Survey of ICT in Education in South Asia
What lessons do years of ICT4E work teach?
World Bank supported InfoDev is coordinating a survey of the use of information and communication technology for education in India and South Asia.
The purpose of this survey is to gather together in a single resource the most relevant and useful information on ICT in education activities in India and South Asia. It is envisioned that data collected as part of this survey process can help to form a set of baseline data, against which future survey work and research could be compared. This data can be combined with data from other regions already surveyed or to be surveyed to help form a global database of information related to ICTs in education in developing regions.
Sri Lanka:
A snapshot |
*Clearly articulated National Policy for ICT in School Education (NAPITSE,2000) which emphasizes both ICT as a subject and ICT in improving teaching learning
*NAPITSE supported by an implementation plan for realizing the objectives in a phased manner from 2000-2007
*eSri Lanka provides a policy framework for making connectivity and other ICT infrastructure available throughout the country
Preliminary Insights
*Though clear policies and operational plans exist, implementation has not been as desired
*Internet penetration is relatively low.
*Focus on quality content and digital resources could catalyze enormous benefits in improving quality of education given that basic ICT indicators and education indicators are in place.
*Opportunity to leverage the high mobile network coverage and affordability of mobile services for designing innovative education delivery options.
*Greater utilization of TV and Radio networks to deliver educational content. |
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are widely believed to be important potential levers to introduce and sustain educational reform efforts, as well as useful aids to both teaching and learning. However, despite evidence of increasingly widespread use of ICTs in education initiatives around the world, there is little guidance available for policy-makers and donor staff specifically targeted at developing countries contemplating the increased use of ICTs in education.
The key questions to be addressed by this activity are:
How are ICTs currently being used in the education sector in South Asia, and what are the strategies and policies related to this use, notably best practices in policy and school case studies?
What are the common challenges and constraints faced by South Asian countries in this area?
What is actually happening on the ground, and to what extent are donors involved?
The survey should result in an overall report as well as a series of country studies for each of the eight countries in the South Asia region. In the special case of India, it is proposed that, in addition to the overall case, a series of detailed studies of individual states will be developed (say, at least five) to give a representative flavour of local developments. A similar approach may be followed in Pakistan. In addition, the report and case studies should be complemented by a series of thematic essays on topics of particular relevance to the region, such as gender, higher education, national research and education networks (NRENs) etc.
Data will be collected related to a variety of themes and could, for example, be divided into the following general categories:
*General state of ICT use in education
*National and regional policies & strategies
*How Ministries of Education (MOEs) treat ICT issues from an internal organizational and staffing perspective (including organograms of ICT responsibilities at the MOE), as well as their inter-relations with other governmental entities (e.g., Ministry of Employment, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry with responsibility for the ICT sector, etc.), as relevant/appropriate;
| The preliminary results from the Survey of ICTs for Education in India and South Asia are as follows. |
Key Trends
* Imperative for a policy for ICT for Education in this region largely has come from a recognition of the need to develop adequate human resources for being competitive in the Global ICT market. (Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan)
* Greater focus on incorporation of ICT as a subject in the curriculum than on using ICT as an instructional aid to improve overall education quality
*Only in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India(Draft) is there a specific ICT in Education Policy. These policies focus both on ICT as a subject as well as use of ICT as an instructional aid. Of these Sri Lanka NAPITSE has been in operation since 2000, Pakistan’s NICTE since 2005, and India Draft National ICT in School Education Policy is still under formulation, with the first draft having been published in 2009
*In Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, & Afghanistan the ICT Policies have a section on Education, where they highlight the need for qualified manpower and work back to familiarizing the general population with ICT through the Education system
*Maldives does not yet have an ICT Policy, but with the basic IT infrastructure in place (relatively higher internet penetration, mobile network, TV and Radio penetration) as well as good educational indicators (near 100% literacy and high GERs at Primary as well as Secondary levels) it is in a good position to realize benefits from a dedicated ICT for Education Policy that focuses on quality content and delivery.
*Infrastructure remains a key bottleneck in most of the focus countries especially Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
*India and Pakistan have a certain amount of critical infrastructure in place and would have to focus on developing content and applications and leveraging the potential of ICT as a tool to strengthen the teaching learning process
*Maldives and Sri Lanka have been relatively successful in putting the key infrastructure in place (with the exception the high cost of internet in Maldives), they would now need to focus on using ICT tools and content to improve the overall quality of Education and create access for those who have been excluded from their existing systems
*By and large administrative capacity to translate policies into actionable plans and then to have specific initiatives with financial allocation and institutional structures has been a bottleneck in all the focus countries.
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Current levels of ICT access and use in the sector and the level of connectedness of schools, colleges, universities etc.
Notable initiatives and programs, including best practice case studies; Important thematic topics, such as the development of NRENs or the treatment of gender in education; Constraints on the use of ICT in education, including on achieving a gender balance; Donor activities; Use of ICTs in non-formal education and for skills development; Other notable and relevant information (e.g. gender, literacy); A resource base of additional information resources; A contacts database of experts and practitioners within the region that can assist in ongoing work. Particular note will be made of how ICTs are used in education at various levels of an education system, namely: Primary education; Secondary education; Tertiary or Higher education and Vocational education
Where information about ICT use to facilitate lifelong learning, distance learning and non-formal education is available, this should be included as well.
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