Distance Learning: How low-tech solutions help to make education accessible for everyone

Education is key for economic advancement as well as social stability. However, providing quality education is especially challenging in countries that lack infrastructure, learning materials and trained teachers. UNESCO estimates that 617 million school-age children around the world finish primary school without having attained basic literacy and numeracy. These deficits have compounding effects, because without basic skill mastery, students cannot learn from books and are severely restricted in civic participation. George Cowell is the International Director at Rising Academy Network, a B Corporation that delivers education to more than 50,000 children in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ghana. In addition to their low-cost private schools and government partnerships, Rising Academies are building “Rori”, a chatbot tutor that harnesses AI and engages audio to deliver personalised learning to any student on any phone. At Falling Walls, George will talk about the importance of low-tech solutions in making education accessible for everyone. He will tell the story of how millions of students may be able to receive engaging foundational content through ubiquitous technologies like SMS and Whatsapp.

Further Activities to have a look at