JEDDAH, 28 April 2008 — The sixth annual symposium of Effat College on "Cyber citizenship: Vistas and vision" ended yesterday after two-day sessions and workshops, with experts and scholars calling for increased investment in both education and e-learning.
"There ought to be an increased focus on public, private partnership (PPP) to facilitate investment and make education and technology work hand in hand," Amr M. Khashoggi, chairman and CEO of Amkest Group, said.
He said there were five million students under the Saudi education system and there ought to be sustained efforts to bring about a qualitative change in teachers by making them aware of the developments through a sustained investment in technologies. "In Singapore, every teacher goes through at least 100 hours of training every year," he said, adding that there ought to be more inputs in major areas like computer skills, math, science, English and Arabic. "Education facilities have to be improved with more investment and this is possible through PPP.
Venkat Raju, head of learning solutions at edutech (knowledge, talent performance) explained edutech's role in PPP and called for sustained efforts through regular investment in raising the professional skills of individuals. While knowledge is available in plenty on the World Wide Web, students and teachers should be made skillful to know how to make the application of knowledge successful. With the economy marking a phenomenal growth, "organizations like ours are here to bridge the gap between industry, government and individuals," he said.
Dr. Ghazi Binzagr of Beit Binzagr, said: "We are in an era of information. Knowledge has today become a public property (as it is available on the Web) after having been an exclusive right of the elite in the past. "Learning and technology have to go hand in hand," he said. There ought to be a sustained investment to promote both.
In fact, the Kingdom's e-learning industry is projected to reach $125 million in 2008 and is set to grow at a compound annual rate of 33 percent over the next five years, according to a recent study.
The Ministry of Education's initiatives for the integration of information and communication technology (ICT) and the education sectors, including pilot e-classrooms in five secondary schools in Riyadh, is driving the growth. In line with its aims to increase awareness on the benefits of e-learning technologies, edutech Middle East, a provider of technology-enabled learning solutions, partnered with Effat College to organize the symposium.
Ayman Safadi, general manager of Optimiza Saudi Arabia for the Western Province, gave an overview of the Effat business incubation gateway. "The business incubator provides new or expanding businesses with a range of services including management consulting, infrastructure development, a range of flexible solutions for office space, accounting, legal services, HR, logistics and secretarial services.
"Our vision is to lead the educational industry in bridging the academic and business domains in the Kingdom and our mission is to support and empower the graduates who are unemployed, by being the (Effat College) gateway for business opportunities. Its key objectives is to help reduce unemployment, especially among women graduates, offer the new generation to build their business life the right way, be the business-academic partners of choice for public and private sectors and boost the education into a new horizon across the Kingdom.
Dr. Hoda Barka of the Egyptian Ministry of Communication and IT, gave an overview of the Egyptian experience and said education and e-learning can be successful if the PPP is effective, the infrastructure including classrooms is effectively improved on a regular basis, training programs of teachers, supervisors, administrators and leaders are conducted regularly, and learning resources are made accessible and available. All these called for a sustained investment. "What is more, in the 21st century, we need a flexible (educational) curriculum."
Dr. Waleed Fitaihi, president and CEO of International Medical Center, dealt at length on the concept and value of leadership through his presentation on "The voice." Five most important questions that any individual in pursuit of leadership activities should relate to are "Why, what, how, when and where." The voice within should answer such questions and give out the intention and direction.
Both Ziad Jarrar of Spotmedia, Saudi Arabia, and Dr. Asma Siddiki of Dubai School of Government, who were masters of ceremonies of the two-day event, termed the symposium a "huge success" and hoped that there would be a further impetus to PPP in making education and e-learning go hand in hand.
The strong support of key government officials for the adoption of e-learning programs is evident in the considerable increase in the Kingdom's budget appropriation for education and manpower development, which has grown from SR96.7 billion in 2007 to SR105 billion in 2008.