Egypt, S.Arabia step up trade ties through coordination council talks    Egypt reviews progress on $200m World Bank-funded waste management hub    Egypt urges Israel to accept Gaza deal amid intensifying fighting    SCZONE showcases investment opportunities to eight Japanese companies    Egypt, ADIB explore strategic partnership in digital healthcare, investment    SCZONE, Tokyo Metropolitan Government sign MoU on green hydrogen cooperation    Egypt welcomes international efforts for peace in Ukraine    Al-Sisi, Macron reaffirm strategic partnership, coordinate on Gaza crisis    Contact Reports Strong 1H-2025 on Financing, Insurance Gains    Egypt, India's BDR Group in talks to establish biologics, cancer drug facility    AUC graduates first cohort of film industry business certificate    Egyptian pound down vs. US dollar at Monday's close – CBE    Egypt's FM, Palestinian PM visit Rafah crossing to review Gaza aid    Egypt prepares unified stance ahead of COP30 in Brazil    Egypt recovers collection of ancient artefacts from Netherlands    Egypt harvests 315,000 cubic metres of rainwater in Sinai as part of flash flood protection measures    Egypt, Namibia explore closer pharmaceutical cooperation    Fitch Ratings: ASEAN Islamic finance set to surpass $1t by 2026-end    Renowned Egyptian novelist Sonallah Ibrahim dies at 88    Egyptian, Ugandan Presidents open business forum to boost trade    Al-Sisi says any party thinking Egypt will neglect water rights is 'completely mistaken'    Egypt's Sisi warns against unilateral Nile measures, reaffirms Egypt's water security stance    Egypt's Sisi, Uganda's Museveni discuss boosting ties    Egypt, Huawei explore healthcare digital transformation cooperation    Egypt's Sisi, Sudan's Idris discuss strategic ties, stability    Egypt to inaugurate Grand Egyptian Museum on 1 November    Greco-Roman rock-cut tombs unearthed in Egypt's Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Egypt working towards high-tech education
Published in Daily News Egypt on 02 - 11 - 2009

CAIRO: The focus of education sector reforms in recent years has been on developing Egypt as a knowledge economy by integrating IT into the learning process.
Cooperation between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) has yielded several bilateral projects aimed at increasing the technology available in schools and promoting digital literacy among both students and teachers. The resulting investment by multinational IT companies are signs that Egypt s high-tech focus is starting to pay off.
In September 2009, the Ministry of Education and the MCIT agreed on a plan for developing technology infrastructure in schools, which envisages equipping 1,730 high schools with state-of-the-art labs, libraries and teacher s rooms by 2010. Additionally, teachers will be trained in how to integrate technology into their curricula.
The new development plan follows a successful trial phase during which numerous joint projects were carried out between the two ministries, such as the Smart School Network and the International Computers Driver s License (ICDL).
Launched experimentally in 2003, the network of smart preparatory schools offering technology enhanced learning environments has now expanded to 146 institutions. The ICDL is an ongoing computer literacy program enabling students to enhance their basic IT skills for free. From its launch in May 2006 to October 2009, over 200,000 Egyptians had received ICDL certification.
Having broadened the scope for IT usage in school curricula, these programs were joined in 2006 by the Egyptian Education Initiative (EEI), a private-public partnership (PPP) between the government and the World Economic Forum that promotes the inclusion of the private sector in educational reforms. The benefit of this model, which has seen success in Jordan, the Palestinian Territories and the Indian state Rajasthan, is that private sector partners offer more cost-effective products coupled with better technology, and can be held accountable for their results.
The EEI has allowed multiple multinational IT companies to launch educational programs in Egypt under government auspices. For example, under the Project Learning Institute program, Oracle trained 80 teachers to factor project-based learning into their lesson plans using its platform, ThinkQuest, and now some 2,600 students use the platform in school.
In April, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif signed an agreement with Microsoft to develop technological collaboration across a number of sectors, including education. Other companies involved in the EEI include Cisco, Intel and HP, as well as a variety of local firms.
Egypt was commended for the success of its EEI at the World Economic Forum of January 2009. At that time, the EEI had enabled 64,000 teachers to be trained in digital literacy and 2,000 preparatory schools to be equipped with ADSL. Additionally, the first deputy to the minister of the MCIT, Hoda Baraka, received the 2008 UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa Prize for the Use of Information and Communications Technologies in Education for her efforts on the EEI, which was selected from a pool of 67 projects. Based on the strong results of the EEI, Egypt has adopted a similar initiative in its health sector.
PPPs involving Cisco, Microsoft and other global companies are swiftly modernizing the health care system by implementing IT solutions, such as the Egyptian tele-medicine network initiative, which was set up to make expert medical opinion and advice available to all health care workers.
Another Ministry of Education and MCIT project, the Egypt ICT Trust Fund, has also received accolades for its use of ICT in the fight against illiteracy, winning the World Summit Award for Best e-Content in August 2009.
The agency produces a multimedia tutorial that teaches basic reading and writing skills in a local context. While significant progress has been made over the past 15 years to increase youth education, adult literacy, hovering around 85 percent for males and 60 percent for females, remains a challenge.
Building up technology infrastructure, starting with schools, has enabled Egypt to develop its own IT industry, which saw 7.8 percent growth in 2008. -This article was first published by Oxford Business Group on October 23, 2009.


Clic here to read the story from its source.