Tsinghua, UNESCO team up to explore online education amid pandemic

"Global cooperation is the only answer to this crisis and especially to support the countries that don't have the capacity, the know-how and resources to deploy online education methodology immediately in the last few months," she said.

The novel coronavirus pandemic not only poses a threat to the global education industry, but also offers an opportunity for the development of education technologies and methodology in today's society, according to Getachew Engida, co-president of the China-Africa Leadership Development Institute (CALDI) of Tsinghua University, and former deputy director-general of UNESCO. "We have long understood that the current education systems that emerged since the first industrial revolution are no longer fit for the 21st century," he said.

According to Stephen Toope, vice-chancellor at the University of Cambridge, online education has witnessed vast advancement due to the pandemic. "Online education has been expanding at a rapid pace before COVID-19, but the pandemic has accelerated this and provided an opportunity for universities to undertake activities at a greater scale," Toope said.