UNESCO 2025 Education Day honours AI

Claire Halliday

UNESCO’s Director-General Audrey Azoulay has formally dedicated this week’s International Education Day 2025 (Friday 24 January) to the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence (AI). She is calling on all of UNESCO’s Member States to invest in training for students and teachers to help ensure the responsible use of this technology within the field of education.

“AI offers major opportunities for education, provided that its deployment in schools is guided by clear ethical principles,” says Azoulay.

“To reach its full potential, this technology must complement the human and social dimensions of learning, rather than replace them. It must become a tool at the service of teachers and pupils, with the main objective being their autonomy and wellbeing.”

By dedicating the International Day of Education 2025 to AI, UNESCO is showcasing the need for global discussion on the place technology has within the global education sector. Scheduled conferences in Paris and New York, as well as a webinar, will support this aim.

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International division around permission and restriction

AI’s presence in education is increasing, with more than two-thirds of secondary school is many high-income countries using generative AI tools to produce schoolwork. Teachers are also increasing their use of AI for lesson preparation and assessment of students’ work. The process of admissions and guidance for students is now also supported by AI assistance.

However, education professionals still lack clear guidelines on these practices. Currently, just 10 per cent of schools and universities have an official framework for the use of AI, according to a survey of 450 institutions conducted by UNESCO in May 2023. In 2022, only seven countries had developed AI frameworks or programs for their teachers, and only 15 included objectives on AI training in their national curricula.

But while the use of the technology expands in educational institutions around the world, more countries are also placing restrictions on the use of new technologies in the classroom. New data from UNESCO reveals almost 40 per cent of countries now have a law or policy banning the use of mobile phones in schools – up from 24 per cent in July 2023.

AI tools must remain at the service of educators and students

Underpinned by its cross-cutting mandate for education, sciences, culture and information, UNESCO has been addressing the challenges posed by artificial intelligence for almost a decade. In November 2021, its Member States adopted the first global standard-setting framework on the ethics of AI.

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UNESCO published the first-ever Guidance for Generative AI in Education and Research in September 2023, as well as two AI competency frameworks for students and teachers in 2024, addressing both the potential and the risks of AI, as a key step towards its ethical, safe, inclusive and responsible use. These publications include the suggestion to set an age limit of 13 for the use of AI in the classroom.

UNESCO also recommends that resources allocated by governments towards AI must be in addition to, and not divert from, the financial resources already committed to education. That direction comes at a time when one in four primary schools globally still don’t have access to electricity and 60 per cent are not connected to the internet. This Friday, on International Education Day 2025, it’s an important reminder that essential needs must remain the priority: well-managed and well-equipped schools, with well-trained and well-paid teachers who remain motivated by their mission.

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Claire Halliday has an extensive career as a full-time writer - across book publishing, copywriting, podcasting and feature journalism - for more than 25 years. She lives in Melbourne with children, two border collies and a grumpy Burmese cat. Contact: claire.halliday[at]educationdaily.au