Report of the International Conference on ICT and Post-2015 Education

The key output of the conference was the adoption of the Qingdao Declaration, which provides Member States with policy recommendations for harnessing the power of ICT to address current educational challenges, and to ensure equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all.

The Declaration outlines how technology can be used to achieve educational targets for equity, access, quality and lifelong learning in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that will be used to coordinate international development for the next 15 years.

The conference was jointly organized by UNESCO, the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, with the support of the Qingdao Municipal Government and the Shangdong Provincial Government, and the sponsorship of the Weidong Group. Key partners included the Commonwealth for Learning, the OECD and UNWomen. The conference gathered participants from more than 90 countries, including ministers and vice-ministers of education.

The Qingdao Declaration is the first global declaration on ICT in education. The text, approved unanimously by participants, highlights the different ways in which technology can support the global agenda for education which was suggested at the World Education Forum for the next 15 years.