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Webinar Update
Webinar W005 on AI Skills Crisis was completed on Sat 30th May 2026. The video on this topic will be uploaded soon on YouTube channel @AIGrandad999.alanross and to our 10 language-specific channels (e.g. @AIGrandad999.alanross.Spanish, @AIGrandad999.alanross.Hindi, etc.) where there are videos on many other important topics of interest to those in the developing world. These videos show how you can not only survive but thrive when the AI Tsunami hits your country and how your countries can prepare to minimise problems and maximise benefits. We encourage you to view and share these with your networks and ask them to visit and subscribe to the relevant language channels so they can be notified every time a new video is uploaded.
Our next free webinar, W006, is planned for Saturday 20 June on the topic: "The Brain Drain Crisis – Keeping AI Talent at Home." This will highlight current trends and what some countries are doing to retain talent and to attract the diaspora back home to help build their countries. It also shows the major opportunities for AI academies and AI entrepreneurs and why this is an issue requiring urgent government attention.
Latin America & Caribbean | AI Education Policy
1. UNESCO LAUNCHES AI EDUCATION OBSERVATORY FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
UNESCO this week launched the Observatory on Artificial Intelligence in Education for Latin America and the Caribbean at ECLAC headquarters in Santiago, Chile, during the 2026 Forum on Sustainable Development. The first multi-stakeholder platform of its kind for the region, it is designed to support governments in integrating AI into education systems with a focus on equity, quality, and sustainable development. The Observatory will track AI education policies, gather evidence on what works, and provide a knowledge-sharing platform for ministries of education, universities, and training institutions across the region. It follows UNESCO's broader framework on AI competency development for teachers and students, which has now been adopted by over 40 countries.
Relevance for WAAA academies: This is a formal, well-resourced regional platform that AI academies in Latin America and the Caribbean can engage with directly — sharing their experiences, accessing research, and influencing regional AI education policy. For WAAA, it also creates a potential partnership channel to connect our academy members with UNESCO's regional policy network.
Sources: UNESCO | Pursuit — AI in Education News
South Asia | Higher Education Strategy
2. SOUTH ASIA POLICY DIALOGUE: AI IN HIGHER EDUCATION NEEDS LOCAL SOLUTIONS, NOT IMPORTED TEMPLATES
A landmark 2026 Leadership Policy Dialogue on AI-Empowered Higher Education was held at the Everest Hotel in Kathmandu, Nepal on 20 May 2026, drawing 120 in-person delegates and over 100 online participants from Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Bhutan. Aligned with UNESCO's Higher Education Roadmap 2030: Beyond Limits, the dialogue produced a clear consensus: South Asian countries must design AI education strategies based on their own local realities — not simply replicate frameworks developed by technologically advanced countries. The Vice Chancellor of the University of Dhaka emphasised that generic AI strategies imported from Silicon Valley or Europe will fail to address the specific educational challenges of South Asia's hugely diverse student populations, infrastructure constraints, and economic contexts.
Relevance for WAAA academies: This is exactly the kind of evidence and regional momentum that WAAA is being built to support. AI Academies in South Asia — particularly in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka — are already working on locally relevant AI education approaches. This dialogue validates that approach and creates policy-level support for it. WAAA can use this to advocate for government partnerships in the region.
Sources: UNESCO-ICHEI
East Africa | Regional Collaboration
3. EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY AI ALLIANCE INCLUDES DEDICATED AI EDUCATION NETWORK
The newly launched East African Community AI Alliance includes a specific flagship initiative: a Regional Network on Artificial Intelligence in Education and Research. The alliance's second pillar explicitly commits to "integrating inclusive, practice-based AI curricula to equip learners with industry-relevant skills" across the eight EAC partner states. It builds on the dSkills@EA programme, which trained over 4,000 young East Africans in digital skills and engaged 100+ universities across the region. Rwanda's AI Factory (a planned national compute infrastructure) will support the alliance's research and educational computing needs.
Relevance for WAAA academies: AI academies in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, DRC, and Somalia operate in EAC territory and have a direct opportunity to engage with this new alliance. WAAA members can position themselves as part of the global network through which EAC AI academies connect to international peers, share curriculum materials, and collectively advocate to governments. This is the kind of regional traction that proves the WAAA model works.
Sources: iAfrica.com | TechAfrica News
Africa | Talent Development & Funding
4. AISCA FOUNDATION: ONE MILLION YOUNG AFRICANS TARGETED FOR AI SKILLS BY 2030
The AI Skills and Compute Africa Foundation (AISCA), launched in Kigali on 19 May 2026, has set an extraordinary target: support one million young people across Africa in accessing meaningful economic opportunities in the AI value chain. The Foundation will specifically provide compute grants to 25,000 AI-native innovators and research support to 10,000 researchers. Critically for educators, AISCA's skills development pillar focuses on building a "scalable pipeline for continental talent development" — working directly with universities, academies, and training institutions to ensure AI education reaches learners across the continent, including in countries with limited existing AI infrastructure.
Relevance for WAAA academies: AI academies across Africa are natural partners for AISCA's skills development pillar. WAAA can proactively reach out to the Foundation to explore partnership structures — co-developing curriculum, sharing learner pathways, or jointly applying for compute grants to support academy-based AI training. WAAA academies that engage early with AISCA will be best positioned to benefit from its growing infrastructure and funding.
Sources: Zawya | iAfrica.com
Global | Research & Pedagogy
5. OECD DIGITAL EDUCATION OUTLOOK 2026: GENERATIVE AI IN THE CLASSROOM — EVIDENCE EMERGING
The OECD's Digital Education Outlook 2026, published this week, is the most comprehensive review yet of how generative AI is being used in education globally. The report explores multiple teaching and learning scenarios where students and teachers use AI as part of instruction, and begins to produce early evidence on outcomes. Key findings emerging from the report: AI tutoring tools show measurable learning gains in mathematics and literacy when combined with teacher-led instruction; schools that train teachers in AI use before deploying tools see significantly better results; and the equity implications of AI in education depend heavily on whether implementation prioritises access for the least-advantaged students first.
Relevance for WAAA academies: This is the primary evidence base that WAAA academies should be citing in conversations with governments and funders. The findings on teacher training are particularly important for academies: investing in educator AI literacy before deploying tools to students produces better outcomes. This supports WAAA's recent webinar recommendations and mission to build qualified AI educators — not just automate education with unguided AI tools.
Sources: OECD Digital Education Outlook 2026
