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Cisco and Cambodian Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport to Deliver Advanced Networking Skills to Educators in Cambodia
| Source: Cisco
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA--(Marketwire - August 21, 2007) - The Ministry of Education, Youth and
Sport in Cambodia and Cisco® (NASDAQ : CSCO ) have agreed to train up to 25
teachers in five teacher education institutes (TEIs) in the skills needed
to use information and communications technology (ICT) in the classroom.
The initiative is a part of the larger UNESCO Next-Generation (Next Gen)
Project, for which Cisco has pledged financial and resource contributions
through the Cisco Networking Academy®.
The Next Gen project was begun in recognition of the need for effective
programs to prepare pre-service teachers to use ICT to enhance teaching and
learning. The project aims to build the capacity of TEIs in the
Asia-Pacific region to prepare the next generation of teachers. Ten
countries in Asia are taking part in the Next Gen Project: Cambodia, India,
Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, People's Republic of China, Philippines, Sri
Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. In each of these countries, three TEIs are
participating in project activities, making a total of 30 participating
TEIs.
Under the agreement, Cisco will integrate TEIs into existing Networking
Academies that have the know-how to develop the ICT skills of pre-service
teachers. Lead trainers from each TEI will attend instructor-training
sessions in the Cisco Networking Academy's IT Essentials Software and
Hardware and IT Essentials Networking Fundamentals curriculums. Training
will be provided by Cisco Networking regional academies in each country
over 10 days. Once trained, the instructors will offer the Networking
Academy curriculum to pre-service teachers and start a Networking Academy
in their TEI.
"A strong ICT education gives our youth the opportunity and access to
become participating members in the knowledge-based and globalized world we
live in. The joint initiative with Cisco provides us with the footprint for
turning this opportunity into a reality in Cambodia. The skills that the
TEIs will gain will benefit not only them but also the Cambodian economy as
a whole," said Kol Pheng, Cambodia's senior minister and the minister of
education, youth and sport.
According to Sandy Walsh, regional manager of the Cisco Networking Academy
Program and Corporate Responsibility for Asia Pacific, "The Teacher
Education Institutes program allows us to educate the people who are tasked
with teaching the next generation of Internet users. The Internet has
changed the way people learn, and it enables anytime, anywhere learning for
all students, regardless of location, socioeconomic status, gender, or
race. Cisco is committed to continuing those advances, partnering with
educators and others to develop the tools, applications, technology and
curriculums to make the Internet and education the great equalizers in the
global economy."
The Next Generation of Teachers Project is guided by the vision of the
director of the UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education in
Bangkok, Sheldon Shaeffer, who said: "By 2008, all regional member states
will be in a position to offer teachers an education on how and when to
best use technologies for teaching and learning, through training that is
integrated in all national pre-service teacher training institutions in the
Asia-Pacific region. Learners will directly benefit from this new
generation of well-educated teachers, who will be empowered to use
technologies and to facilitate the learners' active participation in
learning, and in the knowledge of societies and economies."
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