ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Capital Administration and Development Division (CA&DD) is still awaiting approval of the modified PC-I for implementation of Smart School Project across the country submitted to the Planning Division.
The idea of transforming 34 public educational institutions across the country into Smart Schools was conceived and launched by Ministry of Planning, Development and Reforms last year which was delayed due to administrative changes in the relevant ministry, said an official source in CA&DD.
Now the PC-I of the project after some modifications has been submitted to the ministry so that implementation work can be started on this novel idea.
The project, as a part of Prime Minister’s Education Reforms Programme, was one of the major step towards first goal of Vision 2025, i.e. Human and Social Capital.
The project is supposed to transform 34 schools, 24 from Islamabad Capital territory, two each from all four provinces and one each from Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, into Smart schools by introducing blended learning approach through the use of modern technology, the official source revealed.
The project is all about employing technology to improve learning outcomes of students and brighten their chances of better livelihood.
It would be a big step towards revolutionizing the education system and contributing to promote the creativity and innovation among students, the official source said.
The project also included training of teachers and principals of the relevant institutions under Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) with the help of private sector regarding use of modern equipment and latest teaching methodologies.
The modern concept of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) is in fact hallmark of the project.
The project titled “Establishment of Smart Schools in ICT” was earlier approved by Central Development Working Party forum at a capital cost of Rs.630.944 million. While an amount of Rs.200.000 million was allocated for the said project by the PSDP for the Current Financial Year 2016-17, the source informed.
