educational facilities to inform programs across
different sectors (i.e. health, education, emergency preparedness and response), improving
planning and resource allocation for governments and international organizations.68
• Using data better to coordinate delivery and response efforts during national or global
emergency crises such as forced displacement or the COVID -19 pandemic: better estimations
68
Earth Institute at Columbia University in collaboration with Ericsson. (2016). How Information and Communications
Technology Can Achieve The Sustainable Development Goals.
27
of the number of children impacted and their educational needs; broader understanding on
how to provide critical information and other supplies to schools and communities; better
mapping the levels of vulnerability of the communities surrounding schools.
• Using reliable data on the number of schools, children and communities impacted to
identify gaps, better design national tenders or bids for school connectivity programs,
and mobilize the necessary funds to get all schools connected.
• Using reliable research and survey data to better understand existing digital inequalities in
schools, providing feedback to policymakers to incorporate changes in ongoing policies
or other actions that may be formulated.
• Bridging digital gaps and working towards the attainment of the sustainable
development goal SDG4.
Real time monitoring is a means to hold providers accountable in the fulfillment of their
contractual obligations regarding connectivity levels, by allowing decision makers to monitor
progress in the implementation of their connectivity programs. This helps reduce inefficiencies,
and increase transparency. Real time monitoring might also help governments optimize their
education systems by improving the measurement of data around Internet connectivity,
schools, and education services as a whole, including learning outcomes, as well as the real
time needs of students and teachers. Real time monitoring is a powerful evidence for multiple
stakeholders to advocate for increased and meaningful connectivity around the world.
Mapping schools and their connectivity is a major but necessary undertaking for any country,
which requires the collaboration of multiple stakeholders and the development of consistent
and thorough frameworks and principles for collecting, validating, maintaining, safeguarding,
sharing and governing data. Data sharing frameworks must allow the handling of school location
as public information and school demographic data as sensitive information; prioritize data
protection for children, and allow public data gathered with public money to create public goods.
Connectivity and access to information can pave the way to provide other essential services such
as health to children and it can also play a very important role in the creation of opportunities
that uplift entire communities. Schools are and will continue to be a very important unit for
aggregating demand for connectivity and for empowering the communities that surround
them. Connecting schools to the Internet has a broader impact and it should not be seen as
a mere “education” related effort.
1.4 Case Studies

This section presents four case studies that illustrate successful examples of:
• Country led efforts to map school connectivity using some of the key methods, technologies
and principles outlined in this chapter.
• Use of real-time connectivity data to assist in efforts for mapping out of school children
as well as to identify factors that impact learning outcomes.
• Effective combination of mapping strategies with broadband infrastructure mapping.
• Use of real-time data collection principles to monitor progress in educational attainment.
28
1.4.1 Kyrgyzstan
Principle Addressed
Overall mapping methodology.
Project Name
Giga Mapping.
Location
Kyrgyzstan.
Date
2018 – ongoing.
Partners
• Ministry of Education, Kyrgyzstan
• Giga
Situation/Challenge
Kyrgyzstan is a mountainous land locked country in Central Asia, which borders Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and China. With a population of approximately 6.5 million, an estimated
32 per cent are under the age of 14.69 In early 2019, President Jeenbekov declared 2019 the
Year of Regional Development and Digitalization of Kyrgyzstan,70 with the development of the
Digital Kyrgyzstan 2019 – 2023 roadmap to ensure the digital transformation of the country. The
President hopes to make Kyrgyzstan the top country in the region in terms of digitization, yet
in 2017 it was estimated that only 38 per cent of adults in the country were using the Internet.71
Aim of Project
The aim of the project was to map the connectivity status of all 2,137 public schools in the country.
Project Details
UNICEF worked together with the Ministry of Education to collect school location and school
connectivity data - which schools had Internet and what was the speed - across the country.
The data, mostly obtained through school principals, is being integrated within the country's
Educational Management Information System (EMIS) to ensure its sustainability over time.
Currently, the Giga team is working with the government to monitor the quality of the Internet
in schools in real-time in order to have a live map of school connectivity. The government will
use the live map to keep improving connectivity services in schools.
Results
The mapping exercise permitted the Prime Minister’s Office to see which public schools in
the country were not connected to the Internet. Following this exercise, the Prime Minister of
Kyrgyzstan committed by the end of 2019 to connect the 691 schools that had been identified
as unconnected.
Following the mapping exercise, the Kyzyl October school, which is located in the mountain locked
village of Kotur-Suu in central Kyrgyzstan, was identified as one of 35 schools which are located
in mountainous areas which make connection through fiber-optic and wireless communication
lines difficult. The State Committee of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and
the Ministry of Education and Science of Kyrgyzstan partnered with OneWeb and UNICEF to
connect the school via low-orbit satellite.
The Prime Minister’s Office also gave a US$2m loan to Kyrgyz Telecom to extend connectivity
to 307 schools.
69
UNESCO. (2018). Kyrgyzstan.
70
Times of Central Asia. (2019). Kyrgyzstan aims to be in the forefront of digitalization in Central Asia.
71
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2017). Percentage of Individuals using the Internet (excel).
29
Figure 2. Kyrgyzstan School Connectivity Before Giga Mapping.
Figure 3. Kyrgyzstan School Connectivity Following Giga Mapping and Improvement

Measures.
30
Lessons Learned
By opening up and exposing service fees from different players in the market, the Ministry of Education
was able to negotiate and secure prices that were almost half of those previously (from $50/month
to $28.5/month) and almost double speeds (from 2Mbps to 4Mbps). This allowed the government
to save an estimated 40 per cent of its annual education connectivity budget, approximately USD
200,000 of savings, while at the same time allowing schools to receive better services.
Whilst all disconnected schools have now been connected, there were some schools that were
found to have been connected twice (through two different providers), as well as an additional
30 schools that were not yet connected but will be connected via the government for 2020.
There is still work to be done to improve the quality of Internet in schools, and ensure long-term
continuity of the program. Areas that will need focus are:
1. Improvements in connectivity – continued monitoring of Internet speeds to allow for
improvements in connectivity.
2. Infrastructure considerations – related to connection of schools in hard to reach areas such
as those schools in mountainous regions.
3. E-learning platforms – the Ministry of Education and Science will need to ensure that relevant
e-learning platforms are integrated into the national curriculum.
4. Digital content – the Ministry of Education and Science will need to ensure that there is an
appropriate collaboration space for teachers and Information Technology (IT) specialists to
develop new digital learning content on a regular basis.
1.4.2 Brazil
Principle Addressed
Real time monitoring of public schools’ connectivity.
Project Name
Connected Education Internet Measurement System.
Location
Brazil.
Date
2017 – ongoing.
Partners
• Brazilian Network Information Centre (Nic.br)
• Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC)
31
Cost
This system was funded by the Brazilian Network Information Center (NIC.br)72through its Center
for Studies and Research in Network Technology and Operations (Ceptro.br), in partnership with
the Regional Center for Studies on the Development of the Information Society (Cetic.br). In
addition, Lemann Foundation73provided in-kind contribution by conducting the implementation
of a pilot project and by training educators and educational managers to use the resources.
Situation/Challenge
Whilst 70 per cent of schools in Brazil have Internet access, 58 per cent are limited to speeds
of 2 mbps.74 Of the 155,02675 primary and secondary schools in Brazil, 86 per cent are public
schools. Of these, 29 per cent of primary schools and 61 per cent of secondary schools have
Internet access available for students.76 Despite the growth in fiber optic connections, with 26
per cent of urban schools connected in that way, radio is still necessary for connection in 19 per
cent of rural schools,77 particularly those in the Amazon remote regions. The main obstacle to
rural connectivity remains the fact that it is difficult to ensure high quality connectivity without
the use of fiber, particularly as the use of satellite connectivity is still rare.
Brazil still faces challenges in implementing policies that foster the access to, and the use of,
digital technologies in public schools, as well as measuring the effectiveness of these policies in
the teaching and learning processes. Investing in ICT projects in education is a key strategy that
has been adopted by the Brazilian Ministry of Education to face existing connectivity challenges
and to bridge the digital gap regarding access to the Internet in public schools, as well as to
promote the development of digital skills. However, the size of the primary and secondary school
system represents a major challenge: Brazil has more than 34 million students and almost 2
million teachers.78
Aim of Project
To monitor the Internet quality at public schools to ensure that schools are receiving the
recommended speed defined by the The National Innovation Policy Connected Education
(PIEC),79 and to provide policymakers and education actors with real time data on the quality of
Internet connection offered by ISPs. The project aims to support the universalization of high-
speed Internet access and encourage the pedagogical use of digital technologies in basic
education policy.
72
The Brazilian Network Information Center (NIC.br) is the executive arm of the Brazilian Internet Steering
Committee (CGI.br) and its mission includes: registering and maintaining <.br> domain names, as well as
allocating Autonomous System Numbers (ASN) and IPv4 or IPv6 addresses in Brazil; handling and responding
to computer security incidents involving networks connected to the Brazilian Internet; projects that support and
improve the network infrastructure in the country; producing and publishing indicators, statistics and strategic
information on the development of the Internet in Brazil; promoting studies and recommending procedures,
regulations, and technical and operational standards that will improve network and Internet service security. For
more information on NIC.br: https://www.nic.br/who-we-are/
73
The Lemann Foundation strives to make Brazil a more just and equitable place by guaranteeing access to
high-quality public education for Brazilians of all backgrounds while supporting the development of leaders
committed to the social transformation of Brazil. For more information about the Lemman Foundation: https://
fundacaolemann.org.br/en
74
"Connectivity in Brazilian public schools: current overview and future perspectives" conference organized by
NIC.br. 4-6 May 2020.
75
The National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira, (INEP). Censo da Educação Básica
2019: Notas Estatísticas. (2019).
76
77
"Connectivity in Brazilian public schools: current overview and future perspectives" conference organized by
NIC.br. 4-6 May 2020.
78
79
The National Innovation Policy Connected Education (PIEC) was launched in November 2017 by the Brazilian
Ministry of Education and is aimed at fostering the pedagogical adoption of ICTs in Brazilian schools.
32
Project Details
The Connected Education Internet Measurement System was built upon the SIMET80 system
developed by Ceptro.br, and works both as a measurement and a data collection tool. The
system, also called a measurement agent, can be installed simultaneously in several computers,
including those used by students for pedagogical activities. The measurement agent allows
evaluation of the quality of connection by focusing on four main metrics: i) download and upload
speed; ii) Round Trip Time (RTT or bidirectional latency); iii) packet loss; and iv) jitter, which is the
variation of latency. The system performs automatic measurements and periodically updates a
data visualization portal81 allowing policymakers, the educational community, researchers and
society in general to access a wide range of datasets. Live data is refreshed every 30 minutes.
In addition to the visualizations of monitoring data, the platform allows the georeferencing of
participating schools, cross-referencing information from structured administrative datasets
from the INEP School Census.
Results
As of July 2020 the measurement agent had been installed in more than 22,000 public schools
in 3,553 out of 5,572 municipalities, and since November 2018 there have been in the region of
8.1 million unique measurements captured.82
Data collected by the system provides a complete picture of schools’ connectivity for policymakers
and educators at different administrative levels – federal, state or municipal. The data reveals
existing inequalities of Internet access across and within Brazilian states.
The cross-reference of the connectivity data from the Connected Education Internet Measurement
System with the data provided by the National School Census from the Instituto Nacional de
Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais (INEP), allows for further analysis on the spread of broadband.
It is possible, for example, to relate the Internet quality variables to the variables of the number
of students enrolled in schools, the student-computer ratio, the location of the school (rural or
urban area) and jurisdiction (municipal, state or federal).
The concept of quality of Internet connection is traditionally related to the characteristics of
the network, which can be summarized by speed, upload and download, and in measures of
availability, such as latency and packet loss. However, it is also necessary to consider user needs
and perception of quality. In this regard, future enhancements to the system could include
functionalities that allow policymakers to establish relationships between connectivity data and
pedagogical activities mediated by ICTs.
80
For more information on the system please visit https://simet.nic.br/projetos/(content only in Portuguese).
81
For more information on the Connected Education Internet Measurement System please visit http://medidor
.educacaoconectada.mec.gov.br/ (content only in Portuguese).
82
Information provided to ITU by NIC.br. 27 Jul. 2020.
33
Lessons Learned
1. Pilot project. The successful implementation was largely due to the fact that the pilot project
enabled the identification of existing technological realities in the selected schools83 that
could hinder the installation of the system, while also allowing a better understanding of the
difficulties faced by school principals in conducting technological-based projects.
2. Training materials. The results of the pilot led to improvements being made to the system, and
allowed for mapping of the difficulties faced by schools. This led to the building of training
courses, manuals, support videos and FAQ that proved very useful for schools.
3. Certification process and technology neutrality. It was fundamental to build a solid certification
process with a national institution to certify both the application and the firmware of the
Connected Education Measurement Agent for when it is introduced into routers using the
most common operational systems (Windows and Linux systems).
4. Communication strategy. In a continental country like Brazil, with a multi- administrative sphere
educational system, effective communication was a key success factor for the deployment of
the system in more than 22,000 thousand schools. School principal, teachers, IT staff need to be
engaged in the process and contribute to demonstrate its relevance to the school community.
5. Value of monitoring data. Real time data allows school managers to compare contractual
and actual speeds and flag discrepancies. However, measuring Internet access is not
enough to understand how the Internet is being used, and if it is being used for educational
activities rather than just for administrative tasks. It is useful to refine the data to have a
better understanding of how connectivity is being used. According to data from the ICT
in Education Survey, carried out by Cetic.br in 2019, while 96% of schools located in urban
areas had Internet access in areas of administrative use, only 63% had access to the Internet
network in the classroom.
6. Accuracy of information. Whilst ISP reporting is enforced through the Brazilian Telecom
Regulator (ANATEL), the information provided is not always accurate, for example ISP’s may
under report their network to avoid having to pay higher taxes.
7. Purchasing power. Allocating resources to schools for purchasing does not necessarily result
in an increase in the use of technology or faster connectivity speeds, as for example schools
were not aware on how to follow up on requests for additional connectivity.
8. Contract negotiations. Whilst schools are able to secure their own connectivity contracts,
with schools and municipalities negotiating prices directly with ISPs, it is recommended that
schools group together to obtain better prices.
9. Offline content. COVID-19 highlighted the need for offline content, with Brazil’s National
Common Core Curriculum providing an advantage for cloud distribution of content.
1.4.3 Sierra Leone
Principle Addressed
Combination of mapping tools and ITU broadband maps.
Project Name
Free Quality School Education initiative.
Location
Sierra Leone.
Date
2019 – ongoing.
83
A random sample of 200 schools in the city of Manaus, consisting of a mix of both urban and rural schools.
34
Partners
• Sierra Leone’s Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI)
• UNICEF
• ITU
• Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA)
Situation/Challenge
Since independence in 1961, Sierra Leone has experienced challenging periods of internal
conflict, military intervention, disease outbreaks and natural disasters and currently ranks 179 th
(out of 188) in the Human Development Index.84 Of the estimated 7.6 million population,85 the
ITU estimates that only 9 per cent86 of individuals in Sierra Leone are using the Internet, whilst
adult literacy rates are only at 48 per cent.87
As part of the country’s Medium Term National Development Plan 2019-2023 which aims to
improve people’s lives through education, inclusive growth and building a resilient economy,
the Government of Sierra Leone has committed to use technology and innovation to support
the delivery of the plan.
Aim of Project
The ‘Free Quality School Education Initiative’ seeks to provide free education to children, and
aims to use data science to help ensure that every child will have access to free education.
Project Details
As part of the Free Quality School Education Initiative a data system is being developed to
provide the government with up-to-date information on schools, and students. The interactive
tool will help the government in its decision making process in what it pertains to education
and school connectivity. The data dashboards and customized interfaces will also include the
mapping of all schools and their connectivity, whilst also enabling the government to identify
those children that are currently out of school.
Results
To date the connectivity of 10,790 schools has been mapped, with school location and
connectivity data provided by the Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI)
through collection via the Ministry of Education’s annual digital school census. Whilst 80 per
cent of schools have been shown to be within 3G or 4G coverage,88 only 205 were shown to be
connected to the Internet. This means that an estimated 112,000 students live in areas without
mobile coverage or Internet connectivity.
84
UNDP. (2018). Sierra Leone Annual Report.
85
86
87
88
Mobile coverage maps were provided by Orange, Africel, the GSMA and others.
35
Figure 4. Distance to the Nearest Transmission Network Node (yellow lines).
The transmission network89 data from the ITU Broadband maps90 have been used to identify the
distance from a school to the nearest fiber Node to estimate the cost of extending connectivity
to the disconnected schools. In a transmission network, a node is an access (entry or exit) point,
i.e. transmission equipment is installed at each node, which can provide access into the network.
Lessons Learned
Collaborating on mapping resources improved the data quality and analyses power to get a
more complete picture of connecvitivty gaps and estimate the amount of effort needed to
bring Internet access to all schools in Sierra Leone. Mapping schools is a comprehensive effort
that caapitalizes on the value of data, connectivity, and effective policy that supports learning,
teaching and human capital development. At the moment of writing this report the collaboration
with Sierra Leone is still ongoing. Further lessons are expected to come in the near future.
89
The essential underpinning of a broadband access network is a core transmission backbone network,
connecting high-speed networks such as 3G/4G towers and international Internet links.
90
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2020). ITU Broadband Maps: ICT Infrastructure deployment,
gaps, and opportunity analysis.
36
1.4.4 Ghana and Mali
Principle Addressed
Real time data collection.
Project Name
Real-time Data for Real-time Use: Case Studies from Ghana and Mali.91
Location
Ghana and Mali.
Date
2015.
Partners
• Millennium Villages Project
• Sustainable Engineering Lab
Situation/Challenge
Whilst household surveys are useful in measuring the impact of education strategies and policies
adopted in developing countries, they also have a number of associated challenges such as the
time involved in collecting data, the validity of data (depending on how regularly it is collected)
and the usefulness of the results at a district or school level (once the data has been aggregated).
Aim of Project
To collect real-time data that can be analyzed to provide useful feedback to schools and district
education offices on a monthly basis.
Project Details
The project used an android phone based data collection system at the Millennium Villages
Project site in Tiby, Mali and in Bonsaaso, Ghana, to collect the date in real-time. The data was
then stored in a data collection, management and utilization system for analysis before being
passed back to schools and district education offices.
Results
In Tiby, analysis of data combined with geographical information highlighted a number of
interesting issues including distances of schools from towns in relation to student attendance
as well as higher teacher absenteeism as a result of schools only running in the morning on
Wednesdays and Thursdays. This information allowed for steps to be taken to improve upon
both student and teacher attendance.
The monthly data at from Bonsaaso showed that those schools, which were lacking full time
teachers, were also those schools where students tended to lack basic reading skills. When this
information was combined with geographical information for the district the analysis showed
that the area where these schools were located tended to lack basic infrastructure meaning that
teachers were more reluctant to accept postings.
91
International Education News. (2015). Real-time Data for Real-time Use: Case Studies from Ghana and Mali.
37
Lessons Learned
Frequently collected data with frequent feedback allows the data collected to be more useful.
The data is more impactful if those who collect the data are also those who are in a position to
take appropriate action having seen the results of the data. The closer they are to the issues, the
better the data use is going to be.
As well as technology being useful in learning and as a teaching aid, technology can also be
useful as a means to improve educational planning. Different data users (policymakers, district
officials, school members) often like to see different indicators. Therefore data displays need to
be created at various levels.
Efficient adoption of technology-based solutions for issues of data collection depends on many
factors. Political will as well as local capacity to collect frequent data and disseminate the results is
key. Stakeholder buy-in from a multi-sectorial perspective can help to gain insights from already
existing practices from other sectors such as health. A democratic process that weighs the
different data needs at the national, state and district levels is also critical in maximizing data use.
This is important since different stakeholders at various levels may have very different data uses.
38
2. CONNECT the schools

As it has been mentioned in the previous chapter, in addition of knowing the geographical
locations of schools, it is also important to understand the reasons why schools are not
connected in the first place. This means: identifying the areas where there is limited or no
connectivity service, the reasons why a school has no access, as well as the potential options
to extend service. In addition to the already highlighted causes that might affect a school’s
lack of/poor connectivity (both from the supply and demand sides), other challenges faced by
governments when connecting schools to the Internet include:
• Identifying gaps in network infrastructure coverage, as there is no systematic, publicly

available, universal data set of global connectivity infrastructure.
• Extensive number of technologies providing digital communications and a lack of
aggregated information showing the coverage areas served by those technologies,
contrasted against the geographic locations of schools.
• Electrification. Many schools may not be connected to a reliable source and even if they
are, ministries of education might have little or no control over Internet connectivity in
schools, which depends on national telecommunications infrastructure.92
• Unwillingness of providers to operate in certain areas, which are of difficult geographic
terrain, have low density of population, or are affected by conflict.
• Defining what it means to be “connected” and what are the connectivity efforts required
to get all schools online; these can differ among countries and can be highly influenced
by their geographic constraints (e.g. landlocked countries or island states).
• Defining what is the ultimate goal to be achieved with connectivity and how ambitious
the school connectivity plan is.
Once schools have been mapped, and their connectivity requirements have been identified,
the next step is getting them online. Here it is important to analyze which schools will be
connected first and what would be the criteria to follow for that prioritization. This can happen
either by a scheme where governments (ministries) take the lead according to their school
connectivity plan (top down approach); or by a model where the schools themselves could
drive that effort (bottom up approach) because there is no country connectivity plan available,
or implementation is slow due to funding; a third alternative is a (hybrid approach), where
connectivity programs are funded by the government but schools have to apply for funding.93
In addition, it is also important to determine what are the best possible technical solutions that
will provide schools with the required connectivity, and countries with safe, secure, reliable,
and fit for purpose infrastructure to support future digital developments. Adequate and cost-
effective infrastructure and access to resources are a critical component of any strategy or
government plan seeking to connect students and schools to the Internet. But having access to
broadband is as important as being able to afford it. The Broadband Commission advocates for
affordable connectivity and entry-level broadband services in developing countries that are at
less than 2 per cent of monthly Gross National Income (GNI) per capita. While affordability has
improved significantly since the Broadband Commission set its initial target in 2011, costs still
remain high in many countries.94 In some instances, Governments’ limited financial resources
per student, as well as overall poverty and systemic shocks such as the current COVID-19
92
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2014). Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development. Final WSIS
Targets Review. Achievements, Challenges, and the Way Forward.
93
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2013). Connect a School, Connect a Community.
94
ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development. (2019). The State of Broadband: Broadband
as a Foundation for Sustainable Development.
39
pandemic, also impact affordability and prevent many children and youth from accessing the
Internet at school and from home.
Moreover, understanding the regulations and policy frameworks currently in place, the business
models for deploying technologies, as well as the connectivity requirements for present and
future needs (five years out) is also essential for connecting schools and for determining the
best possible solutions for last mile connectivity.
The objectives of the “CONNECT” pillar are to:
• Determine the most affordable and suitable connectivity solutions (e.g. technologies,
regulations and business solutions) to connect schools based on their context.
• Cluster mapped schools according to their connectivity levels and technology requirements
(e.g. last mile, backhaul).
• Provide tools for governments to oversee implementation of the connectivity solution by
the service provider against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as network and data
security, and data rate among others.
• Help assess the school readiness to connectivity.
This chapter summarizes key learnings and proposals coming out of the advisory process
provided by the Broadband Commission Working Group on School Connectivity to the Giga
Initiative on the CONNECT pillar. It reviews some of the technical implications of schools’
connectivity requirements, as well as the technologies, policies and business models that
might help address them.
The CONNECT pillar is anchored on the ITU’s forthcoming publication: Last Mile Connectivity
(LMC) Solutions Guide, which has been designed for governments, service providers,
communities, civil society and technical organizations to address the lack of telecommunications
service delivery (voice and data communications) in developing countries around the world.
This chapter also introduces a methodology for connecting schools (once they have been
mapped), based on the principles highlighted in the LMC Solutions Guide. The methodology
has been adopted by the Giga Initiative, and is intended to help governments come closer in
their goal of connecting schools to the Internet, and to provide schools with access to online
learning tools and digital relevant pedagogies that help improve the quality of education.
The final section of the chapter is dedicated to case studies documenting good practices for
connectivity around the world, which have been developed in accordance to some of the
principles highlighted in the CONNECT pillar.
The Broadband Commission Working Group on School Connectivity recognizes the impact that
externalities such as: electricity, access to basic infrastructure, hardware and devices, market
conditions, and skilled personnel have to school connectivity. Understanding and acting upon
these externalities is fundamental to the implementation, success, and sustainability of any
connectivity program. These externalities require further in depth analysis and study, and as
such, they were not part of the scope of the work developed by the Working Group. Their
examination is hence not included in this report.
40
2.1 Methodology and principles for connecting schools

Online connectivity provides learners, teachers and administrators with access to new resources
and pedagogical tools; it also provides them with state of the art knowledge and instruction
methods, as well as with new trends in administrative processes, and teacher training. Connected
schools are also neuralgic to entire communities, as they can (outside regular school hours) act
as knowledge and entrepreneurship hubs to entire populations including marginalized groups.
Selecting the appropriate interventions that will bring connectivity to schools needs to be
accompanied by a thorough process. In the past year, the Broadband Commission Working
Group on School Connectivity has provided advice on the methodology developed by the ITU
for Last Mile Connectivity, and adopted by Giga in their CONNECT pillar. The methodology
is structured around the following tiers:
After the mapping of schools has taken place, all existing solutions and interventions
for connectivity must be analyzed. In here it is key to look at: the types of interventions
currently available, the schools’ connectivity requirements, affordable business models,
as well as technology and regulatory frameworks.
1.1 Types of Interventions currently available
For the past year, the ITU has been analyzing and categorizing about 112 different interventions
globally. This analysis has demonstrated that interventions primarily differ along two different axes:
• The type of network service (as defined by the primary access network technology
utilized), and
• The focus of the entity of profit generation.
In the first axes (type of network service), interventions focused either on Mobile network
deployments providing various mobile wireless services (such as cellular or other wireless)
including voice and data; or general Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who utilized a range of
different technologies to provide data focused service. In the second axes (focus of the entity
of profit generation), interventions are categorized as not-for-profit or for-profit.
41
Figure 5. Axes for Categorization of Technology Interventions.95
In the case of For Profit interventions, both Mobile Operator Networks (MNOs) and Internet
Service Providers (ISPs) operate through licenses; manage CapEx/revenue sharing models,
network as a service, or energy and connectivity business models. Both also use a mix of
usage based services for voice and data and other paid services as revenue models, and
have little to none subsidies (except if benefiting from Universal Services Funds (USFs) to
support deployment in marginalized areas). With the exception of spectrum regulation (which is
exclusive to MNOs), and Satellite landing rights (exclusive to ISPs), the most common regulatory
concerns of For Profit interventions include: radio certifications, Telco franchises, rights of way
and pole attachment, as well as national, regional and local business licenses.
In the case of Not for Profit interventions, both local mobile and local ISP networks provide
services through small networks, usually community operated through collaboration business
models, and capture revenue through a mix of paid or low cost services and free access. Both
receive partial or full recurring subsidies, and their main regulatory concerns are mostly related
to radio certifications, telecommunication franchises, rights of way and pole attachment, local
business licenses, and licensed spectrum (for local mobile networks).
1.2 Connectivity Requirements and Usage
When reviewing available options for connectivity, in addition to the analysis of available
interventions, it is also important to look at the school’s connectivity requirements and the
intended usage of technology (present and future – five years out). Understanding the needs
and the usage of connectivity from the user’s perspective is key and has to be done before
defining the solutions that can address those needs.
95
Last Mile Connectivity (LMC) Solutions Guide. International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 2020. Forthcoming
publication.
42
A proper analysis of a school’s connectivity requirements must consider the needs of

teachers, learners, administrators and parents alike.
Governments and bodies seeking to connect schools to the Internet need to evaluate among
other factors:
• The actual (and future) need of the school for real time access to data (e.g. real-time video
applications, gaming, and online collaboration tools).
• The school needs in regards to bandwidth, latency, and network speed requirements,
versus the quality of connectivity that is expected, as well as the distance to backbone.96
• The required equipment and devices to ensure access to the Internet at schools and at
home (computers, laptops, tablets, personal phones).
• The number and types of activities that will be conducted online and their frequency.
• Expectations of the school in terms of data and content sharing.
• How schools expect to tackle issues such as the “homework gap” and how online learning
from home is incorporated in a safe and secure manner. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed
the importance for learners to be able to connect from home; any forward-looking school
connectivity program must also consider this issue.
• Security protocols to safeguard data and protect children from online dangers and abuse.
These are just some of the elements that need to be taken into consideration, in order to
develop a structured plan that not only matches connectivity requirements with the appropriate
transfer rates, speeds, and latencies, but also with an engaging learning experience.
Understanding the school’s readiness and that of the country’s educational system
is primal to integrating connectivity. School readiness refers not only to technology
and infrastructure, but also to the human and regulatory aspects (educators’ adoption
readiness, regulation, government support, and data privacy policies). It also refers to
the readiness of the community to which the school belongs: parents and children’s
basic knowledge and awareness of the Internet, its benefits and risks.
Governments must also evaluate the risks of adopting technology and understand the
ecosystem of the communities surrounding the school. Communities and traditional leaders
play a significant role in accelerating or delaying adoption. Last but not least, measuring
the usage of connectivity must also consider the “aspirational” factor. Schools need to be
ambitious and identify the viability and impact of future scenarios that include better and faster
connectivity. The connectivity plan also needs to extend value into the future and allow the
school to incorporate new technologies entering the educational space such as the Internet
of Things (IoT), augmented and virtual reality, robotics, Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics (STEM) experiences, coding and many more wherever possible.
96
In some countries, primary and secondary schools can also get connected to the Internet by using the backbones
of National Education and Research Network (NRENs).
43
© UNHCR/Sebastian Rich
As part of the UNHCR & Vodafone Foundation’s Instant Network Schools Programme, refugee students attending
the Angelina Jolie Primary School in Kakuma camp learn computer coding. The training is also supported by the
iamtheCODE movement that aims to train 1 million women and girls by 2030.
1.3 Business Models
Once the available interventions have been analyzed and the school connectivity requirements
have been documented, it is worth looking at different business models that could provide
affordable connectivity especially in the last mile (which is typically where the most difficult
challenges for connecting schools reside). A review of regulations and policies favoring the
emergence of innovative business models such as: clustering connectivity demands, franchising,
community networks, connectivity as a service, and spectrum reuse, must be done in parallel.
The following are some examples of business models that provide certain level of service in
the local access last mile network:
• Integrated International Operator: owns national transmission infrastructure, backhaul

and last mile access network infrastructure, and may provide retail services.
• Integrated Local Operator: owns the regional backhaul infrastructure and last mile access
network, and provides retail services.
• Infrastructure as a Service Operator: owns passive network infrastructure but does not
operate active network equipment, nor provides network service.
• Connectivity as a Service Operator: owns active network infrastructure in the last-mile
access network but does not provide own branded retail service.
• Last Mile Connectivity Integrated Operator: owns last-mile local access network
infrastructure and provides its own branded retail services.
• Last Mile Connectivity Service Operator: Does not own any network infrastructure but
provides its own branded services.
44
© UNICEF/UNI232329/Noorani
Hassan Saleh Musa, class teacher, assists a girl child with her tablet, at the UNICEF supported Debate e-Learning
Centre in a village on the outskirts of Kassala in Eastern Sudan.
When evaluating business models that could help increase school connectivity, is always
useful to consider different mechanisms to target remote and hard to reach areas by
looking at aggregating demand and by clustering schools according to socio-economic
indicators, proximity to backhaul, urban vs. rural, and Ministries of Education related
criteria. Governments must see schools as anchors of the surrounding communities.
Sustainability is a key issue for investments aimed at providing connectivity. Most initiatives
focus their efforts only in financing Capital Expenditure (CapEx) but the major challenge is to
build Operational Expenditure (OpEx) business models. There is a need for research, data and
evidence showing how different methods of demand aggregation and OpEx business models
can work and empower local businesses to innovate and provide last-mile connectivity.
Another recommendation is to explore Business-to-Business models (in parallel to Business

to Consumer models) and also hybrid business models instead of purely consumer-based
subscription models. Taking advantage of the fact that education can be funded even as a
loss, another alternative is to present the issue of school connectivity as an education issue,
rather than an ICT issue.
Another approach is to see schools as an anchor for connecting and uplifting the communities
that surround them. For this, governments should:
• Look at business models that use demand aggregation as a driving factor that pays for
investments in connectivity.
• Find what is around the schools, and what are other opportunities for using the school
connectivity (e.g. hospitals, markets, health centers, public services).
• Explore the cultural export that connectivity can provide to connected communities.
45
• Combine school’s use of connectivity with other usage (e.g. Wi-Fi Cafés).
• Show the impact and the economic value of school connectivity.
• Consider possibilities for schools to sell excess of capacity to local communities.
By doing this, a stronger case can be made for investing in school connectivity, as the extra
connecting capacity could be used and even sold/rented out to local markets, hospitals, farmers
and entrepreneurs.
1.4 Technologies and Regulation
When it comes to connecting schools to the Internet, there is no one fit all technology.
Connectivity models and interventions must be technology agnostic and respond to
specific needs of the target populations. There are many technologies that can support
governments’ connectivity plans and their efforts for getting schools connected to the
Internet. Different technologies can be used depending on the context, the specific
connectivity needs and the intended usage. In many instances it might even be required
to mix different types of technologies in order to grant connectivity. The end result
should be to provide schools with affordable, fast and high quality connectivity, a
goal that should be technology independent.
For further details on this topic, the Broadband Commission Working Group refers the reader
to the ITU’s Last Mile Connectivity Solutions guide, which provides a comprehensive repository
of the available technologies that can be evaluated for adoption in accordance to specific
school settings.
In addition to the available technologies, it is also important to understand which regulations

and policies would enable the use of those technologies to provide affordable connectivity.
In many countries, the Telecommunications sector tends to be highly regulated, which in turn
impacts school connectivity as market restrictions result in less competition, higher prices,
poor quality of service and fewer connectivity options. Regulations to the Telecommunications
sector can bring both positive and negative repercussions for school connectivity: there may
be regulatory restrictions that inhibit schools’ connectivity options (e.g. requirement to use
only licensed operators or the inability to use certain radio spectrum frequencies); and other
regulatory tools that aim at expanding Internet access in rural or remote areas, which can benefit
schools by making infrastructure more available.97 Spectrum for example, is typically an issue
for wireless technologies. Nonetheless, in rural areas, spectrum is often available; the problem
is rather its reusability. Regulators could/should allow the re-usage of available spectrum in
rural areas for school connectivity. Understanding spectrum, license processes and USF usage,
should take place before implementing interventions for connectivity as they can either act as
road blockers or boosters for increasing access. Regulations and policies should also enable
novel innovations, community networks and traditional providers.
97
46
Identifying the most feasible and affordable connectivity solution should be an

iterative process requiring identification and refinement of the options made within
the principles of Affordability, Usage, Financial Viability, Structure and Sustainability.
After schools have been mapped and clustered, and the already existing options for connectivity
have been analyzed, the next step is to identify and select those solutions that better address
the connectivity needs of the schools and the local context they find themselves in. In order to
achieve this, an iterative process is recommended. This process should include the identification
and refinement of technology options made within core dimensions that serve as binding
constraints and that can provide direction for any possible solution set. These dimensions are:
• Affordability: ensuring that connectivity service user pricing falls within affordability
thresholds (e.g. entry-level broadband services in developing countries that are at less
than 2 per cent of monthly Gross National Income (GNI) per capita for 1 Gigabyte (GB)
of mobile broadband data).98
• Usage: identifying the applications and services that need to be available, and the level
of Quality of Service (QoS), that those applications and services require.
• Finance Viability: This includes measuring the economic viability for private investment
of the connectivity service, based on estimates of Average Revenue Per User (ARPU),
availability of backhaul/middle mile connectivity, options for different local access
technologies and the potential QoS level. In the case of schools connectivity projects
(as these often are associated with high socio-economic pay offs even with limited
financial viability), this principle is more focused towards “efficiency” or choosing the
right technology option/business model to connect schools.
• Structure: Articulation of the business model of the service delivery, and identifying any
regulatory constraints on the model and technologies utilized.
• Sustainability: An understanding of the revenue model of the service, and any potential
subsidy (one-time, and/or recurring) if necessary.
98
ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development. (2018). 2025 Targets: "Connecting the Other
Half". Target 2. A key aspect of designing potential solutions begins with identifying what price levels of service
would constitute as affordable, especially for schools. More details in chapter 2.3 FINANCE School Connectivity.
47
Figure 6. Dimensions and Iterative Approach for Selecting Technology Solutions for
School Connectivity.99
Illustration 69246078 © Patrick Marcel Pelz | Dreamstime.com.
Once the possible solutions have been identified and selected with the iterative approach
discussed above, the next step is implementing interventions. There are three types of
interventions to increase universal coverage and service for Internet connectivity:
• Policy and regulatory interventions that expand economically feasible service provision.
• Interventions that require one time financing or limited subsidy to de-risk private
investment, and
• Interventions requiring recurring public financing support (as service provision is not
economically feasible because the market offers insufficient return on private capital
investment).
More specific details on the possible economic models for financing school connectivity are
described in chapter 3. FINANCE School Connectivity.
Implementing interventions must be done considering present and future usage needs
for all stakeholders (students, teachers, administrators, community), and understanding
the school and community readiness and that of the education system (learning
programs, teacher skills, training needs, percent of computers at schools and homes,
child online protection and safeguarding).
Implementing interventions must also go hand in hand with tools that facilitate the decision-
making processes. The Broadband Commission Working Group on School Connectivity
99
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2020). Last Mile Connectivity (LMC) Solutions Guide. Forthcoming
publication.
48
recommends using the ITU Last Mile Connectivity (LMC) Toolkit as one of the possible tools
for this purpose. Further details on the LMC Toolkit and Solutions Guide are covered in the
following section.
2.2 Tools for Implementation – ITU’s Last Mile Connectivity (LMC) Toolkit
ITU’s Last Mile Connectivity (LMC) Toolkit is one of the possible aids that could help assist
decision-making processes when selecting and implementing interventions for connectivity.
It helps achieve this goal, by creating a platform for information sharing and coordination
among last mile connectivity projects that increases last mile connectivity networks. The Toolkit
is comprised of: a Last Mile Connectivity (LMC) Solution Guide, interactive software tools,
capacity building material and guidelines for assisting implementation.
The Last Mile Connectivity (LMC) Solutions Guide was conceptualized by the ITU as an effort to
provide governments, service providers, communities, civil society and technical organizations
with a tool to address the lack of telecommunications service delivery (voice and data
communications) in developing countries around the world. The solutions presented in the guide
can also be used in underserved and unconnected geographies in higher income countries.
The focus of the guide is to identify specific solutions for localities known as “un-served” and
“underserved” in terms of telecommunications service, which currently do not benefit from
connectivity.
The LMC Solutions Guide has two areas of focus:
1. A focus on solutions that can currently be deployed for affordable communication

service to unconnected communities in developing countries (low-income countries,
Least Developed Countries (LDCs), and Middle Income Countries (MICs), as well as a
Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), and Small Island Developing States (SIDS)).
2. A focus on the conditions, constraints and solutions facing individual localities, and the
solutions helping connect communities with affordable service.
The Solution Guide is divided into four main blocks, which contains the recommended principles
for increasing connectivity in the last mile. These principles were already explained in the
previous section as part of the Methodology for connecting schools: Identifying unconnected
communities; Reviewing the already existing options for connectivity; Selecting affordable,
financially viable and sustainable solutions, and Implementing interventions.
For further details and a more comprehensive view on the LMC Solutions Guide, please visit:
Last Mile Connectivity (LMC) Solutions Guide. In addition to the LMC Solutions Guide, the
Toolkit also includes interactive software tools, capacity building material and guidelines for
assisting implementation.
49
Box 5. Giga. Connectivity Tools.
The Giga Initiative together with ITU are also working on a Broadband
Diagnostic Toolkit (BDT), which comprises a set of methodologies,
software tools and parameters that allows decision makers, network
designers or infrastructure owners to support their decisions about
connecting the unconnected.
From the architecture point of view, the BDT is divided into three layers: Methodology,
Software & Parameters. The Methodology layer includes two methodologies for
technologies selection and cost estimation:
1. For connecting schools to broadband transport backbones;
2. For building local area networks (LAN) in schools.
1. Methodology for technologies selection and cost estimation for connecting

localities or schools to broadband transport backbones
The Methodology considers an object as a Switching Node (SN), organized in locality

for connecting an access network (last mile) to a broadband transport backbone or
a switching node of educational institution (school), for connecting all educational
institutions of a locality.
The initial data for simulating are object parameters (geographical location; number of
subscribers by groups, etc.), as well as parameters that determine the current state of
technology development, the telecommunications equipment market and the country’s
or regional’s economy. Access technologies parameters might incorporate transmission
delay, nominal bitrate, transmission medium, equipment characteristics, etc.
The proposed approach is intended to initially determine the required characteristics of
the transmission channel and the possible technologies for establishing the necessary
channel, and then calculate the quantitative and economic indicators to select the most
economically feasible solution.
2. Methodology for technologies selection and cost estimation for building local area
networks (LAN) in schools
The methodology allows for selecting a technology solution, and estimating the cost
for building local area networks in schools. It operates by school specific data (school
complex length; number of buildings in school complex; average number of floors in
a building; school complex width etc.), technology specific data (the labor norms for
installation and commissioning of equipment and materials, equipment performance,
etc.), country/region specific data (mean cost of Ethernet switch, mean cost of Wi Fi access
point1, mean cost of cable, labor costs etc.).
The results of the calculations are provided in the form of necessary CapEx and OpEx
that allows calculating the total cost of ownership for different variants and choose the
best one from the economical point of view.
1
Distribution of access points inside schools is an important issue; in some places, schools might have Internet access
but no connection in regular classrooms. For example, in Brazil, according to the Center of Innovation for Brazilian
Education (CIEB), 96% of urban schools declare having Internet connection for administrative tasks, but less than 19%
have connections (Wi-Fi or cable) in regular classrooms.
50
2.3 Conclusions
Online connectivity provides learners, teachers and administrators with access to new resources
and pedagogical tools, state of the art knowledge and instruction methods, as well as new
trends in administrative processes, and teacher training. After the mapping of schools has
taken place, all existing solutions and interventions for connectivity must be analyzed. Here it is
key to have a methodology that reviews and understands: the types of interventions currently
available and the schools’ connectivity requirements; the intended usage of the technology;
affordable business models, as well as technology and regulatory frameworks.
When evaluating business models that could help increase school connectivity, it is always
useful to consider different mechanisms to target remote and hard to reach areas by looking
at aggregating demand and by clustering schools according to socio-economic indicators,
proximity to backhaul, urban vs. rural, and Ministries of Education related criteria.
The selection of affordable, financially viable and sustainable solutions must be done through an
iterative process based on the principles of Affordability, Usage, Financial Viability, Structure
and Sustainability. Interventions must also be selected considering the present and future
usage needs for all stakeholders (students, teachers, administrators), and understanding the
school and community readiness and that of the education system. Strengthening existing
electrical infrastructure and addressing other externalities such as: access to hardware and
devices (at school and from home), market conditions, and skilled personnel is also a critical
success factor of any school connectivity program. School location and basic indicators of
infrastructure needs to be shared across ministries (cross-sectorial data share). This will ensure
that integrated solutions will reach the schools in terms of health, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
(WASH), nutrition and others.
Business models for school connectivity should also help increase connectivity in the last mile
and in the most challenging contexts, by using the principles of demand aggregation and
school clustering. Governments should see schools as anchors for the development of the
surrounding communities as they can also (outside regular school hours) act as knowledge
and entrepreneurship hubs to entire populations including marginalized groups.
Connectivity models and interventions must be technology agnostic and respond to specific
needs of the target populations. They also must allow for expansion of economically feasible
service provision and cater for one-time financing or limited subsidy interventions that de-risk
private investment.
Enabling policies and regulatory frameworks should adopt flexible “light-touch”, multi-sectorial,
forward-looking, neutral and transparent policy and regulatory approaches. These should
foster competitive and investment friendly environments, and provide incentive regulations
for infrastructure, service and applications development while achieving social goals. School
connectivity and the effective management and use of real-time data, can help make and
accelerate policy decisions to achieve the SDGs.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced many people to work and learn from home, bringing a lot
of attention to the importance of broadband and out of school connectivity. An ambitious
(yet realistic) vision of school connectivity should include safe “out of school” access to the
Internet and should be supported by the appropriate technologies that enable high quality
learning. An active involvement of the different key stakeholders, a strong commitment from
the government, as well as the local community (including teachers and students), is key for
51
any effort oriented towards mapping and connecting schools. Recognizing that there is no
one-way to connect schools and that all relevant options, technologies and approaches are
valid is also a critical element for success.
2.4 Case Studies

• National school connectivity plans piloting different technologies to connect rural schools.
• Practices addressing some of the core principles highlighted in the CONNECT pillar when
implementing connectivity plans.
2.4.1 Nicaragua
Principle Addressed
National School Connectivity Plan and piloting differing technologies to connect rural schools.
Project Name
Nicaragua’s National School Connectivity Plan (Connect a School Connect a Community).
Location
Nicaragua.
Date
2010.
Partners
• ITU
• Institute for Telecommunications and Posts (TELCOR)
• Intel
Cost
Of the 100 computers distributed, 60 were provided free of charge by the ITU and 40 were
donated by Intel Corporation. The Claro-Enitel Corporation offered free Internet connectivity
to each of the five schools for the first year.
Situation/Challenge
In 2010, an estimated 10 per cent100 of the population in Nicaragua was using the Internet.
Aim of Project
The aim was to connect Nicaragua’s rural public schools with ICT access so that schools could
serve as community ICT centers for rural, marginal and isolated areas.
100
52
Project Details
Given the 8,154 public schools in Nicaragua, the first step was to create a national plan for
connectivity to schools. The ITU committed to cooperate in the drafting of a national school
connectivity plan for the country and to conduct a pilot project, which would connect five public
schools using different network technologies.
Following a review of policies and regulations in the Nicaraguan telecommunications sector a
staged plan was put in place for national school connectivity, which included proposed polices to:
• Eliminate value-added tax for Internet services for schools.
• Setting preferential rates for the educational sector.
• Imposing conditions, such as provision of Internet services to schools at preferential rates,
on companies before granting or renewing spectrum.
• Auctioning unused spectrum on condition that the licenses provides free connectivity to
schools for the duration of the license.
• Using the proceeds of the Telecommunications Investment Fund (FITEL) to provide Internet
services to schools and to finance the purchase of equipment.
For the pilot, children at five remote schools were provided with computers, electricity and
Internet access. Internet access was provided via 3G connection, canopy antenna, and Very Small
Aperture Terminal (VSAT) technology. In some instances electricity also had to be installed and
this was achieved with the aid of solar panels. Each school was equipped with 20 computers and
98 rural schoolteachers were trained in ICT, with each school receiving per week four hours of
training on site and four hours online for five weeks.
Results
A total of 921 students, 98 teachers and 2923 people in the communities where the five
schools were located, benefitted from the project. In addition the country benefitted from the
development of a national school connectivity plan, which could be used to continue the task
of connecting schools.
Lessons Learned
As a result of developing the national school connectivity plan, major challenges such as
financing, improved collaboration between public and private sector, cultural adaptation to
technology, and the importance of capacity building were identified.
In addition, the implementation of the pilots highlighted the use of different technologies
for urban and rural areas in future projects, the need to decentralize technical and teaching
assistance at the local level, and the requirement for public sector institutions to work in a more
integrated fashion.
2.4.2 Suriname
Principle Addressed
National School Connectivity Plan applying principles of the CONNECT pillar.
Project Name
Suriname National School Connectivity Plan (Connect a School Connect a Community).
Location
Suriname.
Date
December 2011 – December 2012.
53
Partners
• Telecommunication Authority Suriname (TAS)
• ITU
Cost
• CHF 100,000 Regional Initiative Seed Funds (Americas) from ITU
• In-kind contributions from both ITU and TAS
Situation/Challenge
Broadband is not widely available in Suriname, which has one of the lowest broadband penetration
rates in the Caribbean,101this despite some developments in terms of infrastructure roll-out, e.g.
the use of two-way satellite transfer systems (VSAT) to provide access to the Internet in even the
least accessible areas. Broadband services are mostly limited to Greater Paramaribo and the
main population centers in the coastal strip. According to the Ministry of Education in Suriname,
in 2011 less than 3.5 per cent of primary schools in the country had a broadband connection and
computer room, and generally only 32 per cent of individuals were using the Internet. Prior to the
project, there was no single strategy for connecting schools. Whilst computers and connectivity
were readily available in urban areas, this was not true in rural areas. Some of the challenges
faced were lack of coordination between public and private sector, inadequate training, lack of
local content, outdated legal and regulatory frameworks, and cost.
Aim of Project
1. To assist the government of Suriname in developing a proposal for a National School
Connectivity Plan.
2. To promote broadband Internet connectivity for at least two schools in remote or rural areas.
3. To furnish at least one classroom per school with computers and educational ICT equipment
and materials.
4. Provide training to teachers.
Project Details
The project aimed to work with the Government of Suriname through the Telecommunication
Authority Suriname (TAS) to develop a proposal for a National School Connectivity Plan.
At the end of the project a number of follow on actions were identified:
• Establish a National School and Community Connectivity Coordination Committee housed
within TAS with participation of TAS, the Ministry of Transport, Communications, and
Tourism, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Labor, Technology and Environment
to coordinate government initiatives relating to school and community connectivity and
ensure consistency and coherence with other policy elements such as education, health and
government administration.
• Create a School Connectivity Forum for Collaboration and Dialogue on the development of
school connectivity initiatives chaired TAS with the participation of government (TAS, the
Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Tourism, the Ministry of Education, and the
Ministry of Labor, Technology and Environment), parliament, industry and regional and local
authorities, donor agencies and other relevant stakeholders.
• Establish a co-chairmanship between TAS and the Ministry of Education of both Fora, with
TAS coordinating connectivity issues and ensuring that initiatives are accommodated within
regulatory and competitive framework for ICTs, and the Ministry of Education being responsible
for education-specific issues such as teacher training, curriculum development, etc.
• Establish clear responsibilities and mandate of participating government entities and agencies.
• Identify coordination mechanisms for content-related input from stakeholders.
101
B.Claire Downes-Haynes. CANTO. (2016). Consolidation of Summary of Findings and Recommendations of the
Four Components of BIIPAC.
54
Results
Four schools were connected to the Internet and equipped with a computer lab, which also
included a printer and scanner. Training was also provided to teachers and managers of the
computer labs, also referred to as community ICT centers, as well as to those members of the
community who wished to use the centers for their day-to-day social and economic activities. With
the assistance of the ITU a draft Suriname National School Connectivity Plan was developed, and
in May 2013 the plan was launched.102Following the project, TAS is looking at updating some of
the existing telecommunications laws, to accommodate competition and convergence through
the introduction of regulatory provisions relating to, for example, flexible technology neutral
licensing, flexible spectrum policies, universal access and service provisions accommodating
convergence, infrastructure sharing, co-location provisions, etc. TAS is also analyzing the best
ways to finance school connectivity. One such measure being considered is Universal Access
and Service Financing, with a potential focus on how projects, such as free connectivity, can be
funded through operator’s existing corporate responsibility programs.
Lessons Learned
Members of the community were charged a fee to use the service, thus contributing to the
sustainability of the ICT community centers.
School connectivity does not come cheap and it is important to define Total Cost of Ownership
as well as mechanisms to ensure sustainability of projects. This includes ensuring that education
sector and ICT sector budgets are carefully allocated and managed to ensure the efficient
deployment of ICT for use in the education sector. Linked to this, is the fact that resources are
generally limited, and therefore some choices need to be made in the allocation of resources,
i.e. where to ‘put the money’. If scarce public resources must be allocated, the best value for the
money is generally sought. The question is how to measure ‘value’ and ‘money’.
Core indicators measure the inputs and outcomes of a program or project and are essential in
the evaluation of Information and Communications Technology for Education (ICT4E) initiatives.
In order to measure true use of resources, actual consumption of the resources must also be
taken into consideration (e.g. number of connections, equipment, etc.) and the cost thereof.
The policy objectives such as better grades, and fewer dropouts, for example, must also be
considered. These outcomes are usually brought about by a series of direct and measurable
outputs, such as number of students, and number of teachers trained among others.
Finally, it is important to ensure promotion and awareness of initiatives. Policy-makers, school
administrators, parents and students need to be acquainted with the multi-faceted opportunities,
challenges and constraints of integrating ICT into education.
102
Telecommunications Authority Suriname (TAS). (2012). Launch of the "National School Connectivity Plan".
55
2.4.3 Turkey
Principle Addressed
National School Connectivity Plan.
Project Name
FATiH Project.
Location
Turkey.
Date
2010 – ongoing.
Partners
• Ministry of National Education of Turkey (MoNE)
Situation/Challenge
In 2007, only 29 per cent of 25 – 64 year olds in Turkey had achieved an upper secondary level
education.103 Turkey is one of the countries in the OECD with the highest proportion of its
population under 15 years of age.104 In order to ensure that more young people complete their
education the Turkish Government introduced a number of policy measures under the Strategic
Plan for the Ministry of National Education (2010-2014) and the Tenth Development Plan (2014-
2018).105 This included legislation to increase the number of compulsory school years from 8 to
12 years in 2012.106 In addition, as part of the Tenth Development Plan, and under the Information
Society and Action Plan (ISAP), the government has committed to improve the educational ICT
infrastructure and progress towards a more digital society.
Aim of Project
The purpose of the project is to provide equal opportunities in education and improve technology
in schools through the use of information communication technology (ICT) by:107
• Providing equipment and software.
• Providing educational e-content and management of e-content.
• Ensuring effective use of ICT in teaching programs.
• Providing training to teachers.
• Monitoring ICT usage.
103
OECD. (2009). Education at a Glance 2009 - Survey.
104
OECD. (2020). Education Policy Outlook: Turkey.
105
106
107
FATiH Project. Our Vision & Mission.
56
Project Details
Specifically the project aims to provide:108
• Every school with Virtual Private Network (VPN) broadband Internet access, infrastructure
and high-speed access.
• Every classroom with an interactive whiteboard and wired/wireless Internet access.
• Every teacher with Education Information Network (EBA) applications, access to EBA market,
cloud account and ability to share course notes.
• Every student access to EBA market, cloud account, digital identity, ability to share homework
and individual learning materials.
The EBA was set-up to support the use of ICT materials and ensure that technology is
successfully integrated into the education system, as well as being designed for use both at
school and at home.109 The content for EBA is produced by experts in the field (both in Turkey
and Internationally) and provided in different formats to ensure relevance for students with
different learning styles.110
The FATiH project was initially planned to run for 5 years, with Phase 1 focused on high schools,
Phase 2 on vocational schools and Phase 3 on primary and pre-schools.111 All schools were
equipped with interactive whiteboards, and tables were distributed to students in secondary
schools112. The target was 450,000 interactive whiteboards installed and 11 million tablets
distributed.113 Teachers were also provided with training on the use of ICT in education, as well
as training on the tools introduced with FATiH.114
With regards to infrastructure and connectivity to schools and classrooms, phase 1 aimed to
connect 3362 schools, while phase 2 aimed to connect a further 9052 schools. The project
looks to install network infrastructure, in the form of routers, switches, and access points, to the
principal school buildings, the main buildings, workshops and labs.115
Results
Currently there are 47,158 schools, which are included in the FATiH project.116 By 2015 over
700,000 tablets had been distributed to students in 81 cities and over 200,000 interactive
whiteboards had been installed.117 By 2019 these figures had increased to over 1.4 million tablets
distributed and over 430,000 interactive whiteboards installed.118
A total of 3,100 schools from phase 1 and 10,500 schools in phase 2 have been connected to
the Internet.119
108
FATiH Project. Our Vision & Mission.
109
Abtar Darshan Singh, Shriram Raghunathan, Edward Robeck, Bibhya Sharma. IGI Global. (2018). Cases on
Smart Learning Environments.
110
Abtar Darshan Singh, Shriram Raghunathan, Edward Robeck, Bibhya Sharma. IGI Global. (2018). Cases on
Smart Learning Environments.
111
Nuh Yavuzalp, Melih Derya Gürer, Orhan Curaoğlu, Soner Durmuş, Sedat Akayoğlu, Mehmet Bahar, Fahri
Kiliç and Erkan Tekinarslan. International Journal of Research in E-Learning. Vol 1. (1). (2015). FATIH Project in
Turkey: A Case Analysis.
112
ERG. (2013). Turkey's Fatih Project: A plan to conquer the dıgıtal dıvıde or a technologıcal leap of faith?.
113
OECD. (2019). Education Policy Outlook 2019: Working Together to Help Students Achieve their Potential.
Turkey.
114
ERG. (2013). Turkey's Fatih Project: A plan to conquer the dıgıtal dıvıde or a technologıcal leap of faith?.
115
FATiH Project. Infrastructure and Access Services.
116
FATiH Project. FATiH Project.
117
Turkey.
118
Turkey.
119
FATiH Project. Infrastructure and Access Services.
57
Lessons Learned
The original design for the EBA platform was criticized for content quality, and the fact that
it’s hardware and software was not easily adaptable or take advantage of technological
developments. Improvements were made, particularly through the use of feasibility and cost-
effectiveness studies to ensure that the most sustainable and flexible solutions were selected.120
2.4.4 Brazil- Amazonia
Project Name
Amazonia Connected.
Principle Addressed
National school connectivity plans piloting different technologies to connect rural schools.
Location
Amazon Rivers, Brazil.
Date
2015 – ongoing.
Partners
• Brazilian Ministry of Communications (MC)
• Brazilian Ministry of Defense (MD)
• Brazilian National Research and Education Network (RNP)
• Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI)
Situation/Challenge121
The South American Amazon region covers nine countries and includes about half the area of
Brazil. The region is sparsely populated, and the provision of connectivity is challenging given
the dense vegetation of the Amazon rain forest. However, the population in this region, while
sparsely populated, is mainly concentrated along the rivers, with the towns of Manaus and Belém
having populations of more that 2 million people. The main rivers in this area are navigable by
ocean going vessels, which are able to reach as far as Iquitos in Peru (a distance of some 3,700
km from the Atlantic Ocean).
Aim of Project
The project aimed to improve connectivity in the Amazon region by improving the availability
of broadband and general communications,122 and to do so by making use of the Amazon rivers
to lay fiber optic cables to provide backbone connectivity.123
120
World Bank. (2020). International Bank for Reconstruction and Development Project Appraisal Document on a
Proposed Loan to the Republic of Turkey for a Safe Schooling and Distance Education Project.
121
Information provided to ITU by Brazilian National Research and Education Network (RNP). 23 Jun. 2020.
122
123
Eduardo Grizendi, Michael Stanton. EUNIS. (2016). Bridging the Digital Divide in Tropical South America.
58
Project Details
The project worked on the premise that using the Amazon rivers to lay fiber optic cables would
be a cheaper and more effective method of connecting the region than through the use of
satellites.124 The project looked to lay fiber optic cables in the Amazon River, Negro River, Branco
River, Soimões River, and Madeira River and along the Atlantic coastal waters.125 It is estimated
that the project, once completed, would serve an estimated 7.6 million people living near to the
proposed routes.126 Prior to the start of the project, a small pilot connecting two Brazilian army
units (about 7km apart) was connected through sub fluvial cables. Following the success of this
small pilot, work began on the first phase of the project, which aimed to provide broadband
connection from Coari to Tefé with cables laid along the riverbed using barges between March
– April 2016.127
The second phase of the project extended the fiber optic cables in the Solimões and Negro
Rivers, with the plan to connect Coari to Manacapura, Iranduba, Manaus and Novo Airão.128
Results
The first cable was laid in the Solimões River in 2016 from Coari to Tefé, a distance of some 240
km. This was extended a further 500 km in 2017 to link Coari to Manaus, and then along the Rio
Negro from Manaus to Novo Airão.129
So far, 15 schools and 11 higher education institutions have access to the Internet as a result of
this project, with a plan to connect a further 25 schools in the next phase.130
In 2019 it was announced that the project Amazonia Connected 2020 would further extend the
existing cabling to connect 650 km along the Amazon River from Macapá to Alenquer (a further
650 km).131This plan also includes investment by the Ministry of Education to connect 178 public
schools in 5 municipalities.132
Lessons Learned
During the course of laying the sub fluvial cables it came to light that the same technology was
used for the purposes of laying cables for electrical telegraphy from Belém to Manaus in 1895
- 96, showing that there are still lessons to be learned from previous projects, even given the
advances in technology.133
In this instance, submarine cable technology was much more suited to providing broadband
connectivity than other technologies due to the dense tropical forest, low population densities,
and poor access by roads, and should be considered for other tropical areas of the world where
there are large rivers and dense forests.134
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
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3. FINANCE School Connectivity

Current financing models for the deployment of broadband networks are not delivering
affordable connectivity solutions to schools. Finding cost effective ways that grant useful,
uninterrupted and relevant connectivity for students, teachers, and school administrators still
remains a challenge, and so is finding attractive and innovative mechanisms that encourage
operators to invest in last mile connectivity in both developed and developing regions.
Deploying new technologies (especially in hard to reach areas) thus remains an expensive
endeavor as it does not only include costs of infrastructure and labor, but also regulatory
expenses such as spectrum licenses and operating expenses like electricity and power supply.
This is why costs of financing school connectivity are typically high (especially in remote and
hard to reach areas); this compounded with unreasonably high return rates expectations (based
on too high perceived risks) become a huge hurdle for investors.
Finding solutions to address school connectivity challenges depends on understanding the

reasons why schools are not connected, as well as on the “opportunities” that could be used to
maximize investment. Careful identification and assessment of opportunities can help reduce
cost or increase value so that there is a business case for investment. Moreover, understanding
the impact these opportunities have in lowering costs and enhancing returns can help create
attractive packages for funders and donors. It might even contribute to de-risk investments
in technology.
To address the affordability of Finance for school connectivity, it is essential to look at four
key elements:
1. The need to resolve information gaps: when there is lack of information then there is a
perceived risk.
2. The need to improve conditions for investment through activities like tax reductions,
dynamic use of spectrum and infrastructure sharing.
3. The need to make bids more appealing through aggregation of demand and advance
commitments.
4. The need to expand the value of connectivity – through sustainable business models
including communities and businesses surrounding the schools.
Alongside affordable finance it is also equally important to ensure that the most cost effective
technologies for the geographical, demographical and topological situation are being used.
As discussed in the CONNECT chapter, combining affordable technology with affordable
finance leads to lower and more sustainable entry points.
Another issue to highlight is the longevity of business models: Fiber- long, 3G/4G Medium to
Long and Wireless Medium to short. This creates confusion to finance models when trying to
forecast risk, Discounted Cash Flow (DCF), Net Present Value (NPV), and Depreciation, causing
a mixed model which is hard to separate and finance as one project. When assessing models
and bids, it is important to apply different expectations and models to different technologies.
60
The objectives of the FINANCE pillar are to:
• Use the principles of “demand aggregation”, lowering cost of infrastructure (through

sharing, new technologies and spectrum policies), and the information gathered through
the MAP and CONNECT pillars, to divert funding sources and strengthen the case for
investment in school connectivity.
• Provide a methodology to finance school connectivity based on the principles of demand
aggregation, a structured approach to costs, and careful analysis of available sources of
funding, financial viability and economic sustainability.
• Provide an overview of cost-effective, affordable and sustainable financing models for
school connectivity, which generate returns to different stakeholders groups.
• Identify potential opportunities that could be used to reduce cost or increase value,
resolve information gaps, improve conditions for investment, and expand the value of
connectivity.
• Provide an overview of the risks associated with connectivity infrastructure projects, as
well as some of the potential instruments and policies that could help share or mitigate
those risks in order to attract investors.
This chapter summarizes the learnings, proposals and financial models coming out of the advisory
process provided by the Broadband Commission Working Group on School Connectivity to
the Giga Initiative on the FINANCE pillar. It introduces the approach of “aggregating demand”
through the lenses of the Giga initiative, and explains how the approach evolved from the
concept of “organizing common bids or clustering connectivity demands” to “facilitating access
to finance school connectivity”. Although ICT devices, tools, and equipment are important
items to consider when developing cost structures for school connectivity plans, the models
presented in the FINANCE pillar do not take into account these costs. The advisory process
provided to Giga by the Broadband Commission Working Group on School Connectivity
focused only on the connectivity infrastructure and post-connectivity services piece, which are
considered to be the hardest to fund today. To address this issue, Giga envisions leveraging
partnerships with other organizations like UNESCO, the World Bank, and national governments
that are more active in the device procurement space. The financial returns model presented in
this chapter also does not include specific details on debt and equity terms (e.g. interest rate,
coupon rate, cost of money, etc.) as those will heavily depend on negotiations; nor will it give
a final, accurate Internal Rate of Return (IRR%) for investors, as these are heavily dependent on
deal terms and more precise data. The structure however, will allow for a more accurate answer
to these questions in the near future.
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3.1 Methodology and financial model for school connectivity
1. Aggregating demand
Aggregating demand can help tackle costs, generates economic returns and brings
further investments by clustering attractive opportunities for investment thus creating
“clusters of connectivity demands”, which could reduce information asymmetries,
fragmented offerings and models, and ultimately lower the costs of deploying or
expanding connectivity.
The conceptualization of the approach on “aggregating demand” comes from a previous

analysis done in 2018 by the Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL),135 which explored the analogies
and differences in applying the model of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations
(GAVI) and current challenges to bridge the digital divide.136 Some of the issues and challenges
analyzed include:
• Financing for the provision of broadband services in developing countries.

• Return on investment for digital solutions.
• Role public policies on data can play in reducing the cost of services provision.
• Fragmentation (or extending digital solutions for specific verticals).
• De-risking investment in technology and the role of public funding.
• Assessment of investment levels (for deployment, as well as for building capacity and
sustainability).
• Governance and business models.
135
Digital Impact Alliance.
136
Digital Impact Alliance. (2018). Financing Digital Markets: What Vaccines Can Tell Us About Scaling Digital
Technologies in Low-and Middle-Income Countries.
62
Box 6. Giga. From Aggregating Demand, to Facilitating Access to Financing School

Connectivity.
The initial concept of Giga was articulated around the idea of “aggregating
demand” and organizing a common bid/or the clustering of connectivity
demands, that could bring down the costs of deploying or expanding
connectivity.
The concept builds on the lessons learned from GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, which managed to
transform the delivery of vaccines in developing countries through the aggregation of demand.
Using this initial analogy, Giga would use the information gathered through the MAP pillar to
organize “clusters of connectivity demands”, for use in the technical specifications, to deliver the
solutions for school connectivity identified in the CONNECT pillar.
Building from this initial concept, Giga brought the lessons learned from previous analysis
conducted in 2018 by the Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL)1. Giga acts as a convener between funding
opportunities and connectivity projects for schools in disconnected areas and, ultimately, their
surrounding communities; to facilitate funding opportunities, Giga provides critical information
necessary to structure multi-stakeholder projects, and identifies the magnitude of interventions
needed to bring each actor to the table.
1
Digital Impact Alliance. (2018). Financing Digital Markets: What Vaccines Can Tell Us About Scaling Digital Technologies
in Low-and Middle-Income Countries.
63
Box 7. Giga. Stakeholder Groups for Financing School Connectivity.
Through the FINANCE pillar, Giga aims at providing services to three

key stakeholder groups: Funders and supporters, Countries, and
Providers. The aim is to support these groups in the following way:
1. Funders and Supporters: by helping hold governments and providers to account

through clear target setting and timeline management. Giga has received statements of
interest from a variety of country donors, development banks, sovereign wealth funds,
private sector operators and donors, including but not limited to Norway, Finland,
Denmark, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
2. Countries: by providing grants (subject to funding availability) and technical advisory
services to help governments in project preparation. During its first year, Giga will
focus on 13 countries: four in Sub-Saharan Africa: Rwanda, Kenya, Niger, Sierra Leone;
three in Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan; and six in Latin America and
the Caribbean: El Salvador, Honduras, Dominica, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the
Grenadines and Granada.
3. Providers: by enabling relevant regulation and by establishing best practices in
mapping connectivity demand, appropriate funding, project preparation, project
delivery and post-delivery device adoption and empowerment.
The combination of these solutions allow Giga to act as an impartial and technology-
neutral broker for connectivity opportunities, articulating the economic case for school
connectivity, providing transparency to funding availability, and setting best practices
across countries.
Aggregating demand may be difficult across countries that do not belong to the same
geography, since investors tend to apply a regional/national focus in their decisions.
When possible, aggregating demand can provide an opportunity to combine different

levels of risks in the same “package”, facilitating access to finance to those countries/
locations that may be perceived as higher risks and making the overall package more
interesting to investors.
This would also allow “less attractive” investments to have the opportunity to mobilize funding,
otherwise, the amount of grant money required might be quite significant, which in turns make
school connectivity projects more costly. In addition to geography, demand aggregation can
also be done by technology (e.g. software services) and by type of infrastructure. Depending
on the approach taken, the interest from investors may differ.
As highlighted earlier in the CONNECT pillar, governments should look at business models
that use the demand aggregation of schools to explore other opportunities for using school
connectivity to the benefit of local hospitals, markets, health centers, public services, and the
community at large.
64
The COVID-19 crisis exposed the issue of education not being confined exclusively
to schools as physical venues. However, schools are (and should continue to be)
an important element of demand aggregation. They are physical places to which
students can relate to and benefit from a safe and secure space to learn. Moreover,
they are also neuralgic cells, which can act as an anchor for connecting and uplifting
the communities that surround them, and making a more attractive case for investment
in un-served and underserved areas.
2. Costs Structure for School Connectivity, Funding, and Expected Returns
The costs associated with school connectivity are substantial and represent a significant
economic burden to the education community. As highlighted in the ITU Connect a School,
Connect a Community report,137 initial economic costs for connecting schools are largely based
on the telecommunications costs for providing connectivity, the hardware costs associated
(computers, learning devices, mobile devices, network infrastructure, file services, wireless local
area networks, etc.) and the Total Cost of Ownership. Total Cost of Ownership includes costs of
deploying infrastructure platforms, which go beyond the costs of computers and connectivity:
cost of accessing electricity in places where there is no electricity grid; the cost of security and
electricity; cost of replacing equipment; hardware and software peripherals; maintenance costs;
content and applications related costs; user training and support; technical support, as well as
monitoring and evaluation related costs.
Every school around the world is different, and so are their demands and needs for connectivity.
Keeping schools connected to the Internet in ways that are useful not only to learners, but also
to teachers, administrator and parents, differ from place to place as it does the approach on
how to pay for these costs.
Costs for school connectivity can be categorized into two main groups: those related to
Connectivity Infrastructure and those related to Community Empowerment. Hereunder some
examples of the types of costs covered within each category.
Connectivity Infrastructure related costs:

• Includes the capital expenditure on build out costs for infrastructure for power, middle
and last mile connectivity.
• It also includes the annual operational costs to cover not only initial connectivity, but
also the costs of expanding and sustaining Internet access including maintenance, labor,
electricity, and security among others.
Community Empowerment related costs:

• Includes seed and early stage funding for new social enterprises and community businesses
that leverage connectivity, e.g. financial payment platforms, tele-health and tele-learning
providers, to mention some.
While it is true that connectivity costs can be significant, it is also true that multiple sources of
funding are available. Funds for financing school connectivity can come from governments,
137
65
private operators, multilateral organizations and donors, the private sector at large, and Non-
Governmental Organizations (NGOs).
Connectivity infrastructure costs can ideally be funded by a combination of efforts from the
public and private sectors. This includes government funding, which is likely to come from a
variety of sources, ranging from connectivity infrastructure funding through Universal Service
Funds (USFs), to education infrastructure funding through education sector plans. Funding
for connectivity infrastructure costs can also come through loans and grants from foreign
donor governments, grants from bilateral donors and foundations, standard interest loans and
project preparation facilities from development banks, and equity/debt from private investors.
Pooling funding from these various sources facilitates the broader goal of making an economic
case for connectivity specifically in educational contexts. Governments should allow for the
participation of multiple stakeholders in the funding of school connectivity plans through
the establishment of partnerships, and encourage better coordination across several entities
including Ministries of Technology, Education, Innovation and Science, as well as with telecom
operators. This is a major challenge that requires Governance, and well-defined responsibilities
and accountabilities.
Public funders, including governments and development banks are expected to fully fund
CapEx for last mile connectivity and power infrastructure build out; partially fund annual
operational costs such as maintenance and labour, and partially price subsidise users. Private
funders (e.g. private companies, MNOs, institutional funds and ultra-high-net-worth individuals)
are expected to partially fund annual operational costs, and partially price subsidize users with
a cap on subsidy amount to ensure public funders cover the majority of subsidies. As a result
of this funding structure, public investors are expected to pay off necessary debt interest with
low to zero returns.
Leveraging public sector funding to subsidize the creation of fast-growing connectivity

markets enables private investors to achieve outsized returns comparable to those of
typical private sector infrastructure financing projects.
Figure 7. Business Model for the Return on Investment (ROI) of School Connectivity.
66
Community Empowerment related costs could ideally be funded by traditional private sector
venture capital and/or small-scale growth equity funds. In some instances, these may be impact
investment funds, enclosed within development institutions or NGOs. Venture Capital funds
are expected to contribute small to medium cheque sizes (e.g. US$ 100K- US$ 500K) into local
social enterprises and community businesses, with an emphasis on companies that leverage
connectivity to provide services that kick start local economies. For example, financial payments,
e-Commerce, remote learning and healthcare platforms can all encourage local households
to adopt connectivity and Internet-based transactions, lowering living costs and enhancing
development outcomes. These types of funds are expected to generate high-risk, high-return
profiles similar to typical early stage venture capital investments.
Table 2. Summary - Cost Structure for School Connectivity, Funding and

Expected Returns.
Cost Possible Sources of Possible Financing

Costs Expected Returns
Category Funding Mechanisms
Connecti- 1. CapEx on MIXED: Public and Public Financing: Public Investors:

vity build out Private Funding: • Fully fund CapEx Usually fixed/low
Infrastruc- costs for • Public: for middle and last financial returns coming
ture infrastructure Government mile connectivity from license fees from
for power, funding and power retail ISPs or tax revenue
middle and (including USFs infrastructure build through GDP growth
last mile and education out driven by connectivity
connectivity infrastructure • Partially fund annual Private Investors:
2. OpEx in funding through operational costs
maintenance, education sector Attractive returns
• Partially price comparable to
labor, plans); grants subsidies users
electricity and and Loans from typical private sector
security foreign donor • Private Financing: infrastructure financing
governments, • Partially fund annual projects either from
bilateral donors operational costs license fees from retail
and foundations; • Partially price ISPs or enhanced
standard subsidizes users returns through CapEx
interest loans with cap to subsidy subsidies from other
and project amount sources
preparation
facilities from
development
banks and
Development
Finance
Institutions (DFIs)
• Private: Equity/
debt
Community Seed and early Private Funding: Private Financing: Private Investors:
Empower- stage funding • Venture capital • Contribute Will earn high-risk,
ment for new social and/or small small to medium high-return profiles
enterprises and scale growth cheque sizes (e.g. similar to typical early
community equity funds $100K-$500K) stage venture capital
businesses into local social investments
that leverage • Private Sector
+ Development enterprises and
connectivity community
institutions
or NGOs businesses
through impact that leverage
investment funds connectivity
67
3. Opportunities to enhance impact
The concept of “opportunities” in the FINANCE pillar refers to additional products ranging
from regulatory reform, demand aggregation, infrastructure sharing and other tools that can
be used to enhance impact in the process of sourcing, financing, implementing, and sustaining
connectivity projects.
The table below illustrates some of the “opportunities” that have been discussed in the working
sessions of the Broadband Commission Working Group on School Connectivity. They are
grouped in four categories according to the goal/challenge they aim to address:
• Resolve information gaps

• Improve conditions for investment
• Make bids more appealing, and
• Expand the value of connectivity
Table 3. Opportunities, Impact and Outcomes.
GOAL OPPORTUNITY IMPACT OUTCOME
Decreases Cost, Accurate data about expansion opportunities

Resolve
Data and de-risk investments by appropriately sizing and
information Increases
information locating the market, and highlighting areas of
Gaps Investment Value outsized opportunity
Has potential to decrease costs for most

Tax reductions,
Decreases Cost stakeholders, influencing decisions to invest in
waivers
connectivity and/or purchase data
Improve Decreases costs (CapEx, OpEx) and reduces

Spectrum licensing Decreases Cost
Conditions for barriers to entry for smaller providers that can
(fees, reframing) (to providers)
Investment increase competition and lower prices
Infrastructure
Decreases Cost
sharing (active and Decreases CapEx costs
(to providers)
passive)
Risk mitigation Decreases Cost Reduces risk by insuring or guaranteeing

instruments (to debtors) against risk-trigger events
Big upfront public Decreases costs and reduces risk, in part by

Decreases Cost
funding (e.g. $1b) signaling a broader public commitment
Make
Bids More
Demand
Appealing Increases
aggregation / De-risks the investment in CapEx
Investment Value
pooling
Advanced market Increases

De-risks the investment in CapEx
commitment Investment Value
Decentralized
financing /
Increases Potential to increase economic growth and
hub and spoke
Investment Value “unknown return”
economic model
Expand Value (i.e., block chain)
of Connectivity
Improves the efficacy of connectivity to increase
Real-time
Increases education outcomes, economic growth,
connectivity
Investment Value government investment return by ensuring
monitoring
there is successful delivery of access
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4. Political and Regulatory Risk Mitigation Instruments
Having modern and efficient infrastructure is a pre-condition to ensure the long- term success
of connectivity plans. As it has been discussed earlier, the required level of investment for
infrastructure related projects is quite significant and so, it cannot be raised in isolation by the
public sector. Private sector intervention and funding is needed to fill the gap; however, private
investors tend to be careful in these types of investments due to the long-term nature of the
projects, which tend to outlast political cycles, and the political and regulatory risks impacting
their potential costs and revenue schemes.
Infrastructure projects face a variety of challenging risks that spread throughout the different
phases of a project: planning, design and construction (activities prior to the commissioning
of an asset); operation (operation and maintenance of the infrastructure asset) and termination
(decommissioning or end-of-contract related activities).138
Some of the risk factors can be categorized as follows:
• Business Risk Factors (related to physical conditions, demand side, project’s business
partners and own performance).
• Sovereign Risk (related to chances of national governments treasury or central banks
defaulting on sovereign debt).
• Regulatory Risks (affecting the specific infrastructure project, the industry sector or the
entire economy).
• Macro and Socio-economic Environment Risks (economic crises, exchange rate and
interest rate volatility, inflation, ageing society, xenophobia, etc.).
• Force Majeure Risks (war, terrorism, civil disturbance, labor strike/industrial action, and
natural disasters).
During the planning, design and construction phases, an infrastructure project might be
subject to risks such as: cancellation or change of scope (typically coming from changes in
government leadership); risks associated with permits, which might be delayed and influenced
by the outcomes of environmental and social-impact studies; and risks associated with the
community acceptance of the project. During the operation phase, the risk of expropriation is
a fundamental political risk for private infrastructure owners; others include the risk of breach
of contract, and risks coming from the operating regulation of the infrastructure asset. Some
of the risks impacting the termination phase of infrastructure related projects include: risks
related the duration or renewal of the concession, risks related to the transfer of the asset or
it’s decommissioning. Additional risks that affect an entire sector or the economic conditions
of a country or region as a whole include: risks coming from industry regulation or taxation
changes, risks associated with currency transfers and convertibility, judicial risks and risks of
corruption and market disruption.
Through the FINANCE pillar, the Broadband Commission Working Group on School
Connectivity has provided advice on some instruments for political and regulatory risk mitigation
in ICT connectivity that are easy to deploy and execute. At the moment of writing this report, the
development of these instruments was still in its preliminary phase. For illustration purposes,
some of the key ideas around those discussions are summarized in the table below.
138
World Economic Forum. (2015). Strategic Infrastructure. Mitigation of Political & Regulatory Risk in Infrastructure
Projects.
69
The development of proactive risk mitigation measures, including and in particular

political and regulatory risk mitigation will be essential to attract investors.
Table 4. Some Examples of Political and Regulatory Risk Mitigation Instruments.
Instruments How it works Typically offered by
Insurance policy with long lock-in Multilateral organizations:

periods (e.g. 15 years), paying out for • Political/regulatory risk insurance
risk trigger events providers, e.g. World Bank Multilateral
Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
INSURANCE Typically insured against well-defined
• Development banks, e.g. World Bank,
trigger events e.g. Expropriation,
African Development Bank (AfDB),
Breach of Contract
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
May include 'First-Loss' policies Private insurers:
Guarantor repays loan partially or in full • Private insurance and Reinsurance

to debtor, in case of borrower default companies
National providers:
Typically offered on a project-by-project
RISK • Export credit agencies
basis, mostly to developing countries
GUARANTEES
• Governmental donors and
May include ‘First Loss’ policies development agencies, e.g. the
Overseas Private Investment
Corporation (OPIC USA)
Influences cost of debt and the International financial institutions (e.g. the
breakage costs in termination International Bank for Reconstruction and
compensation Development (IBRD))
Hedge counterparties (e.g. a bank)

formalizes the sharing of security
and arrangements on default, with
HEDGING & limited recourse
DERIVATIVES
• Interest rate swaps – to manage
exchange rates to convert variable
rate debt to fixed rate debt
• Currency swaps – to manage FX
movements
• Commodity derivatives – to fix
commodity prices
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5. Financing School Connectivity in the Last Mile
Figure 8. Population within Reach of Fiber. March, 2019.139
Fiber optical cable networks provide high-speed data connectivity, but they typically do not
reach populations outside of urban and suburban areas. As depicted in the figure above,
around the world, only 2 billion people are within ten kilometers of current fiber optic cable
networks; this suggests that the vast majority of the world’s population still does not have even
the potential access to fiber networks because of a lack of geographic proximity.140 Middle and
last mile networks are built to complement international and national networks. The term “Last
Mile” is often used to describe the infrastructure carrying signals from the “Middle Mile”, along
the relatively short distance “Last Mile” to and from the home or business. As it was highlighted
earlier in the CONNECT pillar, in this report, the term “Last Mile” identifies those localities
that are currently un-served and underserved in terms of telecommunications services, and
which do not benefit from connectivity and the link to the global network of voice and data
communications.
Financing connectivity should be technology agnostic and establish a model that

awards business to the most appropriate solutions based on specific connectivity
requirements. Identifying the most feasible and affordable connectivity solution
should be an iterative process requiring identification and refinement of the options
made within the principles of Affordability, Usage, Financial Viability, Structure and
Sustainability.
As discussed in the CONNECT chapter, financial viability includes measuring the economic
viability for private investment of the connectivity service, based on estimates of Average
Revenue Per User (ARPU), availability of backhaul/middle mile connectivity, options for different
local access technologies and the potential Quality of Service (QoS) level.
It is worth stressing that financial viability of establishing service (taken from the point of view of
the investor into the project, whether it is a commercial investment or subsidized deployment)
is different from gauging the affordability of the service provided (taken from the point of
view of individuals in the prospective under-served community). While financial viability is
dependent on revenue generation, presumably coming from paying consumers (and impacted
139
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2019).
140
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2020). Last Mile Connectivity (LMC) Solutions Guide. Forthcoming
publication.
71
by geographic and technical considerations, as well as regulatory requirements and policies141),

viability is not a function of whether these customers are higher or lower income, or if they
are business and organizations instead of users. What matters for viability is that the revenue
generation can cover the costs of deployment. In the case of schools connectivity projects
(as these often are associated with high socio-economic pay offs even with limited financial
viability), this principle is more focused towards “efficiency” or choosing the right technology
option/business model to connect schools.
Affordability, particularly measure of broadband affordability that focuses on 2 per cent of

monthly GNI per capita, on the other hand is focused at the consumer population. So whereas
a deployment may be financially viable from the perspective of a service provider by providing
connectivity service to higher income consumers (or businesses), that particular deployment
would not be serving an affordability goal. A key aspect of designing potential solutions begins
with identifying what price levels of service would constitute as affordable.
One approach would be to identify affordability thresholds of 2 per cent of month GDP per
capita (GDP pc), as well as 5 per cent for sensitivity analysis, using national averages. A more
granular approach would consider regional or local average income levels that can be obtained
from statistical agencies with-in the country of focus. These affordability figures would then
serve as guidepost for determining which types of service would be deemed affordable,
keeping in mind that the 2 per cent of monthly GDP pc is for 1 GB of mobile data.
Affordable and economically sustainable financial models for last mile connectivity
must engage the community who would be the customers of the new service, in a
participatory, multi-stakeholder process.
When estimating the cost of deploying infrastructure it is not always a question of new network
built. Building new towers in rural locations is expensive whereas sharing the costs of network
deployment to the extent possible for the last mile could positively impact the financial viability
and affordability of models. Another possibility would be open access networks.
In addition to viability and affordability, financial models for school connectivity also need to
be economically sustainable. Economic sustainability in this context goes beyond revenue
modeling and takes into account the longer-term viability of the intervention, thereby ensuring
that operating expenditures as well as future growth and upgrades are taken into account.
Sustainability also depends on the existence of capacity building, as well as content and
services delivery mechanisms and the possibility to create a balance between financial, social,
organizational, and policy related interests.
141
Some examples of regulatory policies include: ISP licensing, Spectrum use, Universal Access and Service Funds,
Universal Service Obligations, and Tariff arrangements.
72
Box 8. Giga. Financial Services Model.
When countries engage with Giga, UNICEF and ITU intend to support them
in the development of school connectivity end-to-end: from aligning the
vision of the project, designing the necessary governance, financing and
technology choices, building bid packages, to implementation and long-term
performance monitoring.
Giga intends to provide services that support country governments to develop their case for
investment through data transparency, regulatory reform, and public financing. On the other hand,
Giga packages and develops investment opportunities in coordination with private funders and
implementation companies to form a successful bid.
To generate financial returns for funders and supporters, Giga aims to leverage public sector
funding to subsidize the creation of fast-growing connectivity markets, allowing private sector
funders to achieve outsized returns.
Giga envisions private sector financing to be available through a variety of instruments. Here below
an illustration, which at the moment of writing this report was still in its conceptualization phase.
Furthermore, to model returns more concretely on a country-by-country basis for different investor
types, Giga is constructing return models covering various connectivity solutions, costs and
investment value creation possibilities.
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3.2 Why investing in school connectivity

As it has been highlighted throughout this chapter, from the economic point of view, investing
in school connectivity creates specific sources of revenue for different stakeholders. Through
government bulk purchases of connectivity from wholesale operators, prices are compressed
by pooling demand in communities, and revenue is generated from license fees for access to
connectivity paid by retail operators. Moreover, and as it has been discussed already, using
schools as anchors and units for aggregating demand, extends the benefits of connectivity to
the surrounding communities. As GDP per capita increases due to connectivity, community
members become capable of spending, and tax revenue can be collected from this connectivity-
driven GDP growth.
Investing in connectivity fosters economic growth and consumer spending power. Building
infrastructure generates direct benefits coming from increase in employment and economic
product through the purchase of raw materials to build network infrastructure. Starting with
schools, and continuing with newly connected communities, the Internet can be used not
only for learning, but also for expansion of community driven businesses that strengthen
local ecosystems. Access to connectivity, creates ancillary, fast-growing markets and online
transactions, bringing consumer spending to an exponentially growing e-Commerce secstor.
Figure 9. Kenya's Example - Value of Mobile Money Transactions and Projected Growth
in e-Commerce.142
Furthermore, investing in school connectivity might also have an impact in education outcomes,
and in the overall empowerment of individuals. Education and connectivity widen the
opportunities of young people and improve the outlook of those attending school. Investing
in school connectivity can also have a spill over effect and accelerate the creation of further
socio-economic opportunities that uplift entire communities.
142
IMF. (2020). Financial Access Survey. Statista. Keyna eCommerce Market Estimates.
74
3.3 Conclusions
Finding solutions to address school connectivity challenges depends on understanding the
reasons on why schools are not connected in the first place, as well as on the “opportunities”
that could be used to maximize investment. Careful identification and assessment of
“opportunities” can help reduce cost or increase value so that there is a business case for
investment. Understanding the impact of “opportunities” in lowering costs and enhancing
returns can help create attractive packages for funders and donors. It might even contribute
to de-risk investments in technology.
Although the costs and risks of investing in school connectivity and increased broadband
access are significant, the cost and risks of inaction are way higher. School connectivity has the
potential to bring in long term returns through economic growth coming from more skilled
and knowledgeable populations that create stronger digital economies with higher consuming
spending power. Ensuring affordability of access to reliable, fast and secure networks (as well
as to devices and equipment) is of utmost importance to guarantee long-term success in any
school connectivity plan.
Aggregating demand can help tackle costs, generates economic returns, and brings further
investment by:
• Helping organize the clustering of demand for attractive investment opportunities, which
reduce information asymmetries, fragmented offerings and models, and lowers costs of
deploying or expanding connectivity.
• Providing an opportunity to combine different levels of risks in the same “package”,
facilitating access to finance to those countries/locations that may be perceived as higher
risks and making the overall package more interesting to investors.
• Using schools as anchor for aggregating demand of larger communities, making a more
attractive case for investment in un-served and underserved areas.
When building a case for investment in school connectivity projects, governments must think of
models that target the interests and needs of several stakeholders according to key principles
that ensure inclusiveness and openness. This can be achieved by:
• Using principles for data transparency, regulatory reform and public financing to help
establish the “case for investment”.
• Leveraging public sector funding to subsidize the creation of fast-growing connectivity
markets, that allow private sector funders to achieve outsized returns.
• Developing cost models from the bottom up (by using school location and user profiles
to determine school bandwidth needs, the appropriate last mile technology solutions
and the costs to procure and maintain that technology), which help develop targeted
and more structured investment and business models.
• Introducing concepts such as cost sharing of network deployment to the extent possible
for the last mile; this helps strengthen the business case and ensures inclusion of un-served
and underserved populations.
• Combining private and public funding and establishing partnerships to cover connectivity
infrastructure, build out, and operation costs to offer a more holistic approach to financing
of school connectivity.
• Using private venture capital to cover community empowerment related costs that could
contribute to the development of local entrepreneurship ecosystems.
• Projecting revenue from the economic growth and Internal Rate of Return (IRR%) from
connected communities.
75
• Using best practices in accountability and governance to help assess the level of
investment needed for deploying solutions, building capacity, and ensuring economic
sustainability.
Financing connectivity should be technology agnostic and establish a model that awards
business to the most appropriate solutions based on specific connectivity requirements.
Identifying the most feasible and affordable connectivity solution should be an iterative
process requiring identification and refinement of the options made within the principles of
Affordability, Usage, Financial Viability, Structure and Sustainability. Open competition and
infrastructure sharing can help in that endeavor. Developing a holistic approach enables the
overall sustainability of connectivity plans; a holistic approach includes boosting the demand
side, ensuring access to relevant content and services (including government services), and
building capacity to teach the skills needed to go online and be able to use those tools. Any
government support for broadband networks aiming for a holistic approach should ensure
that these issues have been addressed, to increase uptake and usage, which in turn will help
to promote further investment.
Regulatory frameworks that stimulate competition by lowering access practices as well as

innovative ways for reaching out to un-served and underserved populations are also important,
especially for the achievement of the 2025 Broadband Commission targets and the Sustainable
Development Goals. Proactive risk mitigation measures, including and in particular political
and regulatory risk mitigation will be essential to attract investors.
3.4 Case Studies
3.4.1 Malawi
Principle Addressed
Using Demand Aggregation and Internet Pre-purchase to Crowd-in Private Sector Investment.
Project Name
Regional Communications Infrastructure Program 3 Malawi (RCIPMW).143
Location
Malawi.
Date
2009-2016.
Partners
• The World Bank
• The Public Private Partnership Commission of Malawi (PIU)
Cost
RCIPMW – USD 14.5M for the Connectivity component (of total USD 19.9M for the RCIPMW project).
143
Information provided to ITU by The World Bank. 17 Aug. 2020.
76
Situation/Challenge
Malawi significantly lagged its peers in the development of its market for telecommunications and
other digital services. The country was ranked 168th out of 175 countries in the ITU’s Information
and Communication Technology Development Index (IDI) in 2016. Mobile penetration remained
low, with subscriptions standing at 37 per cent of the population and only 7 per cent of
households reported having access to the Internet in 2014. Affordability was cited as the top
barrier to Internet access as the retail price of an entry level mobile broadband package (500
Megabytes (MB) per month of data) was equivalent to 24.4 per cent of GNI per capita, while a
fixed connection exceeds 111 per cent. There was a large divide between urban and rural areas
for connectivity. Backbone and access network infrastructure were lacking or deficient in most
rural areas and secondary cities, limiting the opportunity to deliver high quality ICT services,
even for those willing to pay a premium price. In addition, there was no coherent government
connectivity network for its services.
Aim of Project
The main objective of the RCIPMW were:
1. To contribute to lower prices for international capacity, extend the geographic reach of
broadband networks within Malawi.
2. Improve the competitiveness of the telecommunications market in Malawi.
Project Details
The World Bank’s Regional Communications Infrastructure Program (RCIP) has brought
enhanced international connectivity to ten countries in Eastern and Southern Africa since its
inception in 2007. Each country program shared a common objective of leveraging private sector
investment and growth to drive down the price of connectivity. While mechanisms to achieve the
objective have varied between countries, the approach taken under RCIPMW was to aggregate
government bandwidth demand into a single competitive tender.
The Project addressed the connectivity challenges through two critical sub-components:
(i) regional connectivity, and (ii) last mile connectivity. The government purchased 10‐year
Indefeasible Rights of Use (IRU) for a large volume of international bandwidth and related
services for government use. The contract obliged the vendor to make available the same price
offered to government available to ISPs and mobile operators on a wholesale, open‐access,
and non-discriminatory basis. In addition to providing low-cost international bandwidth, the
project financed last mile connectivity to selected public institutions and points of presence
within Malawi, provided by private operators and ISPs operating within the country. While the
project financed ongoing Internet subscription to the institutions, the service providers were
encouraged to sell Internet services to other people in the vicinity of the target institution through
Wi-Fi networks. This increases the revenue that the service provider can generate from the
installation and therefore is likely to make it more financially sustainable.
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Results
Under RCIPMW, 145 public institutions, including 100 secondary schools, have been provided
with connectivity. The government purchased a large volume of international bandwidth and
related services over a 10-year period through a competitive bidding process. To supply these
services, SimbaNet constructed a nearly 900 km network of overhead fiber optic cable, with
eight landing points plus a Virtual Landing Point (VLP) in Lilongwe. The network connects
internationally via Tanzania (with a cable landing station in Dar es Salaam) and via Zambia.
Telecoms operators and Internet service providers (ISPs) are able to connect to the SimbaNet
network on an open access basis and are also enjoying greatly reduced costs for wholesale
bandwidth. The contract therefore provides an anchor tenant to attract private sector investment.
This has enabled them to launch new services, with a reduced cost structure, which should in turn
enable retail price reductions provided that there is sufficient competition in this market segment.
Meanwhile, with large remaining institutions still lacking connectivity to the network especially
those outside Lilongwe, a successive project, the Digital Malawi Program Phase 1 Project, applies
the same mechanism to connect all priority public institutions throughout the country. Target
institutions include government offices, public services centers (‘one stop shops’), primary and
secondary schools, and health centers.
Lessons Learned
The “Malawi model” brought multiple benefits. It capitalizes on economies of scale to significantly
lower the unit connectivity costs of government by aggregating demand under a single, low
price contract. Serving government institutions also incentivizes private sector investment in new
network (backbone and access network) infrastructure in areas throughout the country where it
does not yet currently exist. In addition, the government’s risk is lower than it would have been if
a more direct investment had been used since it leverages significant private sector financing and
lowers the government's up-front capital costs for infrastructure investment. The government
also does not need to retain technical expertise to operate a network, thus eliminating ongoing
operating, maintenance and upgrade costs. Furthermore, it significantly lowers the barriers and
costs for the private sector to offer services in currently underserved areas by utilizing the same
shared infrastructure.
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3.4.2 Caribbean Regional Communications Infrastructure Program (CARCIPP)
Principle Addressed
Combining private and public funding and establishing partnerships.
Project Name
Caribbean Regional Communications Infrastructure Program (CARCIP).144
Location
OECS – Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Date
2012-2020 (December).
Partners
• The World Bank
• Government of Grenada
• Government of Saint Lucia.
• Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU)
• Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL)
• Private sector telecommunications operator
Situation/Challenge
When CARCIP was initiated (2012), telecommunications in the three countries were plagued
by low bandwidth, high prices, and poor service quality due to a reliance on legacy copper
networks. There were also several large coverage gaps. Governments were often paying high
prices for obsolete services and equipment, and citizens had to deal with substandard services
and limited access to global networks. Schools in the three countries had serious network
capacity problems. Many had limited Internet connection to support up to a thousand students.
Weak connections made the service so slow that it was generally unusable.
Aim of Project
Project Development Objective (PDO) is to increase access to regional broadband networks
and advance the development of an ICT-enabled services industry in the Caribbean Region.
144
Information provided to ITU by The World Bank. 17 Aug. 2020.
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Project Details
The basis of the project is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) to Design, Build, Operate, Finance,
and Transfer (DFBOT) Broadband Internet Services for government administration buildings
(Government Wide Area Network - GWAN), schools, community centres and other locations.
The innovative contracting process and resulting PPP structure is a first for digital infrastructure
in the region. It is also the first of this magnitude, requiring approximately US$45 million from
governments and private partners. This is possibly the first joint tender by three countries for
such wide-ranging infrastructure, including both new construction, then transferred upfront to
the governments, and service provision over a 15-year service period. The unique contracting
approach allowed all three governments to obtain substantial economies of scale, allowing
lower pricing and better quality of service than if they had purchased the networks separately.
In addition, Governments will own the GWAN networks upon completion and have guaranteed
access to large amounts of capacity.
The Governments requested revisions to on-island capacity and connectivity services to support
their EduNet initiative. The main objective for EduNet is to connect primary and secondary
schools and establish a National Research and Educational Network (NREN) to create an ICT
environment in the education system that encourages creativity, innovation, critical thinking,
communication, research and decision-making.
EduNet capacity from each school will be routed directly to the Ministry of Education (or other
centralized location where Educational Content and Management Systems are housed). If at the
Ministry of Education, a 10Gbps will be required from this site. Internet capacity from each school
will be served through a centralized Dedicated Internet Access pipe (off-island) of 1.5Gbps.
The private operator agreed to deliver a full fiber based 1Gbps line speed to all Primary &
Secondary schools. The 1Gbps bandwidth will be available for EduNet and Internet services.
EduNet capacities will be reserved and routed directly to the Ministry of Education. The remaining
capacity will be available on demand from any of the individual schools for Internet services.
Results
Through an international public tender the three countries signed contracts with a private
operator for the construction of new GWANs, educational networks for schools, libraries, and
community centers; and a new submarine cable. Fiber optic connectivity to outlying small islands
(e.g. Grenadines islands) will introduce modern telecommunications services for the first time,
enabling affordable Internet services.
More than 500 government buildings will be connected (government administration, health
clinics, police stations, post offices, and community centers), advanced data centers will be
installed, and approximately 350 primary and secondary schools will have access to fiber based
high-speed Internet. Security will be ensured, as contracts include technology updates.
Building the digital economy is not just about providing connectivity. CARCIP focused first on
creating an updated policy and regulatory environment managed by the CTU and the regional
regulatory authority, Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL). The program
also includes skills development for women and youth employability and digital entrepreneurship.
Lessons Learned
This approach provided significant gains but included risks: the three governments had no
experience with PPPs, or with complex digital infrastructure contracts. So how was it put
together? There are five key success factors:
1. Vision and passion to make this very complex project happen.
2. Support from institutions like the World Bank to deal with crisis moments and complex
administrative procedures.
3. Partnership to address both technical and PPP sides of the project.
4. Win – Win approach to onboard all parties.
5. Patience, patience and patience exhibited by all participants.
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Section B. EMPOWERING LEARNERS
Increasing connectivity alone will not help in the ultimate goal of granting universal access to
higher quality and inclusive education. Granting universal access implies making sure that the
benefits of education and technology are accessible to every one; this means, also to girls and
to children and youth belonging to minorities, indigenous and marginalized groups, refugees
and displaced learners, as well as children with disabilities.
Despite all efforts, all these groups still continue to be left behind in ICT. Today, women and
girls are 25 per cent less likely than men to know how to leverage digital technology for basic
purposes.145 According to the Equals.org partnership, women represent just 6 percent of
software developers; overall, the proportion of all women using the Internet globally is 48 per
cent against 58 per cent of all men.146
Refugees and displaced learners also face tough challenges as individualized access to
connectivity is at times hindered by legal and regulatory barriers requiring for example
credentialed proof-of –identity documents to register for Subscriber Identification Module
(SIM) cards or to enroll in some online learning programs.147 Lack of access to connectivity
continues to push refugees and displaced learners farther behind in acquiring the necessary
digital skills and competencies not only to communicate with those outside their region and
country of asylum, but also to take advantage of educational and livelihood opportunities that
could empower them to protect their rights, including the right to education.
© UNICEF/UN051304/Herwig
Two adolescent girls use cellphones outside a solar kiosk in the Za’atari camp for Syrian refugees, in Mafraq Governorate,
near the Syrian border.
145
UNESCO. (2019). I’d blush if I could.
146
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2019). Measuring Digital Development. Facts and Figures.
147
UNHCR. (2019). Connectivity for Refugees. Displaced and Disconnected.
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Children with disabilities are another group confronted with multiple forms of discrimination,
which excludes them from society and school. Lack of access to school and the inability of
education systems to ensure quality education for children with disabilities are two of the major
challenges to overcome. The Broadband Commission, ITU, UNESCO and UNICEF encourage
the development and implementation of inclusive education policies and practices to ensure
equal education opportunities for people with disabilities. Despite some progress, it is however
clear that more efforts needs to be made if we are to achieve the goals of granting universal
access to higher quality and inclusive education for all youth and children.
Quality education for all requires secure and friendly environments, qualified and motivated
teachers, as well as safe access to quality content and digital solutions. These solutions should
empower children and provide them with the appropriate skills they need to thrive in society
and to make an impact to their communities. Quality education also requires that learning
outcomes are monitored and fed back into instruction. This involves again, looking at content,
data, as well as instruction and assessment methods that leverage the power of connectivity,
and the role and skills of teachers.
The success of school connectivity programs requires a comprehensive approach;

it equally depends in addressing supply side related challenges (e.g. access to
infrastructure, affordability, regulation, and available technologies that are safe for
children), as well as in addressing demand driven factors like: digital skills and literacy
barriers; open, relevant and localized educational content; lack of awareness of the
importance of connectivity; fear of adoption, as well as socio-cultural norms that
exclude minorities and girls.
Additional systemic factors impacting connectivity and quality education include: understating
the importance of real time data in evaluating learning outcomes; lack of knowledge on how to
best incorporate hybrid148 and personalized learning; schools’ low readiness to distance learning
solutions, and an overall failure to recognize the importance of out of school connectivity. All
of these challenges have also been difficult to overcome even in those places where access to
infrastructure and reliable connectivity is granted.
Moreover, understating the relevance of building capacity and strengthening the skills of
educators and school leaders has been and continues to be a major pitfall. The human factor
is one of the key ingredients for making connectivity work for learning but unfortunately is
quite often not prioritized.
148
Hybrid learning can be defined as a learning approach that combines both remote learning and in-person learning
to improve student experience and ensure learning continuity. It is of particular relevance during COVID-19 school
partial re-openings and in preparation for potential virus resurgence. UNESCO.
82
© UNICEF/UNUN0143506
Teacher Albert Matakone uses a computer tablet as a reference as he teaches children about the human digestive
system at a school in Baigai, northern Cameroon.
Educators are powerful change agents who can deliver the educational response
needed to achieve the SDGs. Their knowledge and competencies are essential for
restructuring educational processes and educational institutions towards sustainability.149
In many places, teachers have none or very low levels of digital literacy, little understanding of
online harms and risks to children and how to mitigate them, and little confidence on the use
of technology for pedagogical purposes. Teacher training in the use of ICT allows teachers not
only to acquire new skills and competences, but also to overcome fears of using technology.
Education systems all over the world need to regularly update and reform teacher
preparation and professional development programs to ensure that all teachers can
harness technology for education.
There is a worldwide shortage of well-trained teachers. According to UNESCO’s Institute for

Statistics (UIS), 69 million teachers must be recruited to achieve the goals of universal primary
and secondary education by 2030.150 Teachers are fundamental to the success of any education
system, but more importantly they are fundamental to the empowerment of learners. Teachers
act as role models and can give children purpose and inspiration. They can also help ensure
that the benefits of technology and education are absorbed and put to the service of entire
communities. Although the issue of teachers is not a focus area of this report, the Working Group
149
UNESCO. (2017). Education for Sustainable Development Goals. Learning Objectives. Education 2030.
150
UNESCO. (2019). Teachers.
83
on School Connectivity recognizes the critical role they have in empowering learners, and in
the deployment and long-term success of any school connectivity plan. It therefore advocates
and recommends that governments give more funding and attention to the development of
teachers’ competencies.
Education and connectivity must serve a greater purpose than merely getting schools
online: they must empower learners and help them develop the self-discipline and
self-responsibility required to move forward in life, and the resilience and confidence
needed to face life challenges.
In the particular case of girls, minorities and children with disabilities, empower is also about
helping them develop a wider awareness of themselves, and to gain confidence and self-
esteem so they are in a better position to define and act upon their dreams and ambitions.
Education and connectivity should help form rounded and confident individuals who are fully
aware of their potential, and who are empowered to live their lives with purpose, and to use
their innate and acquired talents not only to their self-fulfillment, but also to the development
of more prosperous, equitable and inclusive societies.
© UNICEF/UN0213046/Noorani
A female teacher helps children use computers in a library at Boufaroua Primary School on the outskirts of Sbeitla in Tunisia.
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The objectives of the EMPOWER pillar are:
• To come full circle in the suggested methodology for school connectivity thereby
complementing the approach discussed in the MAP, CONNECT and FINANCE pillars.
• To introduce core principles and an approach for identifying, assessing, supporting and
deploying high quality, meaningful, safe and appropriate learning content, solutions and
platforms in safe school environments or via remote learning.
• To facilitate the use of digital technologies and content that guarantee inclusiveness and
that enable local ownership and decision making, while generating value for the countries
developing and deploying these solutions.
• To act as a knowledge hub for frameworks and tools for content and protection including:
o Vetting and assessment criteria for digital solutions and content, specifically related
to outcomes, impact and adaptability to local context.
o Operationalization and deployment of solutions and content in different country contexts.
o Child Online Protection.
The EMPOWER pillar seeks to bring valuable solutions and content once connectivity has been
established - namely on articulating the link to quality, safe and inclusive learning, ensuring
schools provide the right skills for employability, and ensuring every young person has safe
access to information, opportunity, and choice.
This chapter summarizes the key reflections, learning and proposals coming out of the advisory
process provided by the Broadband Commission Working Group on School Connectivity to
the Giga and UNESCO’s e-school Initiatives on the EMPOWER pillar. The chapter focuses on
the main topics driving the discussions with the Broadband Commission Working Group on
School Connectivity, which were grouped around three areas: Vetting and assessing criteria
for digital solutions and content; operationalization and deployment of digital solutions and
content; and Child Online Protection. The final section of the chapter is dedicated to case
studies that address some of the core principles highlighted in the EMPOWER pillar.
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Box 9. Digital Public Goods and the Digital Public Goods Alliance.
Following the recommendation 1B of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel

on Digital Cooperation,1 the Broadband Commission Working Group on School
Connectivity has also provided advice regarding the identification, assessment, support,
and deployment of Digital Public Goods to articulate the link to quality and inclusive
learning. Digital Public Goods (DPGs), are defined by the Digital Pubic Goods Alliance2
as open source software, open data, open AI models, open standards and open content
that adhere to privacy and other applicable best practices, do no harm and are of high
relevance for attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).3 Some examples
of Digital Public Goods include: open source software and applications for education
in local languages; open educational resources aligned to state curriculum standards
tailored to meet student and teacher needs; open source applications to support learning
of children with disabilities; Open Educational Resources (OERs) to provide access to
localized courseware; open access libraries to scientific literature and many others.1
The Digital Public Goods Alliance focuses in particular on making solutions and content
pubic as a strategy for increasing access. It also seeks to convene a network of partners from
different sectors that will contribute to the identification, support, scale-up, and proper use
of digital public goods, and the software, data, content and algorithms that drive them,
in order to advance humanity. Incubated by UNICEF and Norway, the Alliance relies on
engagement and leadership from key “pathfinder” countries, private sector technology
experts, implementing organizations and innovation groups across the UN system.
1
Recommendation 1B: Digital Public Goods. “We recommend that a broad, multi-stakeholder alliance, involving
the UN, create a platform for sharing digital public goods, engaging talent and pooling data sets, in a manner that
respects data privacy, in areas related to attaining the SDGs”. UN. (2019). Secretary General, High-Level Panel on
Digital Cooperation.
2
Digital Public Goods Alliance.
3
Definition taken from the Digital Public Goods Alliance. In line with Stakeholder Group for Recommendation 1B of
the UN Secretary General High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation.
4
For a full set of examples, visit the DPG Alliance website nomination site: https://digitalpublicgoods.net/explore/
Additional empowerment elements that complement implementation and deployment of

holistic school connectivity models such as: curriculum integration, assessment, capacity
building, teacher training, and monitoring and evaluation will not be discussed in detail this
chapter. Although the Working Group recognizes the importance of these elements for the
long-term success and sustainability of any connectivity strategy, this was not a focus area of
last year’s work and therefore it is not included in the report.
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4. EMPOWER Learners
4.1 High quality content, solutions and platforms for empowering

learners and teachers
Successful incorporation of technology into educational programs is notably driven by the
availability of high quality, appropriate and relevant content; by solutions and platforms that
group and deliver that content, and by Open Educational Resources (OERs).151
For the purposes of this report, high quality, meaningful, inclusive and relevant content
refers to: resources, tools, and applications, learning material, solutions, platforms and
OERs that meet the needs of the learner alongside with those of teachers and instructors,
who also play an essential role in the achievement of learning outcomes. This type of
content, solutions, applications and platforms, should have the following characteristics:
• Should be developed by taking into account the local context and language of the
school and the surrounding community.
• Should be ambitious in order to provide learners with knowledge, skills, values, and
attitudes that allow them to reach their highest potential, to protect themselves, and
to thrive in society.
• Should prepare learners for a faster, more connected, and uncertain world by equipping
them with core competencies in: communication, collaboration, critical thinking,
creativity, problem solving, and appreciation of diversity, environmental consciousness,
and learning to learn techniques.
• Must be inclusive, thereby addressing the needs of girls, children and youth belonging
to minorities, indigenous and marginalized groups, refugees and forcibly displaced
populations, as well as children with disabilities.
• Must be suitable and safe, and must be developed and delivered according to
principles that guarantee the online protection of children at all times.
• Must be deemed most appropriate by teachers in order to advance the learning of
their students. Efforts should be made to give teachers a wide selection of content;
schools should work to obtain content recommended by teachers and, whenever
possible, give teachers the ability to tailor content or make their own.
• Should be built on the basis of open copyrights and open source codes and under
open ecosystem principles, so users are not thrust into others’ walled gardens.
• Must be made available online to every child and young person in the world and
facilitate local ownership and decision making, while generating value for the local
ecosystems creating and deploying these solutions.
• The school closures generated through the pandemic highlighted the fact that a
great percentage of children and young people among vulnerable populations in the
developing world have no access or limited access to the Internet. Learning content
should be made accessible online in formats that are also suitable to low connectivity
contexts, and alternative analogue platforms if necessary.
151
Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning and research materials in any medium – digital or
otherwise – that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost
access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions. OER form part of ‘Open Solutions’,
alongside Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), Open Access (OA), Open Data (OD) and crowdsourcing
platforms. UNESCO.
87
© UNICEF/UNI319836/Kanobana
Igihozo Kevin, 11, studies at home in Rwanda due to coronavirus-related school closures, listening to his Primary 5
lessons on the radio every day.
4.2 Approach for identifying and deploying high-quality content,

solutions and platforms
In the post-COVID-19 world, the need for connectivity for all is even clearer – and that need
is not simply for data but for what that data contains. An entire global population will need to
work – and to work in new ways – to provide for their families and communities. That means
new skills, new ways of collaborating, globally, and new ways of getting paid.
This past year, the Working Group on School Connectivity has provided guidance on key themes
related to the identification, assessment, support and deployment of high quality content and
solutions to support learning and skills development. In this section, the Working Group on
School Connectivity introduces a four steps approach for identifying and deploying those
solutions, and shares the key outcomes and recommendations coming out of the consultation
sessions with the Giga and UNESCO e-Schools Initiatives.
1. Identify and Assess
The first step in the approach includes the identification of suitable, relevant, safe and high-
quality content and solutions that empower learners. During the advisory process, a number of
initiatives around the world were analyzed compiling many of the principles discussed above
and specifically: solutions based on impact on education outcomes; solutions developed within
principles of sustainability, scalability and licensing models, as well as adaptability of content
and digital literacy.
88
Some examples of the solutions analyzed include:
• Open source software for immediate use and scale (COVID-19 response for Tele-
education, Tele-health and Financial Services).
• Solutions that address challenges in the learning and skills development space.
• Solutions and content vetted by the DPG Alliance.
• Solutions that explore new technologies, methods and nominations of open source,
software, content, data and models to digitalpublicgoods.net
Once high quality content and solutions have been identified, a process must be initiated for
assessing those resources and for providing technical and financial support to scale them.
Some of the dimensions that could be considered when assessing high quality content and
solutions include:
• Ensuring “product quality and openness”: to what extent it adds value and improves
learning of specific subjects; whether it respects security and privacy, which types of open
licenses it uses, etc.
• Usability of the content or solutions and how they will be used in real life contexts; how is
it possible to integrate those in the education processes; how to build teachers capacities
around it; how to monitor and evaluate its use, and how to adapt it to local contexts.
• Inclusion to local Edtech providers who can adopt, curate, support and build on top of it. This
third dimension is critical to ensure that content and solutions will be owned, maintained
and adapted by the local publishing ecosystem to ensure cultural appropriateness and
relevance to local contexts.
Moreover, selection processes and the solutions themselves must reflect and represent the
interests of countries and local communities and should be based on principles for real-time
assessment and monitoring.
Vetting Criteria
In order to properly assess the value, suitability and viability of learning content and solutions,
a set of vetting criteria needs to be applied.
Vetting criteria must be put in place for examining digital solutions and content,
specifically related to educational outcomes, impact and adaptability to local context.
Vetting, assessment, and monitoring of content and solutions should also be real time
and include principles and practices for Child Online Protection. Moreover, vetting
criteria should be applied to both: educational content and cultural consumptions.
This involves data, but also analyzing formats, communication practices and engagement,
which includes data collection and interpretation. Multilingual and multi-platform ecosystems
must also be considered when applying vetting criteria.
89
Since almost half of the population has no access to the Internet, there is still a large
dependency on radio and TV content for pedagogical continuity; vetting criteria
should also be applied to the content delivered through these channels.
© UNICEF/UNI314054/Klincarov
Skopje, 25 March 2020: Twins Maksim (5) and Jan (5) practice yoga for children as they follow the TV-classroom
programme broadcast on national television.
Some specific considerations for vetting criteria include:
• Subject specific criteria for assessing solutions through communities of practice. For
example, for early grade reading:
o Project complies with established standards and best practices for literacy and early
grade reading resources.
o Project addresses risks related to content quality and appropriateness.
• Technical criteria for assessing solutions through communities of practice:
o Includes technical criteria that meets Child Online Safety standards i.e. Safety by
Design Framework152.
o Licenses and copyright, utility and impact, product design, product quality. Do No
Harm, Best Practices, Financial Sustainability.
152
Australian Government. eSafety Commissioner. (2019). Safety by Design.
90
The Working Group emphasizes in particular the need for vetting criteria that allow to take into
account local ownership and the principles for digital development on: user-centered and data
driven design, understanding local ecosystems, scalability, sustainability, reusability, privacy and
security, safety, collaboration, as well as open standards, open access, and open licensing.153
2. Increase Access
In order to increase access to vetted and secure content, it is important to determine

value added business models that can be applicable for the learning content and
solutions selected. These must be developed in accordance to the context of the
country where those solutions and content will be deployed and used. This also
implies localization and translation efforts, and ensuring that vetted solutions adhere
to cyber-security practices, and the principles of intellectual property, data privacy,
data ownership, and Child Online Protection.
These resources should be collected and made accessible to the entire world through an open
repository (e.g. digitalpublicgoods.net). Community-based models of digital access led by
community organizations and micro social enterprises should also be considered. Technical
standards and protocols on opening access to data sets can also help ensure that more quality
content becomes available.
Teachers are another element to help increase access. The way in which they interact with
open educational resources and digital content; how they incorporate new pedagogical
practices for interactive learning, and whether they have the appropriate skills set to do
that, highly impacts adoption and usage of digital content in the classroom.
Not knowing how to effectively integrate online tools and content into teaching can limit the
positive impact technology has on learning. 154 In order to increase access to high quality, vetted
educational content and resources, the digital knowledge needs, and gaps of teachers and
learners must be addressed in advance.
UNESCO’s ICT Competency Framework for Teachers (ICT-CFT) is one example of the possible
mechanisms that can help governments develop more comprehensive teacher ICT competency
policies and standards and integrate these in overarching ICT in education plans.155 UNESCO’s
experience rolling out this framework in many countries has shown however that teachers’ use
of ICT is mostly at the “knowledge acquisition” (former “technology literacy”) level. The use of
technology at the “knowledge deepening” or “knowledge creation” levels is still very limited.
This of course also has implications for integration and creation of content that can be localized
for the specific needs of the teacher and learner population it intends to serve.
153
Digital Public Alliance and Principles for Digital Development.
154
According to the Center of Innovation for Brazilian Education, CIEB, in Brazil, data from fifty thousand teachers
who have used the Self-Assessment on Digital Skills Tool (https://guiaedutec.com.br/educador)), show that they
still do not know hot to integrate online tools in their teaching.
155
UNESCO (2019). ICT Competency Framework for Teachers.
91
© UNESCO
Champion teachers engage in discussions to prepare the lesson plans for the e-schools.
As part of its COVID-19 education response, UNESCO has also developed some strategies,
webinars and tools to help educators improve their online teaching practices156. Moreover,
platforms such as: e-learning Industry and Edmodo, just to mention some, also offer interesting
resources to help teachers use connectivity to create interactive and high quality learning, and
to engage students remotely. Khan Academy, and the Ideasgym Academy, are other examples
of online platforms providing access to lessons, as well as training and support to teachers,
learners and parents, mainly on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).
Multiple free online courses and resources delivered through Massive Open Online Courses
(MOOCs) also offer possibilities for teachers to get trained on how effectively and innovatively
deliver classes online and how to integrate online tools into teaching.
Another key area for increasing access to high-quality content and solutions has to do with
safety and security. Safety of online learning platforms, applications and solutions is of utmost
importance and has to be granted in order to safeguard the vulnerability of children and youth.
The COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing measures and the widespread school closures,
have made online platforms and communities essential.
156
UNESCO. (2020). COVID-19 Education Response. Issue Note No. 2.1: Distance learning strategies in response
to COVID-19 school closures; Distance learning strategies – What do we know about effectiveness? – Synthesis
report.
92
© UNICEF/UNI320751/Soares
A girl shows off the online platform on which children and parents in Timor-Leste can access a range of audio-visual
material to help students continue learning during ongoing school closures.
The pandemic has introduced younger children to social networking tools that may not be
designed for them and for which they may have none or limited preparation.157 Increased Internet
access can put children at greater risk of online dangers such as sexual abuse, exploitation
and cyber bulling, and their exposure to harmful content. Increasing access also means having
safer and more controlled environments (whether at school or at home) that allow for secure
and empowering learning experiences. The Working Group on School Connectivity adopted
the issue of Child Online Protection as one of the key areas for discussion this past year, and
one of the building blocks of the EMPOWER pillar. The key reflections, recommendations
and links to frameworks and tools on this subject are consolidated further down in chapter 4.3
Child Online Protection.
3. Deploy and Use
Deploying and effectively using learning content and solutions come with some challenges.
There are many factors that affect or could affect the scale up of digital public goods related
to improving learning outcomes and job skills. Through the advisory process provided by the
Working Group to the EMPOWER pillar, some of those factors were classified as follows:
157
(2020). Technical Note: COVID-19 and its implications for protecting children online.
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Table 5. Supply and Demand Factors Affecting Scale Up of High-Quality

Learning Content and Solutions.
Supply related factors Demand related factors
1. Design for replicability and scale 1. Lack of understanding why open source
matters, which is often associated to a lack of
demand for open source learning content
2. Interoperability of systems 2. Poor understanding of the different types of

licensing models, their benefits and outputs
3. Reusability of infrastructure 3. Poor teachers’ knowledge on how to use/

reuse content
4. Suitable design that allows for contextualization 4. Lack of data on vendor lock-in
5. Licensing 5. Impact measurement: going beyond the

measurement of skills and learning impact.
6. Transparency – setting minimum standards at Measuring the specific impact of a given
‘right’ level – neither too stringent nor too loose technology; evidence of impact vs. use and
outcomes
7. Evidence of impact
8. Local translation and customization
9. Significant scale up investment
In addition, the readiness of the school environment and the context for the implementation
are also key to the deployment process. School readiness refers not only to the technological
aspect (connectivity, infrastructure, digital distribution channels for vetted content, hardware
availability, etc.), but also the human and regulatory aspect (educators’ adoption readiness,
regulation, government support, and data privacy policies). It also refers to the readiness of
the community to which the school belongs: parents’ and children’s basic knowledge and
awareness of the Internet, its benefits and risks.
Planning and allocating resources and partners that could provide support in local
adoption, rollout and piloting activities, must be accounted for, as well as support for
increasing usage of vetted content. Community approaches that leverage teacher
engagement to produce and publish content helps increase adoption and enrich
platforms while creating ownership, and increasing visibility.
Moreover, mechanisms for capacity building (e.g. configuration and training of the content
solution), as well as systems for measuring results and for ensuring accountability must also be
designed and tested before deployment and use of online content solutions. Connections to
partners and resources for capacity building and financing of local entrepreneurship ecosystems
must also be designed in this step.
Most importantly, and as already discussed, additional mechanisms must be put in place
to ensure children are protected online while accessing and working with content. This will
ensure that deployment and uptake of digital learning content and solutions is done in a safe
94
environment that protects children and their rights to learn without fear of being subject to
abuse and exploitation.
4.3 Child Online Protection (COP)

The COVID-19 crisis showed how important digital networks and services are to health, safety
and education systems, and to the survival of economies. Following the spread of COVID-19,
more aspects of people’s daily lives are moving online: Internet usage has gone up 50 per cent
in some parts of the world,158 and many sectors such as education saw an overnight shift to
digitalization. Many children’s learning experiences are being reshaped by the introduction of
online learning, and digital content and platforms and their social traits put to test through an
increased participation in online games, social media and video so they can keep connected
to their friends and extended family while in isolation.
Currently more than 200,000 children go online every day; 800 million are actively using social
media, and at any given time, an estimated 750,000 individuals are looking to connect with
children for sexual purposes online.159 Although the goal is to connect every school and every
child to the Internet and to provide them with access to information, opportunity and choice, this
access needs to take place in a safe and secure way that protects children from online dangers.
Although there is a tendency to regard children and the younger generation as more tech-
savvy, it should be recognized that "savviness" can mean different skill-sets in different contexts
and does not necessarily imply ability to detect and avoid cyber threats.
On the other hand, children are more acceptive of new tools and technology and
therefore they should be actively encouraged to adopt and use the tools that empower
them and help to avoid risks in the online space.
In the Broadband Commission’s Agenda for Action for Faster and Better Recovery,160
Commissioners and their organizations are urgently collaborating to compile and disseminate
a repository of tangible actions that might help overcome the effects of the pandemic. The
Agenda is based on three pillars: resilient connectivity, affordable access, and safe use of
online services for informed and educated societies. The Broadband Commission advocates
for safe use of online services by all, especially children respecting the right to privacy, and
promoting trust and security in the use of data. It also champions the enablement of safe digital
content sharing to support e-education, e-health, digital agriculture, e-financial services and
mobile payments, and e-government platforms; the empowerment of youth, and ensuring and
promoting child safety online. Additionally, it includes the commitment to make available their
broadcasting capacity for educational and health purposes and provide online training and
safe digital tools to parents and teachers to keep children safer online. Likewise, it promotes
the use of broadband to provide distance-learning programs for all ages, and empower people
with quality journalism and evidence-based and scientific information about COVID-19.
158
World Economic Forum. (2020). Will the coronavirus break the Internet?.
159
End Violence Against Children.
160
95
The Broadband Commission Working Group on School Connectivity considers Child Online
Protection a top priority. It is a very important and sensitive element that must be present in the
design and deployment of any strategy for school connectivity. Given its importance, during
this past year the Working Group dedicated special sessions for discussing the topic at length,
and for reviewing and analyzing some of the world wide approaches, frameworks and tools
available to address the issue.
This section compiles key insights and possible recommendations for concrete and practical
actions that could be implemented in the short and medium term by governments, private
sector, schools and other actors, to protect children online and to help them protect themselves
in terms of acquiring digital skills particularly in the context of COVID-19. It also collects a
list of global efforts, good practices, tools and top resources, which were analyzed during
the advisory process for School Connectivity. The Working Group considers these resources
could serve as reference for governments, the private sector, non-profits, schools, parents, and
the community at large when designing and deploying high-quality online learning content,
solutions and platforms.
Key Insights:
• The transition of schools to online learning has also increased the cyber risks for children.
Risks faced by children online are becoming increasingly diverse. With both children and
sexual offenders confined at home and spending more time online, law enforcement
authorities and reporting hotlines have seen a striking increase in the amount of Child
Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)161 being shared online.
• Digital devices and platforms, including educational platforms, often lack adequate child
safety features.
• “Digital Security” applies to a combination of offline and online activities (for instance, a
child might record a video or take photos offline and later install an app from the Internet
while accepting the terms and conditions that allow the app to access the device’s storage,
leading to the risk of potential image theft and abuse).
• Not enough attention is given to developing online safety knowledge and skills among
children, parents, and educators. There is an important role to be played by schools, the
private sector, the media, the digital platforms, and regulators.162
• The approach to addressing Child Online Safety (COS) should involve different
stakeholders and place the child at the center. It should also consider the risks that the
children get exposed to “offline” but that project into the “online” space or manifest once
the children get “connected.”
161
Europol. (2020). Exploiting isolation: Offenders and victims of online child sexual abuse during the COVID-19
pandemic; WePROTECT Global Alliance. (2020). Intelligence Report on Impact of COVID-19 on online Child
Sexual Exploitation and Abuse.
162
In Poland for example, the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE) runs an educational campaign #keepCTRL:
https://www.uke.gov.pl/en/newsroom/click-sensibly-keepctrl-new-uke-educational-campaign
96
© UNICEF/UNI322354/Schverdfinger
In Gamboa, Colon Province, Panama, Mila, 11, logs onto her tablet.
Some concrete areas where action/support is needed:

1) Empowering children with information and tools for online safety (incl. raising
awareness about how to report and respond to harmful content and abuse).
2) Parenting guidance and advice (including improving parent’s digital literacy).
3) Creating safe online learning experiences for students.
4) Making online platforms safe and accessible for children (including through
collaboration with industry and regulators).
5) Strengthening national preparedness and response (incl. through legislative action).
Recommendations:
• Safety by Design.
o More collaboration needs to take place between governments and the tech industry
to integrate safety into their products.
o Design a unified, practical and actionable industry-ask relying on Safety by Design
Principles.
o Adapt Safety by Design Principles to online education and learning platforms.
• Mandatory education in Child Online Safety (COS) for students, teachers and caregivers.
• Mandatory detection and reporting of CSAM on educational platforms.
• Consolidate lessons learned from the COVID-19 crisis:
o Online safety should be a shared but explicit responsibility of the government, the
industry, and service providers, and not that of the children themselves. There is a
97
need for stronger collaboration among these stakeholders to disseminate and enforce
many of the tools already available for COP.
o The private sector should make available broadcasting capacity for Child Online Protection.
It should also provide safe, secured and transparent platforms for education and digital
tools for children, parents and teachers, and provide access to reporting mechanisms.
o Governments should provide COS guidelines & consult all relevant stakeholders or
widely disseminate the existing COS guidelines.
o Children themselves should always be included in policymaking processes & tools
development on COS. 163
o COVID-19 exposed many children to digital learning over an instant. Going forward,
children and their communities should be better prepared for interacting and learning
online. There is a need to raise awareness among communities about the importance
of COP even before connectivity arrives. As the required infrastructure might take time
to be deployed, it is important to provide communities with tools regarding digital
skills and basic knowledge on online safety so children are ready when connectivity
is established.
• Government legislative and/or political action is an important step towards strengthening

the response to cyber threats to children. Child Online Protection policies should be made
a government goal. Every country should include Child Online Protection in their National
Broadband or digital connectivity plan.
• Encourage/promote the development at national level of an appropriate regulatory
framework and environment for data protection and privacy: ethical standards, use, share
and store of data, respect and enforcement in the learning environment.
• When rolling out toolkits on COP, there should also be an accompanying service that works
directly with the stakeholders (e.g. schools) to help implement the recommendations
proposed by the toolkit.164
• The subject of digital security should be embedded into digital literacy education. The
former cannot be considered a standalone topic, because children need to understand
how the digital world works in order to understand what risks they are exposed to and
why do these risks emerge.
• Industry and governments could work on developing regulations and standards for a
proper presentation of terms and conditions for digital products and services (applications,
games, websites, programs, devices, etc.) to guarantee they can be read and understood
by children and parents and that they clearly state the risks associated with the use of those
products and services concerned.
• The Broadband Commission Working Group on School Connectivity calls to support the
Agenda for Action.165 Furthermore, to sign the Broadband Commission’s Universal Child
Online Safety (COS) declaration.166
163
The Inter-Agency working group on violence against children strongly recommends providing opportunities
for children’s views to be heard and taken into account through consultation and dialogue. Other examples of
global efforts calling for the inclusion of children’s perspectives in the debates around Internet governance and
children’s safe Internet use include among others: UNICEF Office of Research –Innocenti and the partnership
between UNICEF and ITU, GPEVAC,UNESCO, UNODC, WePROTECT Global Alliance, WHO and World Childhood
Foundation USA.
164
In Australia, a program called the ‘Trusted eSafety Provider’ program exists, in which eSafety endorses providers
to go into schools to support their online safety efforts and deliver online safety education.
165
166
ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development. (2010). Child Online Safety Universal
Declaration.
98
• The Broadband Commission Working Group on School Connectivity also calls to help
implement the ITU Child Online Protection Guidelines for policymakers, industry,
parents & educators and Children themselves.167
The table below highlights resources that the Working Group considered during its discussions
and advisory process, which could serve as reference for governments, the private sector, non-
profits and other organizations when developing and deploying high-quality online learning
content, solutions and platforms that adhere to COP principles.
Table 6. Resources on Child Online Protection.168

# Resource/Tool/
Framework Analyzed Authority Link
1 Broadband Commission Broadband Commission https://w ww.broadbandcommission

Agenda for Action: for .org/COVID19/Pages/default.aspx
faster and better recovery
2 Child Online Safety Broadband Commission https://childonlinesafety.org/

Universal Declaration
3 Child Online Safety: Broadband Commission English: https://w ww

Minimizing the Risk of .broadbandcommission.org/
Violence, Abuse and Documents/workinggroups/
Exploitation Online ChildOnlineSafety_ Report.pdf
Spanish:
https://w ww.broadbandcommission
.org/Documents/Broadband
%20Commission%20Report%20AW
_ES _ single%20page.pdf
Arabic:
.org/Documents/reports/2020/Child
_Online_ Safety_ ar.pdf
Portuguese:
.org/D ocuments/working
-groups/ChildOnlineSafety
_ReportPortuguese.pdf
4 Broadband Commission Broadband Commission https://w ww.broadbandcommission

Working Group on Child .org/workinggroups/Pages/ WG1-2018
Safety Online .aspx
5 Protecting Children during End Violence Against https://w ww.end-violence.org/

the COVID-19 Outbreak Children protecting- children- during- covid-19
-outbreak
167
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2020). Child Online Protection.
168
This table compiles only those resources, frameworks and tools that were presented, analyzed and discussed
during the Working Group sessions on the EMPOWER pillar.
99
# Resource/Tool/
6 COVID-19 and its End Violence Against Technical Note : https://w ww.end
Implications for Children, UNICEF, ITU, -violence.org/sites/default/files/
Protecting Children UNODC, WHO, UNESCO, paragraphs/download/COVID -19
Online and accompanying WePROTECT Global %20and%20its%20implications%20for
Resource Pack Alliance, World Childhood %20protecting%20children%20online
Foundation _Final%20%28003%29_ 0.pdf
Resource Pack : https://w ww.end
-violence.org/sites/default/files/2020
-07/COVID19%20Online%20Technical
%20note%20resource%20pack
_PUBLISHED.pdf
7 Safe to Learn Coalition End Violence Against https://w ww.end-violence.org/safe-to

Children -learn
8 Several resources, tools End Violence Against https://w ww.end-violence.org/safe

and practices on Child Children -online
Online Protection
9 Keeping children safe e-Safety Commissioner https://w ww.esafety.gov.au/key

online during the COVID- Australia -issues/covid-19/international-advice
19 pandemic -for-parents
10 Safer online environments e-Safety Government of https://w ww.esafety.gov.au/

in schools: Resources and Australia https://w ww.esafety.gov.au/educators/
toolkit for parents and toolkit-schools
educators
11 Safety by Design overview e-Safety Commissioner https://w ww.esafety.gov.au/key-issues/

Australia safety-by- design
https://w ww.esafety.gov.au/sites/
default/files/2019-10/SBD%20-
%20Overview%20May19.pdf
12 Child Online Protection ITU https://w ww.itu- cop- guidelines.com/

Guidelines for
policymakers, industry,
parents, educators and
children (2020)
13 Guidelines for Children ITU https://w ww.itu.int/en/cop/

on Child Online Documents/S- GEN- COP.CHILD-2016
Protection (2016) -PDF- E%5B1%5D.pdf
14 Guidelines for Children ITU https://w ww.itu- cop- guidelines.com/

on Child Online children
Protection (2020)
15 Guidelines for Parents, ITU https://w ww.itu- cop- guidelines.com/

Guardians and Educators parentsandeducators
on Child Online
Protection (2020)
16 Guidelines for Policy ITU https://w ww.itu- cop- guidelines.com/

Makers on Child Online policymakers
Protection (2020)
17 Guidelines for Industry on ITU https://w ww.itu- cop- guidelines.com/

Child Online Protection industry
(2020)
100
# Resource/Tool/
18 The Child Online ITU https://w ww.itu.int/en/ITU- D/

Protection Initiative Cybersecurity/Pages/COP.aspx
19 Several resources on Child UK Council for Child https://w ww.gov.uk/government/

Internet Safety Internet Safety (UKCCIS) groups/uk- council-for- child-internet
-safety-ukccis
20 Safe to Learn during UNESCO https://en.unesco.org/news/

COVID-19: New safe-learn- during- covid-19-new
recommendations released -recommendations-released
21 COVID-19 and its UNICEF https://w ww.unicef.org/documents/

implications for protecting covid-19-and-implications-protecting
children online -children- online
22 Guidelines for Industry on UNICEF and ITU https://w ww.unicef.org/media/66616/

Child Online Protection file/Industry- Guidelines-for- Online
-ChildProtection.pdf
23 Campaign to End Violence UNICEF https://w ww.unicef.org/end-violence

against Children
24 Toolkit Free App on World Childhood http://w ww.socapp.org/

Child Sexual Abuse and Foundation USA
Exploitation Off/Online
25 Resources on Child World Childhood https://w ww.childhood-usa.org/

Online Safety and Foundation USA resources
reporting mechanisms
26 Parenting tips on keeping WHO https://w ww.who.int/emergencies/

children safe online diseases/novel- coronavirus-2019/
during COVID-19: advice-for-public/healthy-parenting
https://w ww.who.int/publications/
m/item/covid-19-parenting-keeping
-children-safe- online
27 COVID-19: Parenting for Lifelong https://w ww.covid19parenting.com/#/

24/7 PARENTING Health; WHO; UNICEF; home
UNODC; End Violence; the
Proven parenting tips and Internet of Good Things;
activities for all ages in USAID; CDC; World
worldwide languages Without Orphans; the World
Childhood Foundation
USA, the Internet of Good
Things and Clowns Without
Borders South Africa
101
Box 10. Giga. Empowering Learners through Country Activities.
Giga aims to support countries in the deployment and scaling of learning

content and solutions through a specific set of activities. These activities are
designed to: Resolve information gaps; Improve conditions for Investment,
Launch National “Common Bids/or clustering of connectivity demands” and
Create Sustainable Structures.
Giga itself will not be investing in learning related solutions, nor will it support the scale of such
solutions once connectivity is established. Giga will rather work with partners who can “come in”
and provide their expertise in the development and scaling of Digital Public Goods (DPGs). These
partners include, but are not limited to: UNICEF’s Education Strategy (and its related teams at
country level), the Digital Public Goods Alliance, and UNESCO’s e-schools initiative.
Country Activities to Resolve Information Gaps:
• Engage with Ministries of Education to assess: digital learning needs, as well as existing
solutions and gaps; local ecosystems and their capacity; policies, and frameworks on Child
Online Safety.
• Identify local businesses and stakeholders that can develop and scale digital solutions once
connectivity is established.
• Facilitate timely connections to partners to access vetted digital solutions.
• Reference existing expertise and support the safe (i.e. Child Online Protection) scaling of
connectivity and digital solutions.
Country Activities to Improve Conditions for Investment:

• Include country resourcing needs/investment opportunities related to the local development
and scaling of DPGs in any financing requests/bids that Giga facilitates or directly fundraises for.
• Incorporate investment returns and opportunities that the development and scaling of digital
solutions bring to Giga’s investors and funders (e.g. increased access to financial services that
increase revenues for MNOs).
• Facilitate connections to venture capital and other investors for developing and scaling
digital solutions.
Country Activities to Launch National “Common Bids/or clustering of connectivity demands”:

• Integrate technical assessment criteria for digital solutions that are in line with Giga’s principles
for “EMPOWER” (e.g. open source, interoperability, local and public ownership, sustainability).
• Identify DPGs that could meet the needs outlined in the Bid.
• Advise on local scaling, hosting, platform integration and business models for deploying those
solutions selected through procurement processes.
Country Activities to Create Sustainable Structures:

• Provide access to resources, capacity building and financing to support local entrepreneurship
ecosystems and business models that develop and scale local digital solutions.
• Provide access to platforms that monitor real time use and quality of solutions (e.g. Real time
monitoring, DPG storefront).
• Provide access to platforms that incentivize maintenance and contributions to local solutions
(tokenization, crypto fund).
Giga will also facilitate access to solutions and will provide guidance in country engagements
focusing on:
• The creation of local entrepreneurship ecosystems that allow the development and scaling of
digital solutions, and business models that generate value for local stakeholders.
• Solutions that enable vendor-independence, reusability, interoperability, adaptability
and distribution. This means, solutions that are open source software, open data, open AI
models, open standards and open content that adhere to privacy and other applicable best
practices, do no harm.
• The integration of policy frameworks and tools that support safe access to digital solutions.
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Box 11. UNESCO's Model for Technology-Enabled Schools.
In light that the world may enter an increasingly crisis-prone and pandemic-prone
age over the coming decades, there is an urgent need for all countries to mix varied
technologies to build more inclusive, and more crisis-resilient school systems in the
context of achieving SDG41by 2030.
In response to this need, UNESCO has been developing a guiding framework for leveraging technology
to enable schools to ensure continuity and quality of learning for all. The UNESCO’s model for
technology-enabled schools aims to:
• Provide a step-by-step guidance on planning of technology-enabled crisis-resilient school
systems that allows for accessibility of school education programmes in multiple interconnected
learning spaces (namely physical school spaces, and distance learning spaces from home or other
alternative venues) with a view to ensure that the right to education will not be disrupted by crises
or emergencies.
• Inform the essential technology, content, and human infrastructure and constitute elements
of the technology-enabled crisis-resilient school systems, and provide resources mobilization
strategies as well as support to strengthen capacities of educational institutions and stakeholders
in enhancing the readiness towards a more crisis-responsive school system.
• Guide the effective pedagogical practices and professional development of teaching staff
and other pedagogical facilitators, and steer the use of technologies in varied learning spaces
towards advancing inclusion, equity, gender equality, and quality of learning in the context achieving
SDG4 by 2030.
• The framework is structured around three tiers, each of which is anchored on the following
building blocks:
TIER 1 - Policy and resources enablers

1. Leadership and governance: includes governing mechanisms, vision and strategy development,
policy planning and periodic review.
2. Financing and resource mobilisation: governmental budgeting; sustainable funding mechanisms;
crowdsourcing contribution from telecom sector, technology platforms or media channel providers,
internet service providers, content providers, training institutions, communities and civil societies to
contribute to the tech-enabled school systems.
3. Community and stakeholders engagement: communities of teachers, administrators, parents or
caregivers, private tutorials.
TIER 2 - Technology, content, and human infrastructure

4. Education program delivery technology:
4.1 Centralized: Online platforms, TV and radio media and channels; reliability and security.
4.2 School based or household: school connectivity and devices; household connectivity and devices.
5. Teachers and human facilitators: Teachers’ roles; formal training and informal professional
development on ICT competency and pedagogical skills; ICT supporting staff; Awareness & skills
of other stakeholders.
6. Curricular courses and supporting resources: Distance learning courses covering all and parts of
subjects and grade levels; access to and teachers generated OER.
TIER 3 - Teaching, learning, and assessment planning

7. Teaching and learning: technology enabled multimodal teaching and learning (inside and outside
schools: school based, home based, or community based) and for various purposes (formal and informal).
8. Social interaction and caring.
9. Assessment and credentialing of learning outcomes: the use of learning technologies to support
an integrated approach to assessment and credentialing of learning outcomes.
Connecting schools is necessary, and imperative as it widens the opportunities not only of the children
and youth attending those institutions, but also those of the communities around them. But connecting
them alone does not provide sufficient condition to ensure continuity and quality of learning when crises
hit. Any technologies available should be leveraged to enable an open form of school systems that
can ensure continuity and quality especially under crises and humanitarian emergencies. Technology-
enabled open school systems allow continued access to school education programs outside of
physical school spaces, either from home or a third physical space.
1
SDG-Education 2030 Steering Committee Secretariat. (2020). Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4).
103
© UNESCO/MINEDH
Pupils in pilot e-schools engage with ICT equipment provided by an e-school project in Mozambique.
4.4 Conclusions
The COVID-19 pandemic showed that schools are not only a place for learning concepts, but
also a place for learning about face-to-face interaction, social norms and humanity. They also
provide a safe space for children where they can grow healthy, and escape from violence,
abuse, and socio-economic burdens. Schools will not be replaced in the short term, nor should
they. Nevertheless, they need to seize the opportunity presented by the COVID-19 crisis, and
reinvent themselves.
Education and connectivity must serve a greater purpose than merely getting schools online:
they must empower learners and help them develop the self-discipline and self-responsibility
required to move forward in life, and the resilience and confidence needed to face life
challenges. EMPOWER is about bringing solutions for learning on top of connectivity; it is
also about facilitating access to partners, resources and technical assistance that increase
access to information, opportunity and choice for children as well as safety, once connectivity
has been established. EMPOWER is also about helping governments identify, assess and
support solutions that facilitate the use of digital technologies for quality learning in school
environments and through remote learning, as well as guarantee inclusiveness, facilitate
local ownership and decision making, and generate value for the countries developing and
deploying these solutions.
School connectivity must also be about empowering those who are online by providing
them with high quality, meaningful, inclusive and relevant content that is accessible through
safe and secure platforms and delivered by innovative methods of instruction. High quality,
inclusive, and relevant content and DPGs must be developed by taking into account principles
for localization, inclusiveness, openness, safety and security. They must provide learners with
104
core competencies for thriving in an even more digital and connected world, and for making a
positive impact to the communities they belong. They must also be deemed most appropriate
by teachers in order to advance the learning of their students, and facilitate local ownership
and decision making, while generating value for the local ecosystems creating and deploying
these solutions. More importantly, they must be made available online to every child and
young person in the world and also to parents, teachers, administrators and political leaders,
via an open repository.
Although the goal is to connect every school and every child to the Internet and to provide
them with access to information, opportunity and choice, this access needs to take place in a
safe and secure way that protects children from online dangers. Child Online Protection must
be a top priority not only for governments, but also for providers, the private sector and all
stakeholders involved in education and technology. There is a need for stronger collaboration
among these stakeholders to disseminate and enforce many of the tools already available.
Child Online Protection is a very important and sensitive element that must be present in the
design and deployment of any strategy for school connectivity.
Institutional capacity and the development of local ecosystems for the production of vetted,
high – quality content and DPGs are also key to the sustainability of any school connectivity
program. Moreover, the human factor is one of the key ingredients for making connectivity work
for learning. Teachers are key in driving successful adoption of high quality content, DPGs,
and technology. Teacher training allows them not only to acquire new skills and competences,
but also to overcome fears of using technology; this in turn helps in the deployment and
adoption of online tools and content, and empowers them to become more vested in the
process of vetting and assessing those solutions.
Monitoring and assessing the learning outcomes that should occur through the delivery of high
quality online content and DPGs is essential when evaluating the success of any connectivity initiative.
If the ultimate goal is to empower children and youth with skills that enhance their opportunities in
live, effective mechanisms must be in place to evaluate the absorption of core concepts.
Connectivity has to be more than just connecting schools. In order for school systems to be
resilient, shock absorbent, and crisis respondent, connecting learners should also be part of
the focus of any connectivity program and strategy.
The engagement through partnerships and appropriate coordination of multiple stakeholders

(Telecommunication companies, content providers and developers, teacher training institutions,
among others) is an imperative for designing technology-enabled crisis-resilient school systems.
4.5 Case Studies

• Successful country deployment of open source solutions and content developed with the
empower principles highlighted throughout the chapter.
• Initiatives that incorporate the principles of sustainability and local ownership.
• Successful connectivity deployments that generate inclusiveness, and empower children,
youth, and entire communities.
• Examples of application of Child Online Protection principles to school connectivity
programs and strategies.
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4.5.1 Uruguay’s Plan Ceibal
Principle Addressed
Country deployment of open source solutions and principles of sustainability and local ownership.
Project Name
Plan Ceibal.
Location
Uruguay.
Date
2007 – present.
Partners
• Technological Laboratory of Uruguay (LATU)
• National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII)
• Agency for the Development of Government Electronic Management and Information Society
and Knowledge (AGESIC)
• National Telecommunications Administration (ANTEL)
• Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC)
• Primary Education Council (CEP)
• National Public Education Administration (ANEP)
Situation/Challenge
The Basic Information Educational Program for Online Learning (CEIBAL) was launched in May
2007 with the initial objective to provide all public primary school children and teachers with
free laptop access. It also aimed to promote equal access to information and communication
tools for all. At the time of its launch only 34 per cent of individuals in the country were using the
Internet, however, in the last 10 years this figure has improved to 75 per cent in 2018.169
Aim of Project
To support Uruguayan educational policies with technology so as to ensure inclusion and equal
opportunities.
169
106
Project Details
Since Plan Ceibal began in 2007, the program has aimed to ensure that every child aged 6
to 15 attending primary and middle public school in Uruguay is provided with access to a
personal computer with free Internet connection at school. The initiative also provides programs,
educational resources and teacher training courses, such as: the Ceibal Digital Library, which
provides free access to textbooks, books and multimedia resources; PAM (an adaptive platform
for learning mathematics); a collection of open educational resources; educational projects like
Ceilab, a maker space initiative, Design for Change and the Computational Thinking project,
as well as a collection of educational video games and a content management platform for
teachers and students.
Results
Since 2007 the government has distributed 1,681,830 tablets and laptops to students and
teachers in primary and secondary public schools, as well as providing capacity building and
training to 28,000 teachers.170By 2009, all public primary school students and teachers had
access to a digital device through Plan Ceibal, and by 2013 all public secondary school students
and teachers had access to a digital device through Plan Ceibal.171 In addition, 100 per cent of
public primary and public schools have Wi-Fi connectivity and Internet access, with 93 per cent
of those in urban areas having a fiber optic connection.172
The Ceibal platform currently provides a full learning management system, preloaded
educational resources for students and professional development opportunities for teachers,
as well as access to students, and the general public, to an online library of over 7,000 books.
Of the digital learning programs now on offer, 70 per cent of children in urban public primary
schools undertake English classes via the program Ceibal en Inglés.173 Since 2012 the program
has also provided an adaptive learning platform for mathematics, which allows students to learn
and progress at their own pace through exercises and games. In 2016, 41 per cent of public
school students in primary through to Grade 3 were using this mathematics platform with 41
million activities carried out that year.174 Finally in 2018 there were over 230,000 users of the
virtual learning environment promoted by Ceibal.175
Lessons Learned
Part of Plan Ceibal’s success has been the result of continuous monitoring, with educational
resources constantly updated, and improvements undertaken with regards to functionality
and other enhancements to the system. One such example has been the introduction of a
contingency plan to mitigate the educational disruption caused by COVID-19 with such features
such as support for teachers, students and families, and a pilot online videoconference tool on the
platform. Another success factor has been the consistency and coherence in the implementation
of public education policies, which have stuck to the original goals whilst accommodating for
revisions of the plan because of technology advancements (such as the change from one laptop
per child to one device per child which allowed the use of tablets to be included).
Access to digital technologies alone does not ensure improvements to digital literacy. It is
important to also ensure that teachers are supported to develop their digital skill and to help
them to understand how to use digital technology to improve learning outcomes.
Increase use of digital technology can result in challenges which need to be considered by policy
makers, educators and technology implementers, such as regulating screen time, online privacy
and security, and cyber-bullying.
170
UNESCO. (2018). Enhancing social inclusion through innovative mobile learning in Uruguay.
171
172
173
174
175
107
4.5.2 Niger’s Smart Villages
Principle Addressed
Connectivity for inclusiveness and empowerment of children, youth and communities.
Project Name
Smart Villages.
Location
Niger.
Date
2018 – 2022 (ongoing).
Partners
• ITU
• National Agency for the Information Society (ANSI)
• WHO
• FAO
• UNESCO
• Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL)
Situation/Challenge
Niger is one of the largest countries (in land mass) in West Africa, with a population of around
23 million,176half of who are under the age of 15.177 Niger has one of the lowest Internet access
and broadband coverage in both Africa and the World, with only 5.25 per cent of individuals in
the country using the Internet.178 Part of this is due to the difficulties in last mile connectivity in
rural areas, in a country where 81 per cent of the population live in rural regions.179
Since the development in 2017 of the Niger 2.0 Strategic Plan, the government of Niger has been
working to achieve 100 per cent Internet coverage, to foster a digital economy, which is focused
on four areas: e-Government, Smart Villages, the creation of a city of Innovation & Technology,
and the promotion of digital services.
Aim of Project
The aim of the Smart Village project is to digitally connect 15,000 administrative villages in Niger,
and provide the inhabitants with access to digital services (such as Health, Education, Agriculture,
Commerce and Finance). The project aims to accelerate and facilitate the connection of more
than 85 per cent of the population.
The smart villages project aims at making the first steps possible for rural development by
promoting connectivity and digital literacy in rural settlements that need it the most. It focuses on
inclusive digital transformation through improvement of the living conditions by addressing the
root causes of poverty and hunger, investment in rural development through delivery of digitally-
enabled services, establishment of ICT-supported social protection systems, establishment of
rural-urban linkages, and increase the income of smallholder family farmers, especially women
and the young.
176
United Nations. Country Data: Niger.
177
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2017). Country Profile: Niger.
178
179
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2019). Smart Villages: Empowering rural communities in ‘Niger
2.0’.
108
Project Details
The establishment of Smart Villages can improve the provision of services in the following sectors:
• Health: the deployment of telemedicine and e-health services will allow patients to have
remote consultations and healthcare workers to deliver efficient services, improving access
to diagnosis and care, while also reducing the cost for the healthcare system.
• Education: the access to open and distance learning opportunities will enable capacity
building for teachers and education administrators as well as providing equitable access to
quality literacy, lifelong learning and skills programs for children, youth and adults.
• Agriculture: e-Agriculture services can support efficient and productive farming capabilities
among farmers, making rural communities more resilient from both economic and nutritional
point of view.
• Multi-hazard early warning and response: ICT systems for hazard risk monitoring, alert, and
post-alert guidance and information.
• Banking: support access to digital financial and investment services for citizens and businesses.
Results
This project is still ongoing, therefore results are yet to be achieved and measured. However,
the goal is to empower the population, by providing digital services for the improvement of
the school systems and delivery of vocational and literacy training. The provision of digital
services to rural villages is aimed to facilitate improvements in health, through early warning
and prevention, awareness raising on health risk, and telemedicine. Rural villagers might then
benefit from connectivity to modernize their agricultural practices by providing information on
best practices in agriculture and dissemination of useful weather data.
Lessons Learned
As the project is still ongoing, lessons are yet to be drawn in full extent. Niger, ITU and DIAL
have however developed a methodology180for the Smart Village platform to guide a common
cross-sector digital infrastructure. It is based on a “whole-of -government” approach to delivering
services in a more integrated and coordinated manner. While previous projects focused on
addressing SDGs have resulted in duplication of efforts, highly fragmented ecosystems, and
constraints around interoperability and scaling up, it is hoped that this ‘whole-of-government’
approach will allow for a more coordinated solution. It will incorporate core foundational building
blocks, such as registries, and digital identification and authentication services, which would then
allow for easily scale up and information sharing between different organizations, departments
and projects.
180
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2019). SDG Digital Investment Framework - A whole-of-
Government Approach to Investing in Digital Technologies to Achieve the SDGs.
109
4.5.3 Rwanda Child Online Protection
Principle Addressed
Child Online Protection.
Project Name
Child Online Protection Implementation Plan.
Location
Rwanda.
Partners
• Government of Rwanda
• University of Rwanda
• 5 Rights Foundation
• University of East London
Cost
RFW 2 billion (budget for 5 years).
Funded by:
End Violence Fund / Safe Online portfolio.
Situation/Challenge
In 2011 the percentage of individuals using the Internet was 7 per cent, and by 2017 this had
grown to 22 per cent181. Rwanda has committed strongly to digital transformation programs,
however, the growth in Internet use poses potential new risks to children in the form of indecent
and violent images, fake news or false narratives, child trafficking, sexual exploitation, cyber
bullying, predatory marketing schemes, fraud and gambling. These risks are particularly acute
if there are no Child Online Protection (COP) Policies or laws in place.
Aim of Project
Creation of a Child Online Protection Policy to empower Rwanda’s younger generation for
productive and safer use of the Internet by:
• Establishing a governance framework to drive COP initiatives.
• Establishing responsive policy and legal regimes for COP enforcement.
• Promoting awareness for productive use of the Internet by children.
• Developing technical tools for combatting child online exploitation.
• Stimulating Research and development in the field of COP.
• Promoting national, regional and international Cooperation for COP.
181
110
Project Details
Research was undertaken in conjunction by 5Rights Foundation, University of East London and
in collaboration with the University of Rwanda182 , to conduct an assessment, which drew on the
lessons from the introduction of regulations in other countries, international best practice and,
in consultation with a cross-sector expert working group and the Government of Rwanda. The
final goal was the production of a Child Online Protection Policy Document that was presented
to the Minister of ICT and Innovation, and the development of a communications strategy for the
roll out of a COP public awareness campaign183 . The entire project was funded and supported
by the End Violence Fund through its Safe Online Investment Portfolio.
Results
In June 2019, the “Rwanda Child Online Protection Policy” was adopted by the government.
A National advisory committee has since been established to oversee and advise the overall
implementation of the COP Policy.
Lessons Learned
Review of existing domestic and international legal and judiciary frameworks is recommended
in order to strengthen local COP Policy and enforcement.
Capacity building and awareness raising is recommended to strengthen the COP capabilities
of key administrations and institutions that have to deal with child protection.
COP needs to be considered when there are changes in circumstances that have an impact
on children, for example in Rwanda, as a result of COVID19, COP was included in mitigation
strategies with COP awareness messages embedded into the Education and ICT sectors.
182
5Rights Foundation. (2019). Child Online Protection in Rwanda.
183
5Rights Foundation. (2019). Child Online Protection in Rwanda.
111
4.5.4 Ukraine Child Online Protection
Principle Addressed
Child Online Protection
Project Name
National Child Online Safety Assessment
Location
Ukraine
Date
2019
Partners
• ITU
• South West Grid for Learning
• Ombudsman for Children with the President of Ukraine Office
Situation/Challenge
According to the ITU, 63 per cent of individuals in the Ukraine are using the Internet,184whilst it
is estimated that 50 percent of under 15s in the country are online. Online surveys of children
and parents conducted by the ITU185 estimated 67 per cent of children surveyed reported that
they had been upset by something online.
Aim of Project
To support the Ombudsman for Children with the President of Ukraine’s Office to carry out an
in-depth review of the status of Child Online Protection (COP) in the Ukraine, and develop a
national strategy and multi-year plan for action.
Project Details
In order to carry out the assessment and provide recommendations, research was carried out through
a series of online surveys completed by children, parents and stakeholders within the country;
interviews with Government Ministries, NGOs, Industry and Schools; as well as via desk based
research. From the research a number of issues were identified and recommendations were given.
Results
The research highlighted a number of issues such as:
• Access to unwanted or inappropriate content.
• Lack of clarity on reporting online safety concerns.
• Existing coverage of Child Sexual Abuse Material legislation.
• Lack of national coordination on Child Online Protection.
• Quality of teachers’ digital skills and competencies.
• Low awareness of online risks and threats (particularly amongst parents).
Recommendations were then made with regards to Child Sexual Abuse Material, Bullying, and
the establishment of a National Stakeholder Council and provision of Parental Control Tools.
Further recommendations were made regarding how school and public open Wi-Fi access
should be managed, how Child Sexual Abuse Material should be reported, the establishment
of a Safer Internet Centre and ensuring a better understanding amongst the population around
legislation in this area. Each recommendation also included a suggested lead to implement the
recommendation (e.g. Ministry of Justice vs. Ministry of Digital Transformation).
184
185
ITU survey conducted from 7-30 October 2019 of 5,813 parents and 5,373 children.
112
Lessons Learned
By conducting research into existing policies, legislation and attitudes to child online safety a
number of gaps and issues were identified. Research and recommendations were also informed
by the ITU’s “Guidelines for Policy Makers on Child Online Protection”.186
The ITU’s Guidelines propose concrete recommendations on developing a national strategy on
COP, provide tools to identify key stakeholders to engage with and coordinate efforts as well as
alignment with existing national frameworks and strategy plans.
Highlighting the clear benefits of a national Child Online Protection strategy included:
• Development of adequate national legislation,
• Development of legal framework, and
• Harmonization at the international level.
These frameworks may be self-regulatory, co-regulatory or full regulatory frameworks.
The State should promote the use of ICTs in preventing and addressing violence, such as the
development of technologies and resources for children to access information, block harmful
material and report instances of violence when they occur.
To face the global Child Online Safety situation, Governments must facilitate the communication
between their relevant entities and cooperate openly to eliminate harm to children online.
The national checklist includes recommendations on:
1. Legal framework
2. Regulatory framework
3. Reporting - illegal content
4. Reporting - user concerns
5. Actors and stakeholders
6. Research
7. Education digital literacy and competency
8. Educational resources
9. Child protection
10. National awareness
11. Tools, services and settings
Coordination between various stakeholders is necessary to implement recommendations that

generally require multiple actors to take steps. Changes to legislation will also require efforts
to educate the public on new legislation and reporting channels.
186
International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2020). Guidelines for Policy Makers on Child Online Protection.
113
© UNICEF/UNI321764/Filippov
Zlata, 7, works on schoolwork from home in Ukraine, with all schools in the country closed as part of measures to
combat the spread of COVID-19.
114
5. Going Forward
Never before have broadband networks and services been so vital to keep our economies
and societies working. One and a half billion children are in need of online education due to
the pandemic and many more are in need of just having access to the basic right to learn. The
educational inequality born out of this crisis will continue to have an impact on income inequality
and will likely affect the progress made on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, in
particular those related to education (SDG4), gender equality (SDG5), industry, innovation and
infrastructure (SDG9), reduced inequality (SDG10), and the promotion of peace and end of
violence and abuse (SDG16). Connecting all schools to the Internet and increasing the speed/
quality of connection of those already connected, is an imperative for attaining the SDGs and
for lifting millions of people out of poverty in the years to come after the pandemic.
Now is the time to act. There has never been an opportunity like this one to raise the issue
of education and school connectivity, moreover, the importance of connectivity overall and
everywhere: at school and at home. School connectivity must be addressed with a comprehensive
approach that looks not only at infrastructure, affordability, regulation and technologies, but also
at the human component, which includes: closing digital and literacy barriers, having localized
and meaningful content, measuring the impact on learning outcomes and strengthening the
capacities and the role of teachers. Schools must continue being the neuralgic cells they are to
societies and economies; a physical place where all children and youth gather to learn, grow
healthy and escape from violence, abuse, and socio-economic burdens.
Although this report serves as a culmination of a year’s advisory and consultative effort, the
members of the Broadband Commission Working Group on School Connectivity in their
individual capacities will continue supporting the cause of school connectivity and advocating
for universal broadband access to achieve high-quality and inclusive learning.
Through the future work of Giga and UNESCO’s e-Schools Initiative, the key learnings and
proposals coming out of this year of collaboration will continue making an impact at the country
level. These two initiatives will ensure schools get the support they need to go online, and that
learners are provided with the right skills for employability and for safe access to information,
opportunity, and choice.
Giga – Priorities moving forward
Giga is now being regarded as a “new and potentially transformative model” by the United Nations,
and highlighted as one of the roadmap steps for achieving universal connectivity by 2030. 187
As Giga moves forward, the focus will continue to be on financing and implementing school
connectivity in an initial set of countries: four in Sub-Saharan Africa (Rwanda, Kenya, Niger,
Sierra Leone); three in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan); and six in Latin
America and the Caribbean (El Salvador, Honduras, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the
Grenadines, and Granada). At the moment of writing this report, conversations are been held
with a growing number of countries in these regions, who have expressed interest in joining
Giga, and are assessing the value this initiative can bring to help push forward their school
connectivity work.
187
United Nations. (2020). United Nations Secretary-General's Roadmap for Digital Cooperation.
115
The 11 Steps Process:
The country work of Giga will follow an 11 steps process to connect schools, and the
communities around them.
Step 1. Work with country leadership to structure a Giga-specific partnership.
Step 2. Form a multi-stakeholder partnership coalition around a country-specific work plan.
Step 3. Develop a foundation of data to identify the need for connectivity and size the
investment opportunity.
Step 4. Build on existing country plans and policies by gathering data on the economic, political
and regulatory landscapes.
Step 5. Evaluate regulatory barriers and identify potential “opportunities” to finance connectivity.
Step 6. Survey the market conditions for implementation through discussions with operators,
providers, and User Services Platforms (USPs).
Step 7. Secure public financing to de-risk private investments in connectivity.
Step 8. Form a bloc of private funders and implementation companies to finance connectivity.
Step 9. Advise the country government on procurement structuring and build an accountability
platform for evaluating implementation (real-time monitoring maps).
Step 10. Support the government to rolling-out the procurement process.
Step 11. Work with the government to create a sustainable business model, including
continuous monitoring and expansion of technology and digital public goods.
In-Country Activities:
Some of the specific activities that Giga plans to perform in the above-mentioned countries include:
In Sub-Saharan Africa:
• Specifically, in Kenya, Niger, Sierra Leone, Rwanda and Zimbabwe, Giga will be
implemented to provide affordable digital connectivity to schools; through “Giga
Accelerate”, the first 1,000 schools in each country will be connected by early 2021.
• Rwanda will lead digital cooperation efforts in Africa through Giga to connect all schools
in the continent by 2030.
• Sierra Leone will share their experience in school mapping and lead the Digital Public
Goods work in the region.
In Latin America and the Caribbean:
• Specifically in El Salvador, Giga will develop a real-time monitoring tool for connectivity
and a new financial model to invest in a national telecommunications company based on
a public-private collaboration.
• Honduras, with the support from a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB),
will develop a digital connectivity bond using their Universal Service Fund as a guarantee.
• Colombia will be developing a real-time monitoring tool to assess the quality of service
that schools receive.
116
Opportunities for rapid success:
Giga is identifying a series of opportunities that are happening concurrently with this bigger
process, and which are generating interesting results. These include:
• Technical projects that are “already in the works”. (e.g. Niger’s Smart Villages).
• Giga: Accelerate – connecting set numbers of schools to pilot the Giga model and bring
immediate response. This ties specifically with COVID-19 response and with concrete
needs from countries that need to be addressed “now”.
• Strategic Initiatives for knowledge creation (e.g. reports and communication materials).
• Easy to build, replicable partnerships to engage specific partners including other ITU/
UNICEF programs (e.g. partnering with UN Women to create: Giga Girls).
Partnering with Giga
• From private sector partners, Giga seeks:
o Data sharing – Giga relies on school location and connectivity mapping data to identify
gaps and aggregate demand for funding proposals.
o Financial support – Giga’s mission to connect every school in the world is ambitious.
Giga calls for help in the form of funding to move more quickly and to bring school
connectivity in more places.
o Technical assistance – Giga welcomes bright minds that can help build cases for
financing, develop new technologies, and introduce “out-of-the-box” ways to
overcome big challenges.
o Country-level investments – if you have an interest in supporting a specific country,
either with financial contributions or service provision, Giga can add services that
amplify the impact of your investment.
o Local business investment – UNICEF Venture Fund brings expertise that can help
guide your investment in developing businesses and digital services enabled by
connectivity.
• For country governments wanting to join Giga:
o Start with stakeholder engagement and data collection. Giga will work with country
governments to gather information that can help initiate discussions with investors.
Similarly, Giga will help governments assess the availability of data and begin to use
that data to produce analyses that will be critical to financing and implementation.
Giga works with ALL countries and adapts to their current stage and context in these efforts.
UNESCO e-Schools Initiative – Priorities moving forward
Improving the quality of learning will not happen automatically once schools are connected
to the Internet. Broader challenges like: overall school readiness; integration of digital content
in the curricula; teachers’ competencies and digital skills; impact of technology in learning
outcomes, and the application of real time data for improving overall education systems will
still need to be addressed, as they continue to affect the performance of schools.
The school as a physical space will remain indispensable. Traditional classroom organization
must give way to a variety of ways of “doing school” but the school, as a separate space-time
117
of collective living, specific and different from other spaces of learning must be preserved.188
Moving forward, schools need to transform themselves into open-schools and connectivity
should also reach learners.
UNESCO will continue developing its Technology Enabled Open School model anchored in
the principles of: school-based blended learning, home-based distance learning, and access to
distance learning, content and coach any time, any where. UNESCO will continue advocating
this model through its e-schools Initiative, which will go into a second phase, developing pilots
in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Senegal.
Through the e-schools Initiative, UNESCO will continue supporting countries with:
• Access to school readiness assessment framework and toolkit.

• Localized assessments to better understand the response framework.
• Access to a community of practices.
• Capacity building support for the schools leadership.
• Opportunities to contribute to knowledge production.
• Introductions to Global Education Coalition members who could support the country’s
e-school initiative.
UNESCO will continue confirming the interest and commitment from other countries to join
the e-schools Initiative, mobilize members of the Global Education Coalition, and engineer
action at the national and local levels to deliver on the promise to leave no one behind in the
achievement of high quality education for all.
188
UNESCO. (2020). Education in a post-COVID world: Nine ideas for public action.
118
How To Get Involved

If you want to get involved, the Broadband Commission Working Group on School Connectivity
invites you to:
1. Support the Broadband Commission Agenda for Action.

2. Sign the Broadband Commission declaration on Universal Child Online Safety (COS)
Universal Declaration.
3. Help implement the ITU Child Online Protection Guidelines for policymakers, industry,
parents & educators and Children themselves.
4. Join the Global Education Coalition, to learn alongside other partners, and support
governments to enhance and scale up equitable learning during the pandemic.
5. Join UNESCO’s initiative for the development of an international declaration on
connectivity for education to support learning and strengthen the resilience of education
systems. The proposed declaration aims to help guide the international community
thereby committing to:
• Ensure connectivity adequately supports the right to education.

• Recognize the equity and inclusion dimension of connectivity.
6. Partner with Giga, to increase the breadth and accelerate progress towards universal school
connectivity. If your country is not on the initial set of countries listed above, but already
has interest and potential partners, reach out to the Giga team via: gigaconnect.org.
119
ACRONYMS
ACRONYM DESCRIPTION
2GIS 2 GIS Maps
3G Third Generation of Wireless Mobile Telecommunications Technology
4G Fourth Generation of Wireless Mobile Telecommunications Technology
ADB Asian Development Bank
AfDB African Development Bank
AGESIC Agency for the Development of Government Electronic Management and

Information Society and Knowledge Uruguay
AI Artificial Intelligence
ANATEL Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações
ANEP National Public Education Administration Uruguay
ANII National Agency for Research and Innovation Uruguay
ANSI National Agency for the Information Society
ANTEL National Telecommunications Administration Uruguay
ARPU Average Revenue per User
BYOD Bring Your Own Device
CAGR Compound Annual Growth Rate
CapEx Capital Expenditure
CARCIP Caribbean Regional Communications Infrastructure Program
CEIBAL Basic Information Educational Program for Online Learning
CEP Primary Education Council Uruguay
Ceptro.br Center for Studies and Research in Network Technology and Operations Brazil
Cetic.br Regional Center for Studies on the Development of the Information Society
CIEB Center of Innovation for Brazilian Education
COP Child Online Protection
COS Child Online Safety
CSAM Child Sexual Abuse Material
CTU Caribbean Telecommunications Union
DBOFT Design, Build, Operate, Finance, and Transfer
DCF Discounted Cash Flow
DFI Development Finance Institution
120
ACRONYM DESCRIPTION
DIAL Digital Impact Alliance
DPGs Digital Public Goods
DSTI Sierra Leone’s Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation
EBA Education Information Network
ECTEL Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority
EMIS Educational Management Information System
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
FAQ Frequently Asked Questions
FITEL Telecommunications Investment Fund
FOSS Free and Open Source Software
GAVI Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations
GB Gigabyte
Gbps Gigabyte per second
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GDP pc Gross Domestic Product per capita
GNI Gross National Income
GPS Global Positioning System
GSMA Global System for Mobile Communications Association
GWAN Government Wide Area Network
IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
ICT Information and Communications Technology
ICT-CFT UNESCO's ICT Competency Framework for Teachers
ICT4E Information and Communications Technology for Education
IADB Inter American Development Bank
INEP Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais
IOT Internet of Things
IRR Internal Rate of Return
IRU Indefeasible Rights of Use
ISAP Information Society and Action Plan
ISP Internet Service Provider
IT Information Technology
121
ACRONYM DESCRIPTION
ITU International Telecommunication Union
ITU IDI ITU Information and Communication Technology Development Index
KPI Key Performance Indicator
LAC Latin America and the Caribbean
LAN Local Area Network
LATU Technological Laboratory of Uruguay
LDC Least Developed Countries
LLDC Landlocked Developed Countries
LMC Last Mile Connectivity
MB Megabyte
MC Brazilian Ministry of Communications
MCTI Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation
MD Brazilian Ministry of Defense
MEC Brazilian Ministry of Education
MEC Ministry of Education and Culture Uruguay
MIC Middle Income Countries
MIGA World Bank Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
ML Machine Learning
MNO Mobile Network Operator
MoNE Ministry of National Education of Turkey
MOOC Massive Open Online Courses
NGO Non-Governmental Organizations
NIC.br Brazilian Network Information Centre
NPV Net Present Value
NREN National Research and Educational Network
OA Open Access
OD Open Data
OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
OECS Organization of Eastern Caribbean States
OER Open Educational Resources
OPEx Operational Expenditure
122
ACRONYM DESCRIPTION
OPIC Overseas Private Investment Corporation USA
PDO Project Development Objective
PIEC National Innovation Policy Connected Education
PIU Public Private Partnership Commission of Malawi
PPP Public Private Partnership
QoS Quality of Service
RCIP The World Bank’s Regional Communications Infrastructure Program
RCPIMW Regional Communications Infrastructure Program 3 Malawi
RNP Brazilian National Research and Education Network
ROI Return on Investment
RTT Round Trip Time
SDGs Sustainable Development Goals
SIDs Small Island Developing States
SIM Subscriber Identification Module
SLA Service Level Agreement
SN Switching Node
STEM Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
TAS Telecommunication Authority Suriname
TELCOR Institute for Telecommunications and Posts Nicaragua
TVWS Television White Spaces
UIS UNESCO Institute for Statistics
UKCCIS UK Council for Child Internet Safety
UN United Nations
UNCRC United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNICEF United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund
UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
USAID United Stated Agency for International Development
USF Universal Services Funds
USP User Services Platforms
VLP Virtual Landing Point
123
ACRONYM DESCRIPTION
VPN Virtual Private Network
VSAT Very Small Aperture Terminal
WAN Wide Area Network
WASH Water, Sanitation And Hygiene
WHO World Health Organization
WSIS World Summit on Information Society
124
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40. Human Capital is defined as the set of skills possessed by the labor force; it also comprises
the knowledge and skill sets that enable people to successfully create new enterprises
(Davidsson and Honig 2003; Snell and Dean 1992). Human capital is regarded as an
asset, and it encompasses the notion that investments in people (e.g. education, training,
health) can increase an individual’s productivity (or the capacity of creating more output
and wealth). Human capital is often calculated as the present value of an individual’s
expected lifetime employment-related income; it factors in education and skills, as well
as experience and the likelihood of labor force participation at various ages.
41. A country’s wealth includes produced capital (buildings, machinery and infrastructure);
natural capital (land, forests, minerals, oil, coal and gas reserves); human capital and net
foreign assets.
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47. Radhika Iyengar, Angelique R. Mahal, Liya Aklilu, Annika Sweetland, Alia Karim, HaeIn
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48. Flipped classroom or flipped learning is a pedagogical approach in which direct

instruction moves from the group learning space into the individual learning space, and
the resulting group space is transformed into a dynamic, interactive learning environment
where the educator guide students as they apply concepts and engage creatively in the
subject matter. Flipped Learning Network, 2014.
49. BYOD, Bring Your Own Device is commonly used to mean allowing students to bring
personally owned mobile devices (laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc.) to their institution
and to use them and incorporate them as tools for the instruction process.
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52. The word: “Mapping” in this report refers to a series of techniques and procedures used
to determine the physical and geographical location of a school, as well as its connectivity
requirements.
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type of service, with the following services: access to electricity; access to the Internet
for pedagogical purposes; access to computers for pedagogical purposes; access to
adapted infrastructure and materials for students with disabilities; access to basic drinking
water; access to single-sex basic sanitation, by education level; access to basic hand
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64. Nevertheless, in order to achieve the SDGs in education, parallel efforts will still need to be
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or IPv6 addresses in Brazil; handling and responding to computer security incidents
involving networks connected to the Brazilian Internet; projects that support and improve
the network infrastructure in the country; producing and publishing indicators, statistics
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73. The Lemann Foundation strives to make Brazil a more just and equitable place by
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151. Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning and research materials in any
medium – digital or otherwise – that reside in the public domain or have been released
under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution
by others with no or limited restrictions. OER form part of ‘Open Solutions’, alongside
Free and Open Source software (FOSS), Open Access (OA), Open Data (OD) and
crowdsourcing platforms. UNESCO.
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154. According to the Center of Innovation for Brazilian Education, CIEB, in Brazil, data from
fifty thousand teachers who have used the Self-Assessment on Digital Skills Tool (https://
guiaedutec.com.br/educador), show that they still do not know hot to integrate online
tools in their teaching.
155. UNESCO (2019). ICT Competency Framework for Teachers. [online]. Available at:
https://en.unesco.org/themes/ict- education/competency-framework-teachers
156. UNESCO. (2020). COVID-19 Education Response. Issue Note No. 2.1:
Distance learning strategies in response to COVID-19 school closures.
[online]. Available at: https:// u nesdoc .unesco . org/ a rk:/ 4 8223/ p f0000373305
?posInSet=2&;queryId=N- 8ea77989-29de- 4ff3-997c-eaddc678be5b
and Distance learning strategies – What do we know about effectiveness? – Synthesis
report. [online]. Available at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000373350
paragraphs/download/COVID -19%20and%20its%20implications%20for %20protecting
%20children%20online_ Final%20%28003%29_ 0.pdf [Accessed 17 Aug. 2020].
158. World Economic Forum. (2020). Will the coronavirus break the Internet?. [online]. Available
at: https://w ww.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/will- coronavirus- break-the - internet/
159. End Violence Against Children. https://w ww.end-violence.org/safe-online

135
161. Europol. (2020). Exploiting isolation: Offenders and victims of online child sexual abuse
during the COVID-19 pandemic. [online]. Available at: https://w ww.europol.europa
.eu/newsroom/news/exploiting-isolation-sexual-predators-increasingly-targeting
-children- during- covid-pandemic [Accessed 17 Aug. 2020] and WePROTECT Global
Alliance. (2020). Intelligence Report on Impact of COVID-19 on online Child Sexual
Exploitation and Abuse. [online]. Available at: https://s tatic1.squarespace.com/s tatic/
5630f48de4b00a75476ecf0a/t /5ebc58d038eb072b909874ca/1589401809129/
Impact+of+COVID-19+on+Online+Child+Sexual+Exploitation.pdf
162. In Poland for example, the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE) runs an educational
campaign #keepCTRL: https://w ww.uke.gov.pl/en/newsroom/click-sensibly-keepctrl-new
-uke-educational-campaign,243.html
163. The Inter-Agency working group on violence against children strongly recommends
providing opportunities for children’s views to be heard and taken into account through
consultation and dialogue. Other examples of global efforts calling for the inclusion
of children’s perspectives in the debates around Internet governance and children’s
safe Internet use include among others: UNICEF Office of Research –Innocenti and the
partnership between UNICEF and ITU, GPEVAC, UNESCO, UNODC, WePROTECT Global
Alliance, WHO and World Childhood Foundation USA.
164. In Australia, a program called the ‘Trusted eSafety Provider’ program exists, in which
eSafety endorses providers to go into schools to support their online safety efforts and
deliver online safety education.

166. ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development. (2010). Child

Online Safety Universal Declaration. [online]. Available at: https://childonlinesafety.org/
167. International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2020). Child Online Protection. [online].
Available at: https://w ww.itu-cop-guidelines.com/ [Accessed 17 Aug. 2020].
168. This table compiles only those resources, frameworks and tools that were presented,
analyzed and discussed during the Working Group sessions on the EMPOWER pillar.
170. UNESCO. (2018). Enhancing social inclusion through innovative mobile learning in
Uruguay. [online]. Available at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000366324
136
176. United Nations. Country Data: Niger. [online]. Available at: http://data.un.org/en/iso/ne
.html [Accessed 17 Aug. 2020].
177. International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2017). Country Profile: Niger. [online].
Available at: https://w ww.itu.int/en/ITU-D/LDCs/Documents/2017/Country%20Profiles/
Country%20Profile_ Niger.pdf [Accessed 17 Aug. 2020].
179. International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2019). Smart Villages: Empowering

rural communities in ‘Niger 2.0’. [online]. Available at: https://news.itu.int/smart-villages
-empowering-rural-communities-in-niger-2- 0/[Accessed 17 Aug. 2020].
180. International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2019). SDG Digital Investment Framework
- A whole-of-Government Approach to Investing in Digital Technologies to Achieve the
SDGs. [online]. Available at: https://w ww.itu.int/pub/D -STR-DIGITAL.02-2019 [Accessed
17 Aug.2020].
182. 5Rights Foundation. (2019). Child Online Protection in Rwanda. [online]. Available at: https://
5rightsfoundation.com/uploads/cop-in-rwanda-report.pdf [Accessed 17 Aug. 2020].
183. 5Rights Foundation. (2019). Child Online Protection in Rwanda. [online]. Available at: https://
5rightsfoundation.com/uploads/cop-in-rwanda-report.pdf [Accessed 17 Aug. 2020].
185. ITU survey conducted from 7-30 October 2019 of 5,813 parents and 5,373 children.
186. International Telecommunication Union, (ITU). (2020). Guidelines for Policy Makers on
Child Online Protection. [online]. Available at: https://w ww.itu- cop - guidelines.com/
policymakers [Accessed 17 Aug. 2020].
187. United Nations. (2020). United Nations Secretary-General's Roadmap for Digital
Cooperation. [online]. Available at: https://w ww.un.org/en/content/digital-cooperation
-roadmap/[Accessed 17 Aug. 2020].
188. UNESCO. (2020). Education in a post-COVID world: Nine ideas for public action. [online].
Available at: https://en.unesco.org/news/education-post-covid-world-nine-ideas-public
-action [Accessed 17 Aug. 2020].
137
138
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ISBN: 978-92-61-32261-8
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Published in Switzerland
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The Digital

Members of the Working Group

(By alphabetical order of institution, followed by alphabetical order of surname):

• América Móvil (Carlos Jarque)

• ACTAI Global (Bill Tai)

© International Telecommunication Union, United Nations Educational, Scientific

978-92-61-32251-9 (Paper version)

978-92-61-32261-8 (Electronic version)

978-92-61-32271-7 (EPUB version)

978-92-61-32281-6 (MOBI version)

Henrietta Fore, Executive Director, UNICEF.

Houlin Zhao, Secretary-General, ITU, Co-Vice Chair of the Broadband Commission.

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT), ITU and

SECTION A. CONNECTING SCHOOLS����������������������������������������������������������������������������� xi

How the COVID-19 pandemic forced the digital transformation of education�������������3

Section A. CONNECTING SCHOOLS �����������������������������������������������������������������������12

1.1 Methodology for mapping schools and their connectivity����������������������������������20

2.1 Methodology and principles for connecting schools�������������������������������������������41

3.1 Methodology and financial model for school connectivity������������������������������������� 62

Section B. EMPOWERING LEARNERS��������������������������������������������������������������������������81

Box 1. Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development 2025 Targets.

Figure 1. Rwanda School Mobile Coverage. Giga Mapping.��������������������������������������������� 20

Table 1. Proportion of Schools with Access to Internet for Pedagogical

The Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development advocates, showcases and

SECTION A. CONNECTING SCHOOLS

1. MAP THE SCHOOLS

• Real time monitoring of school connectivity:

o Is a way to address challenges faced by governments when monitoring progress

Giga. Mapping of School Connectivity. 2020 (www​.projectconnect​.world).

2. CONNECT THE SCHOOLS

1. Reviewing the already existing options for connectivity

2. Selecting affordable, financially viable and sustainable solutions

• Identifying the most feasible and affordable connectivity solution should be an

o Affordability. Ensuring that connectivity service user pricing falls within

3. FINANCE SCHOOL CONNECTIVITY

o Clustering attractive opportunities for investment thus creating “clusters of connectivity

• Finding solutions to address school connectivity challenges depends on understanding the

SECTION B. EMPOWERING LEARNERS

• The success of school connectivity programs requires a comprehensive approach; it

o Ensuring “product quality and openness”.

As stated by the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, digital

Connecting those offline is undoubtedly a major development challenge faced by many

How the COVID-19 pandemic forced the digital transformation of education

The unprecedented nature of this challenge prompted many UN organizations to move

Why connecting schools and learners is of utmost importance…now!

Education is at a global state of emergency, and the sudden transformation it is undergoing

The Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development and the

Box 1. Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development 2025 Targets. Targets

Target 2: By 20205, entry-level broadband services should be made affordable

Target 3: By 2025, Internet user penetration should reach: a) 75 per cent

Launched in 2019 by the ITU and UNICEF, Giga is an initiative to connect

Giga is anchored in the UN Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation1’s

Box 3. UNESCO's e-school Initiative.

UNESCO’s e-School Initiative is an effort for connecting schools and learners

Objectives and Structure of the Report

Section A. CONNECTING SCHOOLS

Despite this realization, connecting schools remains a complicated endeavor. It is undoubtedly

• Review existing telecommunication regulatory frameworks and policies.

Accurate data about schools’ location is critical to the provision of high-quality

SECTION A. CONNECTING SCHOOLS�� xi

How the COVID-19 pandemic forced the digital transformation of education��3

Section A. CONNECTING SCHOOLS ��12

1.1 Methodology for mapping schools and their connectivity��20

2.1 Methodology and principles for connecting schools��41

3.1 Methodology and financial model for school connectivity�� 62

Section B. EMPOWERING LEARNERS��81

Figure 1. Rwanda School Mobile Coverage. Giga Mapping.�� 20

Giga. Mapping of School Connectivity. 2020 (www.projectconnect.world).