ISLAMABAD: Minister for Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry on Wednesday directed to immediately launch the Smart School Project.
The minster chairing a meeting was informed that ‘Smart School’ is based upon the concept of ‘blended learning’ in which the significant and rapid improvement in quality of education is achieved through technology-enabled learning.
The directives were issued to the Federal Directorate of Education and the management of Prime Minister Education Reform Program.
In the first phase of the project, 24 schools of Islamabad, twelve each for boys and girls, will be upgraded to enhance their comprehension through the use of information technology.
The major facilities in the ‘smart schools’ will be provision of computers in selected schools, internet connectivity, online learning systems allowing student to access instructional materials, provision of high quality bilingual (English and Urdu) online instructional material and provision of teacher training to improve technical skills.
The project would cover 8 to 14 year age group mostly from middle and low economic background. 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.
Dr. Tariq said 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.
“This pilot project will be replicated to other schools and colleges on its completion,” the minster added.
The meeting was informed that the laboratories and libraries of the institutions will be upgraded and smart class rooms will be established under the project to provide IT-based learning material.
