Paris, France – September 8, 2026
UNESCO's Digital Learning Week 2026 opens at the agency's Paris headquarters today under the theme "Education in the age of AI: Facts, frictions and frontiers", bringing together more than 1,000 participants — including 25 or more education ministers — to adopt a joint statement on sustaining education as a common good in the age of artificial intelligence.
The four-day gathering runs from 8 to 11 September 2026 and includes the award ceremony for the 2026 UNESCO ICT in Education Prize.
What the week is for
UNESCO framed the week as a chance to align policy across AI safety and sovereignty, the appropriate use of AI across different ages and learning contexts, and the agency-level response to a survey finding that fewer than 10 per cent of schools and universities worldwide have formal policies or institutional guidance on generative AI use.
The joint statement expected from ministers is intended to give UNESCO a renewed mandate to support countries in developing age-appropriate AI curricula, teacher training, and accountability frameworks. The week also launches UNESCO's new compilation of policy briefs on AI and education.
"Generative AI opens new horizons and challenges for education, but we urgently need to take action to ensure that new AI technologies are integrated into education on our terms. It is our duty to prioritise safety, inclusion, diversity, transparency and quality." — Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education
The scale of the gap
Fewer than 10 per cent of schools and universities have formal policies on the use of generative AI, according to UNESCO's most recent global survey of more than 450 institutions. The agency's framing — "facts, frictions and frontiers" — refers respectively to what is known about AI's educational effects, where those effects cause harm, and the emerging research questions.
Where learning science lands
The week's framing draws on emerging learning science that distinguishes between AI tools that prompt retrieval and correction, and tools designed to keep students clicking and earning badges. UNESCO's classroom guidance is to show students how to use AI "as a thought partner, not a shortcut" — language that mirrors what multiple research syntheses have been saying since 2024.
The closing keynote, from London School of Economics professor Sonia Livingstone, asks the question many households are asking too: "Is there a right age for AI in education?"
Country-level adoption
Ministers attending the week are expected to align their national strategies with UNESCO's AI Competency Frameworks for Students and Teachers, which are being updated alongside the 2026 edition of the event. Several countries, including France, Spain, Singapore and Kenya, are bringing case studies of how their school systems have integrated AI literacy modules.
The week also features the 2026 UNESCO ICT in Education Prize, awarded to initiatives that use digital technologies to expand access and quality of learning.
What happens after the joint statement
The joint statement is expected to do three things: reaffirm education as a public good in the age of AI, set the direction for UNESCO's forthcoming policy guidelines on generative AI in education and research, and create an accountability hook by which countries can be assessed on implementation. UNESCO is also publishing policy briefs covering assessment integrity, teacher professional development, and equitable access to AI-enabled learning.
What is at stake
For ministries, the question is no longer whether to allow AI in classrooms — it is how to do so without eroding deep reading, mathematical fluency, and the teacher-student relationship that the learning science consistently identifies as the most powerful variable in student outcomes. The week's outcomes will shape how UNESCO's 194 member states write their next generation of education plans.
Source: UNESCO Digital Learning Week 2026 Programme, 8–11 September 2026. UNESCO ICT in Education Prize 2026, September 2026. UNESCO Generative AI Education Guidance, September 2023 (updated 2026). Stefania Giannini statement, UNESCO, September 2026. UNESCO Global Survey of Schools and Universities on Generative AI, 2024–2026.
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Institutional Research Desk · Foresight Institute of Research and Translation
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