Global Dialogue - 14 Jan 2003

Theme: Policy & Outcomes
Participants: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Yemen
Duration: 2 hours

Target Audience: Policymakers and practitioners in the field of ICT & Education
Agenda & Running Order: click here ( 69KB)

Resources: click here (various online resources related to ICT & Education policies from various countries in the MENA region)

Presentations: (all are in pdf format. size of the file is as indicated in braces)

1. Presentation by Robert Hawkins from the World Bank Institute (WBI).
2. Presentation by Robert Schad ( 89KB), University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
3. Presentation by Ray McGhee ( 67KB), SRI International, USA.

watch video clips from this global dialogue

Summary

Taking part in a series of Global Dialogues, on January 14, 2003 policy makers from Jordan, Egypt, Yemen and Turkey met via videoconferencing to discuss issues of policy and outcomes in ICT and Education. Presentations included Bob Schad who spoke on ICT in Education Policy Issues and Ray McGee who discussed Policy Outcomes. Country presentations were also made from each of the videoconference sites. These presentations were then followed by a discussion period where panelists raised questions and issues pertaining to their specific countries. Below is a summary of the key themes brought up in the Global Dialogue.

The first highlight of the Global Dialogue was Bob Schad’s presentation of his experience with introducing ICTs in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. As well as working with policymakers in South Africa, Sri Lanka, The Gambia and Ghana. He emphasized the importance of involving the right people at the policy level, exposing officials to the benefits of ICT, providing budget items for policy support, the importance of public-private sector partnerships, etc.

Egypt’s presentation emphasized that education is a national project for Egypt. In the next few years, Egypt will upgrade educational infrastructure, focus on distance training, e-learning and education policy, and teacher training.

Jordan’s presentation focused on the country’s goal to be the IT leader in the MENA region. Their policy goals include: Infrastructure – raising the computer to student ratio to 1:2, introduce computer literacy as a high school subject, teach English via the use of ICTs, have an up-to-date Management Information System.

Issues Raised and Recommendations

Teachers: It is hard to get teachers to accept the use of ICT.
Recommendation: Encourage professional development with small monetary rewards, group teachers with more enthusiastic ones, offer them jobs in better areas if they have ICT training.

Partnerships: It is challenging to develop and maintain private sector partnerships.
Recommendation: the Ministry of Education should have an ICT for Education strategy, which includes partnership building. In addition, partners should become real stakeholders in the policy implementation.

Curriculum: Keeping the curriculum up to date is hard when ICTs are used.
Recommendation: Move the curriculum on line or distribute it on CD ROMs for free.
Attitudes towards ICT: Educators are often skeptical towards the use of ICT.
Recommendation: The notion that there is one way of teaching has to be changed. Teachers have to become willing to be uncomfortable and parents must also be involved in the curriculum.

Finally, Mr. Ray McGhee addressed issues related to evaluating the effects of ICT in education.

more such dialogues are being organized, see schedule

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