On 11 September 2026, UNESCO announced formal partnerships with Ghana TVET Service and the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to lay the foundation for nationwide expansion of AI EmpowerED, a teacher training initiative under UNESCO's Global Skills Academy. The initiative is supported by Microsoft Elevate, KPMG International and Tablet Academy and uses a train-the-trainer model. Since the pilot phase, more than 30 master trainers and around 3,300 learners have completed their learning journeys and earned Microsoft certifications in AI and digital skills. Phase two will bring training to around 140 TVET institutions in four consecutive three-month cycles, with national stakeholders aiming to reach up to one million TVET educators and learners by the end of 2027.
At a press conference for the MIIT's special action plan on 'AI + Software', a reporter raised pressure on software practitioners from the spread of intelligent coding and public discussion of 'AI replacing programmers'. Lyu Weifeng, vice chairman and secretary-general of the China Software Industry Association, said the issue draws high public attention and the association takes it seriously, noting that pure coding execution carries less weight while requirements rise for needs understanding, architecture design, system integration, quality and security control. He said next steps include guiding firms to carry out job redesign alongside skills training, deepening industry-education integration to cultivate interdisciplinary talent, and supporting practitioners' transition to higher-value roles.
Luis Buenaventura, a member of the Blockchain Council of the Philippines, has developed Hiraia, an open-source AI science tutor that runs fully offline on entry-level Android phones costing around $100, supporting Tagalog, Bisaya, and English. Built on Sea AI Lab's Sailor 2 model and a continued-pretraining fork of Qwen 3.5-2B, the app includes over 40,000 science facts and 30,000 illustrations aligned with the Department of Education's MATATAG curriculum. The project received a 1 million peso research grant from the Tether Foundation and is currently in early alpha (v0.3.1), with the developer seeking academic partners for classroom pilots.
On September 9, 2026, the Guangxi regional CPPCC held a consultation meeting on key proposal handling, chaired by Vice Chairman Ou Yujun. Earlier this year, a proposal by the Guangxi Committee of the China Zhi Gong Party on breaking the "structural shortage" of AI talent was listed as a key supervised proposal, and three other proposals on AI-enabled vocational education, full coverage of AI literacy education in primary and secondary schools, and AI education were listed as related proposals. The regional education, science and technology, human resources and social security, and data departments reported progress and next steps.
Diembassy Inc., based in Kitchener, Ontario, announced on September 10, 2026 that its AI Institute has begun offering professional certificate programs. The programs target professionals worldwide and use structured learning to build practical AI literacy, covering AI fundamentals, generative AI, workplace applications, AI-powered productivity, responsible AI use and identifying opportunities where AI can improve business processes. Diembassy CEO Linda Pajoel said AI is evolving too quickly for professionals to rely on informal learning alone.
Maryland's SB 720, passed in the 2026 legislative session and effective June 1, 2026, requires school districts to establish policies governing classroom AI use. After the Maryland State Department of Education issued guidance, schools must implement policies within 120 days, with most districts expected to comply this month. The law also created the Maryland AI Education Collaborative on AI in K-12 Education, whose first report is not due until December 1, 2027.
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Global education market intelligence platform HolonIQ released its 2026 Southeast Asia EdTech 50 list, recognizing 50 fast-growing innovative education technology startups. Singapore accounts for half of the featured companies, Vietnam ranks second with 18%, and Indonesia fell to 12% from 38% in 2020. Nine Vietnamese companies made the list, down from 26% last year, with AI Hay, KidsOnline and Tudy retaining their spots.
A bipartisan group of 35 New Mexico state lawmakers sent a letter on Aug. 25 to Public Education Department Secretary Mariana Padilla, calling for greater transparency and additional independent testing to evaluate how accurately Amira, an AI literacy testing tool, measures students' reading proficiency. The tool has been required statewide for K-2 students since the 2025-26 school year, with students reading aloud to a digital avatar. Lawmakers said Amira has collected thousands of student voice recordings and has access to names, genders, birthdays, locations and other sensitive information, and asked that parental consent be required before children use the tool.
UNESCO IESALC and UNU-IAS released the study AI Implementation in Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean on 8 September 2026. Drawing on 200 higher education institutions across 19 countries, it finds that 87% of institutions use AI in at least one area of activity, while only 26% have a formal AI strategy. The report will be launched during Digital Learning Week 2026 and calls for stronger governance, digital literacy investment and coordinated action.
Adelaide University announced on 2 September 2026 that its Computer Science Education Research (CSER) Group has joined a global partnership with the UK-based Raspberry Pi Foundation to deliver the Experience AI program to teachers across Australia. The program, developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation and Google DeepMind and funded in Australia by Google.org, provides ready-to-use classroom materials requiring no prior AI knowledge. Research shows 66% of Australian lower secondary teachers already use AI in the classroom, above the OECD average of 36%, while only 32% have access to approved tools.
A new study introduces StudentSim, a student simulator trained on real-world data to enhance AI tutoring systems. The model was tested across 60 students in chess, second-language writing, and basic math, outperforming GPT-5.4 and Maia2 in behavioral accuracy and responsiveness. Researchers integrated StudentSim into a reinforcement learning framework for AI tutors and reported improved guidance in blind tests. The paper and code are publicly available on arXiv and GitHub.
UNESCO IITE published a 2026 global study on the role of artificial intelligence and information and communication technologies in supporting inclusive education for students with autism, ADHD and learning difficulties. The research examines how digital technologies enhance participation and learning within digitized education systems, using literature review, expert interviews and case studies. The report is authored by May Agius with contributors including Alperen Sağdıç, David Banes and Jingying Chen, and is available for download in English.
