UNESCO supports development and free distribution of world class educational materials

Signing of the agreement.
© UNESCO

Utilizing open source technology to make learning material development a less timely and costly process is the objective of a cooperation agreement established between UNESCO and the U.S. based Global Educational Learning Community (CURRIKI).

The MOU was signed on 8 October 2007 at UNESCO Headquarets in Paris. UNESCO and CURRIKI will cooperate in the field of ICT and education and undertake a variety of activities in support of the common objectives of the UNESCO’s Communication and Information, Education and Science sectors and CURRIKI’s education, science and community programmes. Areas covered by the cooperation include:

• Identify and assist countries that already face limited access to textbooks and other learning materials,
• Work in collaboration with the country’s Ministry of Education (MOE) to develop standards for open source curricula content and design,
• Train appointed staff on the use of open source technology (including MOE representatives, NGO educators and local publishers),
• Use open source communities and trained educators to help develop curricula and textbook design using open source technology and philosophy, and
• Maintain an open source learning resources’ portal that will serve as a clearinghouse for open source curricula and can be shared with other school districts and countries.

Read more about the program.