Education Audio
UNESCO’s Digital Learning Week calls for education to remain a common good in the age of AI
From 8 to 11 September 2026, UNESCO's headquarters in Paris hosted Digital Learning Week, this year organised around the theme "Education in the Age of AI: Facts, Frictions, Frontiers". More than 25 ministers of education and over a thousand on-site participants, joined by thousands more online, took part in four days of debate on how artificial intelligence is transforming classrooms, universities and education policy.
The centrepiece of the week was a joint ministerial statement committing governments to sustain education as a common good as AI tools spread through schools. UNESCO also released a set of policy briefs on AI governance, digital sovereignty, public procurement of education technology and the age-appropriateness of AI tools for children, together with its annual survey of UNESCO Chairs on the use of AI in higher education.
Speakers included researchers and practitioners such as Sonia Livingstone of the London School of Economics, Beeban Kidron of Digital Futures for Children, Shingai Manjengwa of Mila – Quebec AI Institute, and Khan Academy founder Sal Khan. The week closed with the awarding of the UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize, dedicated this year to projects that reimagine creativity and critical thinking with AI.
For humanist educators, the debate touches a central question: whether new technologies will widen existing inequalities or be placed at the service of every learner. The ministerial commitment to keep education public, inclusive and human-centred is a starting point, and its implementation will be the real test.
