-
.
- Ελληνικά
I welcome you to the press conference on "Transition to the Modern School through Digital Education". The purpose of today's press conference is to present the policies and actions of the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth on the road to the digital transformation of our education system and the digital upgrading of our schools.
The need for a digital transition of education, with a view to providing high quality and inclusive education and training, is recognised both at European and global level. The European Commission itself has developed an "Action Plan for Digital Education 2021-2027", according to which the digital transformation of education is based on two pillars: promoting the development of a high-performance digital education ecosystem and strengthening digital skills and competences at all levels for digital transformation.
In this context and in full alignment with the Governance Programme, our Ministry has proceeded with the preparation of a Policy Paper on Digital Education, with a particular focus on school education. The key principles underlying the Policy Paper are equality of access and participation in quality education through appropriate investments in infrastructure, equipment, connectivity and educational materials. Particular emphasis is placed on cultivating the digital literacy of teachers and students. At the same time, the Policy Paper highlights the importance of cultivating skills for safe, responsible and creative use of the internet, cultivating digital citizenship, as well as security and protection of personal data.
Our Ministry's policies focus on the triple bottom line: Digitally Competent Schools - Digitally Competent Teachers - Digitally Competent Students, and make use of opportunities, actions, programmes, tools and educational content offered in Cyprus, Europe and internationally. The Digitally Capable School aims to strengthen the digital culture of both teachers and students, through accessibility to modern material and technical infrastructure, in order to use digital technologies for more effective teaching and learning. At the same time, through the updating of curricula and the provision of educational material, as well as the continuous professional training of teachers, digitally literate teachers are strengthened in pedagogical approaches to integrate digital technologies in the teaching and learning process. Within a Digitally Competent School, where Digitally Competent Teachers are active, the development of Digitally Competent Students, who will possess the skills required in today's digital society, is enhanced.
In order to implement this digital policy, the Ministry, through the Information and Communication Technologies Unit and the European Funds Management Unit, has secured funding and implements a wide range of actions using European funds. In particular, the implementation of the Digital Transformation of Schools Project is underway, which includes the creation of approximately 6500 digital classrooms, with the supply of computer equipment on a hire purchase basis and the creation of a Technical Support Centre, a grant for the purchase of tablet computers for pupils in primary education, a grant for the purchase of a laptop computer for pupils in secondary education, as well as the transformation of the curricula and the training of teachers in the pedagogical integration of digital technologies. Also, using European funds, the project of developing a single and integrated Support Services System, which will facilitate the administrative processes of school units through digitalisation and will be the largest e-government project in the education sector, is underway. At the same time, the Wired Networking Project is being implemented in Secondary General and Secondary Technical and Vocational Education and Training schools.
In addition, with national funds, actions are being implemented to equip school units with modern, appropriate and adequate computer equipment and a tender process is underway to provide interactive screens to replace projection machines and other obsolete equipment in school units.
In addition to computer equipment, our Ministry continues to provide free software to teachers and students to enhance the educational process, with the aim of cultivating digital skills so that students are able to participate, learn and develop responsibly and safely in a world increasingly dominated by digital technologies.
Finally, through the programmes and actions of the Pedagogical Institute and specifically the Educational Technology Sector, continuous professional training is provided to teachers at all levels and the possibility for schools to participate, teachers and students in programmes and actions covering topics and axes of digital education, aiming comprehensively at the development of the Digitally Capable School, Digitally Capable Teachers and Digitally Capable Students.
The Head of the Information and Communication Technologies Unit, Mr. Christos Papadopoulos, will then present in detail the policies and actions of our Ministry.
In conclusion, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all those whose work contributes to the implementation of the policy for the digital transition of our educational system. I would also like to thank the representatives of the media for covering today's press conference.
___________
For the presentation of the Ministry's policies and actions on Digital Education click here.
Contents of this article including associated images are owned by PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
Source
