A little girl draws a picture on a smart board at Civitas school. Civitas is an elementary school project for students from nursery till class six. PHOTO: COURTESY CIVITAS
The project has been approved by the Planning Commission under the Public Sector Development Programme this year.
State Minister for Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry in a meeting on Wednesday directed the Federal Directorate of Education and the management of Prime Minister Education Reform Program to immediately launch the project after final approval by the Planning Commission.
Smart schools: Make programme a flagship, says minister
The meeting was informed that the Smart School Project is based on the concept of ‘blended learning’ in which the significant and rapid improvement in quality of education is achieved through technology-enabled learning. In the first phase of the project, 24 schools of Islamabad – 12 boys and 12 girls – will be upgraded with relevant technology infrastructure to enhance students’ comprehension through the usage of information technology.
The major elements of the smart schools will be to provide computers in selected schools, internet connectivity, online learning systems that allows student to access instructional materials, provision of high quality bilingual (English and Urdu) online instructional material, and provision of teacher training to improve their technical skills by using latest techniques. Laboratories and libraries of the selected institutions will be upgraded and smart class rooms will be established under the project to provide IT-based learning material.
Slow start: One smart school constructed in K-P
The project would cover a substantial proportion of eight to 14-year olds, mostly from middle and low economic backgrounds.
The pilot project will be replicated to other schools and colleges on its completion. During the first year, around 5,760 students will get technology-based quality education which will increase up to approximately 17,280 in the third year.
“That technology-enabled education will provide an opportunity to address the gap in the quality of education in top private schools and public sector schools in Islamabad,” said the minister.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 29th, 2016.
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