As part of Intel's ongoing commitment to the society by providing the best technologies and 21st century education skills to the next generation of innovators, Intel's Vice President & General Manager for Europe, Middle East & Africa Christian Morales today announced during a visit to Cairo another milestone of Intel's 8000PC initiative.
As part of Intel's global commitment to education and growing ICT penetration in the Arab world and Egypt, and through its partnership with the Ministry of Education, today's milestone is part of the 8000 PCs committed to the Egyptian Ministry of Education. To date, Intel has donated 6000 PCs to schools in a number of governorates across Egypt.
By July 2010, one thousand (1000) additional Intel-powered classmate PCs will be deployed, 500 of which will be installed through the Egyptian Ministry of Education. The remaining 500 will be deployed through a private public partnership with the United States Agency for International Development funded project 'Technology for Improved Learning Outcomes' (TILO), in 29 schools at the primary level. The TILO program works closely with the Ministry of Education and includes intensive teacher training with the objective of improving student learning outcomes through the use of technology. TILO will integrate the use of the Intel-powered classmate PCs into classrooms and will enhance their usage through a digital resources package developed by TILO for use by teachers and students in schools. Training will be provided to both teachers & students on how to best maximize usage of the Intel-powered classmate PCs in the day-to-day classroom environment.
Students from governorates across Cairo, Alexandria, Giza, Helwan, 6th of October, Fayoum, Beni-Suef, Minya, Qena, Aswan, and Assiut will be able to benefit from a 1:1 e-learning experience that enables students to create an interactive and collaborative learning environment and prepares them with the skills and abilities to compete in the global market.
"This initiative marks another achievement in Intel's World Ahead Program," said Christian Morales, Intel's Vice President & General Manager for Europe, Middle East & Africa. "What we aim at achieving is to provide Egyptian students with the required 21st century skills to compete in today's world. Education and Innovation is key to building a foundation for today's youth tomorrow."
Dr. Ahmad Zaki Badr, Minister of Education, welcomed Morales' visit to Egypt and expressed his appreciation for the active and effective role Intel is playing in supporting the development of technology within the Egyptian society and especially within the Ministry of Education, which represents the largest segment of Intel's sales in Egypt. He added: "Through Intel's trainings that are provided to numerous teachers and students on the use of technology in education, and by offering technological advancement to facilitate the on-going learning process, we look forward to and hope that the use of the Intel-powered classmate PC will reach the biggest number of students in the shortest time possible".
"We are thrilled to be collaborating with Intel on this effort. The Intel-powered classmate PC solution will enable teachers and students to bring the laptops into their classroom and to bring the world of interactive learning to their fingertips," says TILO Chief of Party Andrea Bosch.
The Intel-powered classmate PC is a small, mobile fully functioning PC developed specifically for young students (K-6). The child-friendly, rugged and affordable learning device aims at creating a suitable internet connected, learning environment for students as well as for active day- to- day use by children. This dedicated 1:1 learning environment includes a devoted laptop for each student and teacher to help in acquiring the skills and knowledge needed in the 21st century. Purpose-built for youth in education, the Intel-powered classmate PC integrates easily into the classroom while being easy to carry and light-weight.
