EdTech in BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India & China)

How emerging economies are adjusting their educational system for the
digital era.

This article will compare the main policies in regards of the

implementation and usage of technology in education among the four
biggest countries constituents of BRICS, the informal group of states
comprising the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the
Republic of India and the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of South
Africa is also part of the BRICS but will not be included in this article. These
four countries are considered the four main emergent markets in the world.

Methodology

This article will analyse the HDI (human development index) situation of
these countries, specially in connection to their educational performance,
and the main policies adopted by its governments in regards of the usage
of technology in education in recent years.

The analysis of the economic and educational situation will be based in

global surveys, assigned by world-class organizations such as the IMF,
UNESCO & PISA; while the educational policies in terms of technology
adopted by these countries will be derived from official information
provided by their respective governments. Some other global education
surveys will also be used to support the understanding of the topic.

Introduction

The establishment of the digital era is already a fact worldwide, pervading

different social spheres, such as social relationships, work, health and so
on. Even in developing countries, the majority of the population is
entering the digital era, specially through the global proliferation of
smartphones. According to the statistics portal - Statista, for the year
2019, China has 851mi smartphone users being the number one country
in the world, India follows in the second place with 345mi, in the fourth
place is Brazil with 96mi and in fifth place is Russia with 95mi.

Number of smartphone users by country as of September 2019

(in millions)1

1
https://www.statista.com/statistics/748053/worldwide-top-countries-smartphone-users/
Taking the total population of the above mentioned countries we can
calculate the percentage of smartphones users per country:

Smartphone Percentage of Smartphone

  Population 2
users users
China 1 433.8Mi 851.2Mi 59.36%
India 1 366.4Mi 345.9Mi 25.32%
Brazil 211.1Mi 96.9Mi 45.89%
Russia 145.9Mi 95.4Mi 65.38%

BRIC countries are on the top five countries with more people using
smartphones in the world. Of course each of these countries have their
peculiarities in terms of economic disparities, and school population
density. But the reality is that, by the democratization of internet through
the ownership of smartphones, these four countries are some of the most
active niches in the global digital world.

The digital platforms are influencing different social spheres, as

mentioned before, but the questions now is — How the technological
advancement and the digital platforms are being used in favour of
education by BRIC countries?

Educational and Human development

Brazil:

For the year 2019, Brazil is occupying the 79th position in the Human
Development Index Ranking3, is the 45th country in the world in expected
years of schooling with an average of 15.4 years of schooling and the
116th country in terms of mean years of education with an average of 7.8
schooling years.
2
United Nations - World Population Prospects 2019
https://population.un.org/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2019_DataBooklet.pdf
3
2019 Human Development Index Ranking
http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/2019-human-development-index-ranking
In the triennial PISA exam, Brazil is occupying the 66th position

Russia

Russia is occupying the 49th position in the Human Development Index

Ranking, is the 40th country in the world in expected years of schooling
with an average of 15.5 years of schooling and the 33rd country in terms of
mean years of education with an average of 12 schooling years.

In the triennial PISA exam, Russia is occupying the 30th position

India

India is in the 129th position in the Human Development Index Ranking, is

the 121st country in the world in expected years of schooling with an
average of 12.3 years of schooling and the 137th country in terms of mean
years of education with an average of 6.5 schooling years.

China

China is occupying the 85th position in the Human Development Index

Ranking, is the 79th country in the world in expected years of schooling
with an average of 13.9 years of schooling and the 114th country in terms
of mean years of education with an average of 7.9 schooling years.

In the triennial PISA exam, Russia is occupying the 1st position