The education system in Kyrgyzstan sets the goals aimed at solving urgent problems and integrating into the global educational space. One of the priority areas of the Ministry of Education and Science is the digital transformation of the education system in the country aimed at introducing digital technologies to improve the quality of the educational process, and expanding access to information. The forced closure of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic has complicated the situation in education, but at the same time, has opened up opportunities for the development of learning using digital technologies.

Today, we are working hard on digital transformation and creating a digital education ecosystem in the country. We understand that the world is changing rapidly, we need to respond adequately to today's challenges and make timely decisions. Only with you, colleagues - teachers, educators, parents, researchers, experts - can we bring about positive change and develop the education system and our country as a whole!

At the last 97th session of the UN General Assembly, Mongolia was recognized as one of the leading countries in the digital transformation in education. Work in this direction began long before today, and has accelerated in the past two years. Our Center for Information Technology in Education was established during COVID-19 in 2020. In 2015 we started developing the Mongolian educational platform medle.mn We could have ordered content from organizations by issuing a tender, but we decided that it would not be interesting for students. The digital content of this platform is created by our Mongolian teachers. The best materials are selected on a competitive basis, which meet all the requirements of the curriculum. On this platform we have gathered everything that both students and teachers need, everything they need for lifelong learning.

The conference is very professional and expert level, because it brought together people who, indeed, deeply understand the issues of educational innovation. I think that such a conference is necessary in order to at least break patterns in the minds of experts and professionals. Time demands a revision of conceptual approaches to the professional development of teachers. 

At the conference, I shared a presentation on the issue of raising the status of the teacher. In particular, how after the adoption of the Law on the Status of a Teacher, approaches and content of courses for continuous professional development of teachers in Kazakhstan are updated.

In 2019, GPE and IDRC launched a joint activity called Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX) to 

strengthen the education system in GPE partner countries around the world. The main goals of KIX are to generate new knowledge and evidence in the field of education, to mobilize it, and to strengthen the capacity to apply it. To this end, we use two mechanisms: funding for applied research projects and knowledge-sharing mechanisms in the form of regional centers. In total, KIX funds about forty grant projects worldwide, two of which include the Kyrgyz Republic. We are proud to note that the Taalim-Forum Foundation, the main organizer of this conference, is a KIX grantee and is leading a project on innovation in distance education in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Mongolia. Two other projects in Kyrgyzstan focus on early childhood education and the use of data to improve equity and inclusion in education.

The conference presented an excellent opportunity to bring together participants from Kyrgyzstan and many other countries to discuss truly topical issues related to innovations in distance education, in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The right to education, in the perspective of the UN and UNESCO, is the right to quality education. To this end, I think it is important for all of us to work together further, to take into account the lessons learned, research findings, conclusions and recommendations at the policy level that were discussed at this conference. In the resolution of our conference we noted that the right to quality education (SDG 4) is the basis for a life of dignity and sustainable development.

First of all, I would like to thank Taalim-Forum Public Foundation and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic for organizing this important conference, which brings us all together to identify opportunities and develop strategies for using new technologies to address challenges in education. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented global educational disruptions and learning losses and has re-emphasized and reinforced cross-country and intercountry disparities in access to quality education. At the same time, the pandemic has forced us to accelerate the development and widespread adoption of educational technology and online learning.

COVID-19 accelerated digitalization, we had an experience with online learning. I was so happy to see that even retired teachers self-learned online tools, so that their students were not left without lessons. And that attitude certainly responds with warmth in the heart. With the help of specialists, modern programs have been introduced into the learning process and video lessons have been created and are available on electronic educational portals. During this time, teachers who work creatively began to get noticed. Parents have become more appreciative of teachers. Great educational initiatives have also been introduced during this time. There are wonderful discussions at this conference about what we can learn from this experience and what aspects we can reinforce to goforward. The best part is that professionals get to know each other and share information and experiences. After this conference, I think that teachers, educators, and experts will continue to contribute to education with like-minded people.

The agenda of the International conference discusses the issues of digital transformation in education, the formation of digital competencies of teachers, research in education, best practices and innovations. The conference program includes 8 thematic sessions, 35 speakers, 2 public lectures, training and workshops. 168 participants participate  offline and 60 online. Participants represent countries such as Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, India, United Kingdom, Canada, Croatia, and Ecuador.

Gallery of digital educational initiatives involves 11 partner organizations that present their own digital educational products and initiatives. The Digital Pedagogy Lab held 11 practical sessions for 60 school teachers from all over Kyrgyzstan on digital tools on the use of electronic educational resources.

We appreciate the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic, the American University of Central Asia, partners among government organizations, including the Kyrgyz Academy of Education, the Republican Institute for Advanced Teacher Training , research organizations, as well as public and private foundations such as MUGALIM online school for teachers, KG-Analytics intellectual foundation, Creative-Taalim school, Kyrgyz Internet community and others that focus their efforts on developing the education system, improving the quality of teachers' professional development, and other. We thank our participants from Mongolia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and other countries for their interest in the conference, interesting presentations reflecting their experience in digital transformation, professional development of teachers, and the results of their research.