UNESCO to promote online educational materials

UNESCO has pledged to offer assistance to countries in the dissemination of Open Educational Resources (OERs) with a view to creating inclusive knowledge societies.

OERs are any type of educational material released with an open license or into the public domain that allows users to legally and freely use, copy, adapt, resell, and redistribute, UNESCO said.

The regional director, Mr. Benoit Sossou, stated this at a training workshop on OER in conjunction with the Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) in Abuja, adding that the agency will empower local communities by promoting the use of OERs.

He said: “The UNESCO Knowledge Societies division coordinates UNESCO’s global activities to assist member states to effectively utilize OERs, enabling information to be freely and legally shared, providing strategic crosscutting opportunities to improve the quality of decisionmaking as well as facilitate policy dialogue, knowledge sharing and capacity building, including for persons with disabilities.”

Sossou also said the agency was working with education decision-makers, professionals and researchers at various levels to share best practices.

According to him, UNESCO will also provide support for the formulation of national OER policies and designing and implementing proof-ofconcept projects in cooperation with governments, nongovernmental organisations and national counterparts.