TES promotes partnerships that help countries strengthen tertiary education, workforce development, and youth and adult learning systems through evidence-based policies, innovative solutions, resilient learning approaches, and skills development aligned with the future of work. Learn more about becoming a TES partner.
Tertiary Education and Skills (TES) Multi-Donor Trust Fund
Partners
World Bank Group - Mastercard Foundation Partnership: Supporting Resilient Learning and Digital Skills
By working with governments, the partnership is helping to strengthen the EdTech ecosystem and prepare young people across Africa for dignified, fulfilling work with policies and strategies that resilient and hybrid learning and digital skills.
Impact
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34 African countries
strengthened education technology, digital skills, and resilient learning systems to expand access to education and better prepare youth for jobs -
400+ policymakers and practitioners
strengthened skills and knowledge through the EdTech Policy Academy -
10,000+ students and teachers
reached through Digital Skills Assessments across more than 560 institutions, which strengthened policy, planning, and the educational technology ecosystem -
1,400+ institutions
used the EdTech Readiness Index (ETRI) to inform policy design, enabling digital skills, future jobs, AI readiness, and hybrid learning -
58 Mastercard Foundation-funded Initiatives
helped African education systems design and scale technology-enabled reforms across 36 World Bank Group financed projects
Strategic Approach & Lessons Learned:
PILLAR I:
Resilient Hybrid Learning Systems
Ensuring education remains adaptable, accessible, and effective. View outputs >
The WBG-Mastercard Foundation partnership helped shift open school models from emergency response to a permanent system-level solution.
Five Sahel countries co-designed a regional model; Senegal operationalized it nationally—creating replicable blueprints for inclusive, resilient education.
AI has been repositioned as a pedagogical enabler through:
- Adaptive learning
- AI-assisted content creation
- Capacity building—moving from isolated pilots to governed, scalable system components
Côte d'Ivoire · Ethiopia · Mali · The Gambia · Mozambique · Nigeria · Seychelles · Zambia · Zimbabwe
Studies revealed that platforms alone are insufficient. Impact requires high-quality, curriculum-aligned content, teacher capacity, and institutional governance to sustain hybrid learning beyond crises.
Kenya · Rwanda · Uganda
Africa Heads of State Summit elevated resilient education to a regional priority.
In Zanzibar policy translated into concrete action through negotiations to zero-rate digital educational content. In Zimbabwe, resilience was embedded through forward-looking policy reform that integrates blended learning, digital content, and emerging technologies, including AI, within a unified national framework.
Africa region · Zanzibar · Zimbabwe
From 16 countries in 2023 to 22 by 2024, and a focused third cohort in 2026, the Policy Academy moved governments from strategy drafting to implementation readiness.
- Ethiopia advanced an AI in Education policy
- Ghana advanced EdTech strategy validation and implementation planning
- Mauritius integrated AI into its EdTech strategy
- Nigeria developed a National Teacher Digital Competency Framework
- Rwanda advanced EdTech implementation strategies for priority sub-sectors, and launched Smart Labs
- Senegal advanced the DELLUSIL hybrid learning initiative for out-of-school children
- Uganda and Kenya focused on blended or hybrid learning action for teacher professional development
- Zimbabwe embedded blended learning in its ICT strategy
Ethiopia · Ghana · Mauritius · Nigeria · Rwanda · Senegal · Uganda · Kenya · Zimbabwe
Partnerships supported evidence-based system diagnoses across basic education and TVET, shifting EdTech decisions from assumption to data. ETRI provides comparable, evidence-based insights to guide government action across infrastructure, devices, content, skills, and system management.
Ghana · Madagascar · Rwanda · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Uganda · Madagascar · Uganda · Zambia
Interactive audio instruction in Central African Republic, livestreamed lessons and smart labs in Kenya, a Results-Based Financing Manual for short-term digital skills training in Ethiopia, and Tanzania’s teacher development programs show need for pedagogy-first, multi-modal approaches.
Central African Republic · Ethiopia · Kenya · Tanzania
Diagnostics and pilots identify constraints and practical models to strengthen TVET and technical secondary pathways, including Ghana’s STEM education system, Tanzania’s institution-anchored digital skills training, and hybrid short-course models for displaced youth.
Tanzania · West and Central Africa
Resilience demands coordinated, system-wide action that embeds technology in institutions, local capacity, and financing.
Rwanda
PILLAR II:
Digital Skills for Better Jobs and Entrepreneurship
Preparing youth for the digital workforce. View outputs >
The Digital Skills for Africa regional report and eight background papers established a shared analytical foundation—revealing systemic gaps in policy, curricula, pedagogy, assessment, and inclusion.
The Digital Skills Toolkit gives policymakers practical guidance to design, strengthen, and update digital skills strategies.
The 2025 Digital Skills Landscape report engaged 19 partner institutions across government, industry, and providers to deliver a full system diagnosis, concrete sequenced policy recommendations for senior decision-makers. Work in South Sudan demonstrates how evidence applies in fragile, sector-specific contexts to inform curriculum design and workforce development.
Regional (Sub-Saharan Africa) · South Sudan · South Africa
Analysis of four million online job vacancies across four countries revealed how digital skills demand is evolving across all occupations. Country bulletins provide actionable guidance for curriculum and certification reform. Morocco and Tunisia policy notes analyze indicative digital skills demand signals to inform workforce development, graduate employability, and alignment with emerging labor market opportunities.
Kenya · Morocco · Nigeria · South Africa · Tunisia · Uganda
The Digital Skills for Africa (DS4A) initiative deployed task-based digital skills assessments across 9 countries reaching 10,000 teachers and students in upper secondary and TVET systems. Results provide actionable baselines and skills gap data to inform curriculum design and differentiated teacher training. In parallel, self-reported tools captured perceptions of digital readiness, usage patterns, and enabling conditions for youth entrepreneurs and TVET teachers.
Liberia provided technical assistance to deploy EdTech in public and community senior secondary education. São Tomé and Príncipe developed and updated digital skills curricula to acquire relevant digital skills. Zimbabwe developed an ICT/EdTech Strategy, a digital skills ecosystem and labor market mapping, and blockchain-enabled Results-Based Financing architecture.
Benin · Burundi · Côte d'Ivoire · DRC · Kenya · Liberia · Mali · Nigeria · São Tomé and Príncipe · Uganda · Zambia · Zimbabwe
Learn More >
FEATURED
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Resilient Learning
Open Schooling Knowledge Pack
Open education is an expansion of traditional approaches and methods within the education system, offering increased flexibility.
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Resilient Learning
Adaptive Learning Toolkit
Providing personalized, customized learning paths to engage each student.
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Digital Skills for Jobs
Digital Skills Toolkit
A policy-oriented resource designed to support policymakers, education leaders, and development practitioners to implement national digital skills strategies.
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Digital Skills for Jobs
Implementing task-based digital skills assessments in Sub-Saharan Africa
A practical guide for schools and technical institutions.
