The Ethiopian government has decided to collaborate with the cryptocurrency and blockchain development company, IOHK. The founder of the company, Charles Hoskinson, is the creator of one of the top cryptocurrencies in the world – Cardano, and the co-creator of Ethereum which is another such cryptocurrency. The partnership involves IOHK developing a new identification system for 5 million students and over 700,000 teachers with the use of blockchain.
Blockchain being a decentralized system where the users are anonymous is the main feature used for the digital verification. It will be used for storing student’s information like their personal data, score card, educational performance, behavior, etc. It will be tamper-proof, so students can’t falsify their data, and employers will be able to with confidence check a person’s educational records. Additionally, this being a decentralized system, the employer has no need for a middle-man to check for the records and instead access them right away.
Having stored all student’s data, it will then be used by the government to analyse the location and the cause of educational under-achievement. Using AI the records would also be used for analytics in order to provide the students with a personalized learning experience where the curriculum is flexible and adjusts based on a student’s needs.
This technology has much more potential and future plans. In the capital city of Ethiopia, there have already been tests of utilizing a blockchain approach to public transportation ticketing system. Additionally, it can be used in healthcare and public services. The people developing this say that the way blockchain is used will be revolutionized, thus digitizing the world further. The Minister of Education in Ethiopia says it will “make the nation’s education provision more dynamic.” The government has plans to modernize the country and make sure the people living in rural areas aren’t excluded. The transformation is meant to be implemented by 2025.
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