From Global Digitalization to Shared Universities: What Lies Ahead for Education Systems of BRICS

In the context of global transformation, education is increasingly viewed as an instrument for shaping the future. It is precisely now, TV BRICS experts believe, that the foundations of new national systems and approaches to education are being laid in the BRICS countries. All member states have different historical and cultural experiences and traditions. However, they are united by similar scale, ambitions and views – including views on the future.

The influence of emerging economies on the global education agenda continues to grow. At the same time, many BRICS countries today face a challenge: how to ensure equal access to school education, how to cope with teacher outflow, and how to support inclusion, linguistic diversity and intercultural dialogue?

According to a report prepared by the BRICS Expert Council – Russia jointly with the Institute of Education of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, in the 2023–2024 academic year 35.9 per cent of the world’s school-age children lived in BRICS countries, and 35.3 per cent of all schools worldwide were also located in the member states. India was the undisputed leader in the number of school-age children, with more than 365 million. It was followed by China with over 211 million, Brazil (over 53 million), Russia (over 22 million) and South Africa (almost 20 million).

Experts believe that the introduction of digital technologies and neural networks into education is capable not only of addressing many challenges but also of achieving a real breakthrough, making education universally accessible. However, will its quality truly be high? Will such education be inferior to the classical model? Will digital educational platforms be able to train highly qualified specialists? These questions are yet to be answered.

Challenges and opportunities

What unites the countries of the group above all is the aspiration to ensure universal and equal access to compulsory education. In most countries, such access exists. Free and guaranteed education includes primary and secondary levels. At the same time, all member states face problems related both to the quantity and the quality of teacher training. Another challenge lies in the demographic sphere. Population growth in some countries requires a significant expansion of education systems, while in others youth migration from rural areas leads to school closures.

Linguistic diversity also often becomes a stumbling block. For example, in Brazil and South Africa the dominant languages of instruction are Portuguese and English, which creates difficulties for children whose mother tongue is different. A shortage of textbooks and materials in local languages limits access to education.

Diversity of approaches as a growth point

If previously the countries of the Global South tried to address these and other challenges by following general universal recommendations of a globalist nature, today there is a growing tendency to recognise the value of sovereignty in education policy. There is an understanding that challenges can become growth points if viewed through the prism of demographic and cultural characteristics. According to scholars, BRICS countries are already demonstrating leadership in applying precisely this approach.

Today, each BRICS country is developing unique strategies adapted to its specific conditions. For example, in China the government focuses on ensuring equal access to quality education in all regions of the country, which is important for the development of remote and rural areas. At the same time, South Africa and India are working to expand educational coverage and reduce dropout rates, while Russia and China in recent years have been concerned about student overload. In Brazil, inclusivity in education has become the central vector. Russia and China, by contrast, prioritise unified educational standards rather than adaptation to group interests.

Nevertheless, experts believe that the diversity of challenges in the education sphere across BRICS countries is not a problem but rather a resource – at least because it compels governments to seek innovative approaches and exchange valuable experience.

Cooperation in education

Today, BRICS countries cooperate at the level of specialised ministries, universities and research centres. States actively develop student and faculty exchanges, implement network-based educational programmes, jointly conduct research and create scientific projects. All this strongly contributes to the internationalisation of education and the transfer of best practices. In the long term, experts say, BRICS cooperation may become a driver of transformation of the global educational landscape.

Since 2015, the number of joint educational projects in BRICS countries has increased severalfold. At the same time, the number of network educational programmes and online courses has grown. According to expert estimates, by 2030 the total number of students enrolled in joint programmes could reach 100,000.

The main effect of BRICS educational cooperation is the internationalisation of national education systems. As a result, Russian universities are actively introducing elements of the liberal arts education model, while Brazilian universities are adopting Chinese experience in creating high-tech educational clusters. Such exchange increases the global competitiveness of BRICS education systems.

Barriers

At the same time, experts identify not only positive effects but also barriers to BRICS cooperation in education. The first is the mismatch of priorities. While China and Russia are interested in developing higher education and research, for India and South Africa, for example, improving access to basic education is more important.

The next difficulty is insufficient funding for joint initiatives. Even despite decisions to establish funds to support academic mobility, many joint projects, according to experts, do not receive adequate support. The third problem is the heterogeneity of licensing, accreditation and diploma recognition systems. Finally, experts consider the “cultural distance” between BRICS countries to be quite significant. All this requires special measures to develop intercultural competencies among students and faculty. Against this background, ideas about creating joint universities are increasingly being voiced.

“In my view, it is necessary to organise a single university in the BRICS countries so that specialists trained there can obtain a single diploma, knowledge and skills and use them fully in all BRICS+ countries. This requires extensive cooperation and mutual recognition of qualifications and diplomas. Then a graduate from South Africa could freely work in Indonesia or Brazil, and an Indian graduate could work in Russia,” said expert in foreign economic activity, law, IT and creative industries Lubarto Sartoyo in an exclusive interview with TV BRICS.

Shared BRICS digital resources

Speaking about the possibility of creating joint universities for BRICS countries, experts note that these structures should partially operate online. At the same time, the member states have already agreed to create shared digital resources and academic journals. Thus, in June 2025 representatives of BRICS countries announced the creation of the “Digital Resources” project to place information with QR codes on websites and information stands at leading scientific and educational centres.

“We have decided to move to active steps within BRICS and realised the need for direct promotion of digital products and digital publications in the territories of BRICS countries and BRICS partner countries,” said President of the Indonesian Association of Higher Education Institutions in Computer and Information Technologies, Professor Richardus Eko.

Digitalisation of education

Subsequently, experts believe, the first pilot projects may grow into large-scale BRICS educational platforms, where at certain stages teachers may be replaced by artificial intelligence.

“Digitalisation addresses access to education challenges caused by geographical features, income inequality and population scale in BRICS countries. Many BRICS countries face shortages of qualified teachers and uneven teaching quality. Artificial intelligence (AI) enables adaptive learning by adjusting content to individual needs and learning pace,” said Alexander Titov, Deputy Secretary General of the International Association of Digital Economies, in an exclusive interview with TV BRICS.

At the same time, experts are confident that at initial stages artificial intelligence will cope with educational tasks even better than traditional educators. Neural networks are capable of identifying knowledge gaps at early stages and taking measures to reduce dropout rates.

According to a survey conducted by the Association of Organisers of Student Olympiads of Russia in February 2025, 85 per cent of Russian students already use AI to solve tasks – most often for information search (77 per cent of respondents), preparation of academic work (43 per cent) and image generation (36 per cent). Specialists already note that these statistics are underestimated. The number of AI users is growing every day, so the data quickly become outdated.

For example, the Chinese Smart Education platform, which has become the world’s largest digital learning platform, uses AI-based recommendations and serves more than 178 million users in 200 countries and regions, China Daily, a partner of TV BRICS, reports. This is also possible because AI supports multilingual learning, which is particularly important when considering application of this experience in BRICS countries. In addition, online platforms are highly effective for large-scale education, professional training, and lifelong learning.

“It is necessary to clearly state that artificial intelligence is about personalisation of education. Previously, a teacher spent years studying and analysing a student’s traits and inclinations, intellectual characteristics and talents; now this can be determined more simply and accurately using AI. A neural network can select a specific methodology, adapt the learning system and materials to the individual’s characteristics and needs,” believes Lubarto Sartoyo.

However, this does not mean that digital education in BRICS countries will completely displace the classical model in the future. Experts speak of a two-tier system in which online stages alternate with lectures and examinations within schools or universities. Moreover, online platforms will be able to expand coverage and provide education to a larger number of people. Universities, meanwhile, are likely to transform into centres for research, advanced training and leadership development. All this is critically important for economies that are acutely in need of specialists.

“Leading educational institutions in BRICS countries continue to experience high demand and growing selectivity. China’s Tsinghua University and India’s elite engineering network, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), are expanding online offerings while maintaining elite on-campus programmes. This creates a two-tier education system rather than a complete replacement,” Alexander Titov noted in an interview with TV BRICS.

At the same time, according to statistics, this approach is proving quite successful. Thus, according to the 2024 Nature Index ranking, China was recognised as number one in the world in scientific research. The PRC scored the highest on two key indicators: the number of published articles (count) authored or co-authored by Chinese scientists, and the share of authorship in publications (share: the total available share per article equals one and is distributed among all authors provided each contributed equally).

In addition, the exchange of experience and the introduction of elements of digital education in BRICS countries will help smooth out uneven areas such as mismatched priorities, differing levels of technology, teacher training quality and education overall. However, despite the clear advantages of educational platforms, many analysts agree that AI will not be able to fully replace teachers or the very atmosphere of universities.

“The role of a teacher is humanistic and empathetic, involving the transmission of emotional energy, charisma and inspiration. A person studying on campus gains not only knowledge and skills, but also a social environment, friendships, and develops individual qualities, including leadership,” Lubarto Sartoyo is convinced.

Combating digital inequality and looking to the future

Today, BRICS governments are actively investing in national educational infrastructure. For example, India has the DIKSHA platform – a national digital education platform for teachers, students and parents that offers learning materials and interactive resources in various languages and allows educators to share content, creating a collaborative learning environment. Another Indian government platform, SWAYAM, offers free online courses for students, making education more accessible. Both platforms reach hundreds of millions of learners.

Similar initiatives in digital education development exist in other countries as well. For example, Brazil’s Educação Conectada focuses on connectivity and digital content. However, this and other BRICS initiatives in education digitalisation face significant challenges, Alexander Titov believes.

“Despite progress, digital inequality remains significant in BRICS countries. Limited broadband access, device affordability and uneven levels of digital literacy among teachers slow implementation. South Africa faces high data transmission costs, while rural connectivity remains an issue in India and Brazil. Data privacy, regulation of educational technology platforms and quality control of content are becoming growing concerns,” the expert explained.

Therefore, before implementing large-scale joint BRICS education projects, many countries need to overcome digital inequality and create a technological foundation for online learning, including internet connectivity in hard-to-reach areas. In the medium term, experts expect integration of artificial intelligence and virtual reality technologies into education, as well as the development of common standards and platforms for knowledge exchange among BRICS countries.

“The development trajectory of BRICS countries is obvious. Overall, it involves building a global reality where a unified BRICS digital education space will be fully integrated, with qualifications recognised across all member states and large-scale online courses. Education will be closely linked to technological sovereignty and training personnel for breakthrough industries,” Lubarto Sartoyo concluded.

In the future, experts note, integrated digital education in BRICS countries is highly likely to become a key public service, the quality of which will directly determine the training of specialists needed for economic growth.