Saturday, March 15, 2008

NEWS: Star rating for school ICT usage

KOTA BARU: The Information Communication Technology (ICT) division of the Education Ministry will grade government schools on their usage of ICT with a star rating system similar to hotels.

Division director Yusoff Harun announced that five-star rating would be accorded to schools where students used 80% of the computers and equipment installed during curriculum and extra-curricular activities.

"This is one approach to measure the effectiveness of ICT in schools," he said after visiting the state education department here.

The development of ICT in Malaysia can be realised only if the young started to comprehend and use the technology, Yusoff said.

"We cannot wait for teachers and parents to be ready, as technology nowadays evolves fast.

"The time to learn begins now," he said.

Yusoff said the teachers must take full advantage of ICT in schools to make their work more accessible and presentable to students.

On the smart schools concept, Yusoff said 88 out of the 10,000 earmarked for elevation had started operations.

The remaining schools would be upgraded in stages, as the ministry needed to train and select the teachers and students.

Yusoff said ICT usage would also be measured in such schools.

In a related development, the state education department's ICT department head Zamri Zakaria has personally sponsored an Internet broadband access link for SK Tanjung Indera Petra, in the hope of encouraging more teachers to equip themselves with knowledge on online usage.

Zamri said that teachers could pool their resources to make available the access.

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