DUSHANBE, December 13, Asia-Plus – A national two-day conference entitled “Information and Communications Technologies for Development of Education” opened in Dushanbe Wednesday, December 13.
The conference staged by the Internet Policy Initiative Public Foundation and the Ministry of Education under support of the Tajik Branch of Open Society Institute/Assistance Foundation (OSI/AF), UNDP CO in Tajikistan and Internet provider Eastera is aiming to seek an efficient approach to projecting a national policy on information and communications technologies (ICTs) in education. This policy is dedicated to take advantage of ICTs to contribute to education goals.
Parvin Ibodova, chairperson of the board of the Internet Policy Initiative Public Foundation. Said in an interview with Asia-Plus that the results of implementation of the “Internet for Development” project will be presented on sidelines of the conference. “We want to show that these technologies may be effectively used in the education process on all disciplines,” Ibodova said. According to her, the project has trained teachers and school students not only in using but also in producing information. “Thus, they have participated in projecting programs, translating them into Tajik, as well as in filling in Internet content,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Internet Policy Initiative Public Foundation director Asomiddin Atoyev noted that the implementation of the project had revealed that in some schools, students do not have free access to the computer classes. Besides, he noted that ICTs awareness level of persons making decisions on advantages of ICTs is quite low.
To tackle these problems it has been recommended to include an ICTs discipline into curriculum of teachers’ training institutions.
The “Internet for Development” project has been implemented in Tajikistan under support of the Tajik Branch of OSI/AF, UNDP CO in Tajikistan and NATO’s Scientific Program since April 2005. The project designed for 2? years has targeted 55 secondary schools and colleges in Dushanbe, 12 higher educational institutions, 20 NGOs, five libraries and three museums. Under the project 44 schools in Dushanbe have got an access to Internet. Starting from the next year, the project will be implemented Hissor, Somoniyon settlement, the administrative center of the Rudaki district, as well as Vahdat, Kulob and Qurghon Teppa cities.
