Signal UNESCO Digital Learning Week 2026 opens in Paris; ministers to adopt joint AI-in-education statement

Summary

UNESCO's Digital Learning Week 2026 opened September 8 at its Paris headquarters and runs through September 11 under the theme 'Education in the age of AI: Facts | Frictions | Frontiers'. Over 1,000 in-person participants, including education ministers or representatives from more than 25 countries, are attending alongside industry and research figures. During the week UNESCO is releasing AI-in-education policy briefs on safety governance, sovereignty, procurement, cost models and age-appropriateness, and awarding the 2026 King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa ICT-in-Education Prize on the theme of creativity and critical thinking with AI. Ministers are scheduled to adopt a joint statement on sustaining education as a human right and common good in the AI era on the closing day, September 11 — a date just after this report's window, so the adoption itself is not yet confirmed. The week builds on UNESCO's 2023 generative-AI education guidance and its seminar series held with over 100 countries since 2024.