RIYADH, 10 April 2004 — A Jeddah-based girls’ school has launched an e-education program it says makes school bags “a thing of the past”.
The model experiment is sponsored by IT giant Microsoft, which is planning to extend it to other schools as part of a potentially lucrative drive to promote e-education in the Kingdom.
The Al-Bayan Model School for Girls, has switched over to e-learning in ten intermediate-level classes, according to Khaled Al-Dhaher, Microsoft Arabia’s general manager.
The program is centered around an “e-class” server which facilitates the learning process.
“The girls come with a tablet PC to follow the Ministry of Education-approved curriculum, which is completely electronic. So is the teaching process — from the running of classes to the exams, homework and interaction between students and teachers,” he said at a press conference here.
The company also wants to carry out various e-government and other projects on a build-operate-transfer basis.
Al-Dhaher also cited the case of Sejel as an example of a different kind of partnership, this time with the Ministry of Haj.
The Saudi British Bank and Sejel Technology agreed to handle electronic payment of Umrah fees worldwide, with Microsoft as the technology provider.
