The rapid expansion of digital technologies has transformed societies, economies and education systems worldwide. The process of digitalization in education has accelerated in recent years, reshaping how learning is delivered, accessed and monitored. From online platforms to artificial intelligence-assisted teaching, digital tools offer unprecedented opportunities to expand access to education, personalize learning and foster global knowledge exchange. However, digital transformation also brings new responsibilities for States, educational institutions and other stakeholders to ensure that these technologies uphold human rights and the fundamental right to education.

Digitalization in education encompasses the integration of digital tools, platforms and content into formal and non-formal learning environments. From a human rights perspective, digital education implicates multiple rights beyond the right to education itself, including the rights to equality and non-discrimination, privacy, freedom of expression and access to information. Ensuring these rights requires careful attention to both the design of digital systems and their deployment in diverse social and cultural contexts.

Artificial intelligence in education (2024)

In this report (A/79/520), the Special Rapporteur addresses the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in education from the perspective of the human right to education. Artificial intelligence (AI) is recognized as an accelerator of progress across many sectors, including education. However, the rapidly expanding use of AI tools and systems in education, often with limited oversight or regulation, merits urgent examination through the lens of the human right to education.

Educational technology is not new, but AI presents unique challenges that necessitate the rethinking of all three foundational pillars of education: curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. The question is: can AI be harnessed to advance the right to education and accelerate progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 and, if so, under what conditions?

As a response, this report proposes 10 strategies for aligning artificial intelligence in education with human rights frameworks and principles to ensure that AI in education operates within the established human rights frameworks and principles, including by closing all digital divides, both through infrastructural developments and AI literacy, engaging all stakeholders in meaningful ways, ensuring AI alignment with pedagogical goals, implementing robust ethical and legal frameworks, establishing human rights due diligence and impact assessment mechanisms and sharing best practices.

Role and rights of teachers (2024)

The report (A/78/364) underscores that the rapid digitalization of education has far-reaching implications for teachers’ rights, working conditions and professional autonomy. It observes that while digital technology features prominently in the Sustainable Development Goal 4 agenda, its growing use in education risks eroding the role of teachers as creative professionals and full partners in the learning process. Overreliance on digital tools has led to the de-professionalization of teachers, the deterioration of their working conditions and infringements on their rights to privacy and academic freedom. The acceleration of digitalization during the COVID-19 pandemic exposed and deepened pre-existing inequalities in connectivity, infrastructure and teachers’ digital skills.

At the same time, the report acknowledges that digital technology can advance the teaching profession if implemented in a rights-based and supportive manner. It stresses that digital tools must be designed to assist rather than replace teachers, reducing rather than adding to their teaching and administrative burdens. Systematic capacity-building and the integration of technology-enabled pedagogies in teacher training are essential. The report warns against the normalization of online surveillance in virtual classrooms, which undermines teachers’ dignity, privacy, and freedom of expression, and calls for strong data-protection measures. Ultimately, the digital transformation of education must remain consistent with human rights principles: it should enhance teachers’ agency, foster equitable access and preserve the irreplaceable value of human interaction in education.

Impact of the digitalization of education on the right to education (2022)

This report (A/HRC/50/32) addresses the risks and opportunities of the digitalization of education and their impact on the right to education.

In particular, digital technologies, if deployed within a human rights framework, can enhance access, equity and resilience in education systems. They expand opportunities for digital citizenship by enabling participation, autonomy and creativity in a networked world. Personalized learning platforms allow students to learn at their own pace and according to individual needs, while adaptive technologies can make education more inclusive for persons with disabilities or marginalized learners. In crises, such as armed conflicts, pandemics or natural disasters, digital tools can sustain learning continuity and communication when traditional schooling is disrupted. Moreover, the responsible use of educational data can strengthen policy-making and accountability by identifying gaps in enrolment, learning outcomes and teacher distribution.

At the same time, the report warns that digitalization, if unregulated, can aggravate inequalities and undermine fundamental principles of education as a public good. Unequal access to devices, connectivity and digital literacy entrenches existing disparities between and within countries. The growing role of private and commercial actors in ed-tech markets risks commodifying education, compromising public accountability and the protection of learners’ and teachers’ data. Widespread datafication and surveillance both of students and teachers erode privacy and academic freedom. Digital dependency also threatens face-to-face learning, cultural diversity and the teacher’s role as a creative professional and full pedagogical partner. Over-standardization of digital curricula may marginalize local knowledge systems, while insufficient research on the health implications of excessive screen time leaves potential risks unaddressed.

Introduction of digital technologies in education should therefore be framed around the right of every person to free, quality, public education and the commitments of States in this regard under both international human rights law and Sustainable Development Goal 4. In particular, the implementation of the right to education must respond to the needs of all persons to access, master and use technology as an empowering tool for being active members of society.

The digitalization of education should be geared towards a better implementation of the right to education for all, where it is demonstrated that it brings a significant added value. In this regard, it is important to understand the profit-driven agenda of digital technology lobbyists and companies. In addition, the digitalization of education should not increase inequalities and benefit already privileged segments of societies only or lead to violations of other human rights within education, in particular the right to privacy.

Impact of the coronavirus disease crisis on the right to education – concerns, challenges and opportunities (2020)

The report (A/HRC/44/39) warns that the move to online learning during COVID-19 severely deepened existing inequalities and posed new risks to the right to education. Students without internet access, computers, or electricity, especially those from low-income families, rural areas, or marginalized groups, were effectively excluded. Teachers often lacked training, resources and support to deliver quality online instruction, while girls and children with disabilities faced additional barriers due to gender norms and inaccessible platforms. The Special Rapporteur stresses that digital tools cannot replace in-person teaching, which is essential for developing social skills, critical thinking and a sense of community.

The report also highlights the threats of data exploitation and privatization accompanying rapid digitalization. Weak data-protection laws exposed learners and teachers to surveillance and commercial misuse of personal information by private technology companies. The Special Rapporteur cautions that the growing role of commercial actors in education risks diverting public funds and undermining education as a public good. Online learning should remain a temporary emergency response; rebuilding equitable, inclusive and well-funded public education systems is essential to protect the right to

A thorough debate needs to take place on the place that should be given to such learning in the future, having in mind not only possible opportunities but also the deleterious effect screens have on children and youth, including their right to health and education.

Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age, with a focus on higher education (2016)

This report (A/HRC/32/37) looks at issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age, with a focus on higher education. The Special Rapporteur considers how the norms and principles that underlie the right to education should be upheld while embracing digital technologies, which are revolutionizing teaching and learning processes, and transforming the landscape of higher education.

The Special Rapporteur considers issues related to marginalization and exclusion, as well as the quality of education, especially human values in education. He expresses concerns about the digital divide and about how it affects fundamental principles, such as equality of opportunity.

The report sets out policy and legal responses to address these issues and challenges within the normative framework of the right to education as established in international human rights treaties. It also highlights the repercussions of digital technologies on public investment in education and on the quality of education, especially in respect of preserving human values in education. It further underlines the need to safeguard education as a public good.

Dring the recent country visits to Finland, the United States of America and Hungary, the Special Rapporteur considered the effect of digitalization in education on the right to education and well-being of students and teachers.

Some of the issues highlighted by interlocutors during these visits included:

• health impacts of digitalization, including potential mental health issues linked to excessive screen time, digital habits, including critical assessment of online content and the impact of social media on social interaction, creativity and emotional well-being of students;
• surveillance and monitoring of students and staff engaged in peaceful protests, collection and use of their digital data;
• requirement for teachers to post lesson plans online for parental review resulting in self-censorship and “chilling effect”;
• cost-driven digitalization with the shift towards digital learning motivated by budget reduction rather than pedagogical improvement, inadvertent privatization of education through dependence on commercial platforms
• students relying on digital materials, with an inadequate number of books or paper copies, and in some areas, a shortage of computers;
• students reporting finding it harder to learn from screens than from printed materials;
• privacy and data protection risks, especially for children’s privacy and personal data online;
• reduced student engagement through online learning leading to lower motivation and due to limited collaboration and social interaction;
• uneven methodological support for teachers who not only need technical training, but also strategies to promote collaborative online learning, address student isolation and combat online disinformation.

Fourth Geneva Dialogue on the right to education (18-19 June 2024): “Right to education: Confronting inequalities by addressing privatisation, digitalisation and crisis situations”

Held on 18–19 June 2024, at UNESCO’s International Bureau of Education in Geneva, this closed two-day event gathered leading thinkers, practitioners and experts in human rights law and education to discuss critical issues affecting the right to education. The dialogue focused on the impact of privatization, digitalization and crisis situations on educational inequalities. Participants assessed the effectiveness of existing human rights mechanisms and partnerships in addressing these challenges, aiming to formulate innovative strategies and sustainable solutions to guarantee the right to education for all.

The participants of the dialogue cautioned against uncritically embracing tech solutions, pointing out that the advantages of digitalization are too often assumed without adequately weighing the evidence or risks. The digital divide remains a major barrier: limited connectivity, unequal access to devices and disparities between regions and socio-economic groups can worsen exclusion. Participants stressed that technology cannot substitute for quality teaching and in-person instruction and that overreliance on digital tools risks commodifying education and shifting control to private actors. There was also concern about academic freedom, teacher autonomy, data protection, privacy and the ecological footprint of digital infrastructure. To mitigate these risks, there is a need for human rights–based regulatory frameworks, inclusive and participatory design of EdTech, bridging the digital divide (connectivity, tools, qualified teachers) and embedding ethical, environmental and contextual safeguards into digital education policy.

UNESCO’s international forum on the futures of education (2-4 December, 2024)

The Special Rapporteur participated in the panel on the right to education throughout life in the digital era and underscored that digital divides between countries, genders, generations, persons with disabilities and linguistic groups were deepening and had to be urgently closed through inclusive, human-centered design. She stressed that while digitalization and AI were transforming how education was delivered, assessed and even conceived, they had to not replace existing systems but rather prompt a rethinking of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. Digital tools could enhance accessibility and engagement if ethically developed, yet their deployment was often driven by cost-cutting and efficiency motives rather than educational value. She warned that most claims of positive impact came from EdTech developers themselves, calling for independent, rights-based evaluations and audits at all stages of design and implementation.

The Special Rapporteur cautioned against commercialization and privatization of education, emphasizing that EdTech companies frequently collected data, conducted surveillance and shaped learning agendas with little accountability. She insisted that digital tools must never replace teachers or human relationships, as algorithms were biased and lacked neutrality particularly harming marginalized groups and persons with disabilities. Facial recognition was cited as a high-risk technology that should be restricted or banned in educational spaces. She called for AI and EdTech to be certified only after proving safety and educational benefit and stressed the need for international cooperation and global standards to align digital education with human rights obligations. Ultimately, while digital technologies held vast potential, they also carried profound risks that demanded ethical governance to ensure education remained a public good grounded in equity, human dignity and quality learning for all.

Side event to the Human Rights Council: Facial recognition in educational spaces – privacy and other human rights at risk (26 June 2025)

The side event addressed the use of biometric technologies in schools and their human rights implications. It highlighted how facial recognition in educational settings raises serious concerns about privacy, surveillance, discrimination and data protection, especially for children and young people. The event underscored that while digital tools are increasingly embedded in education, their deployment must be carefully regulated to safeguard rights and ensure safe, inclusive learning environments.

Digital technology in education can impair the right to education and widen inequalities (2016)

The press release highlights concerns about the rapid integration of digital technologies in education systems worldwide. While these technologies offer significant benefits, their inequitable implementation can exacerbate existing inequalities and potentially violate the right to education.