The Assam government on Wednesday entered into an agreement with Microsoft Corporation India Private Ltd (MCIPL) to accelerate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) adoption in schools. The one year alliance will support the Assam school education system to use ICT towards improving the quality of learning in schools.
The agreement was signed by L S Changsan, mission director, Assam Sarba Siksha Abhijan Mission (ASSAM), and Ranbir Singh, country head (government engagements) of MCIPL, in presence of Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam’s education minister.
The agreement will focus on professional development for 5,760 school teachers in Assam and will equip them with skills required for integrating IT (Information Technology) in classroom teaching to drive better learning outcomes for the students under Microsoft’s Partners in Learning (PiL) program through training sessions held at six state-run DIETS (District Institute for Education and Training).
“Education is key to nurturing our youth and helping realise India's potential. We believe technology can bridge the opportunity divide to deliver that much needed world class education. Through this collaboration with the government of Assam, we hope to provide ICT enabled education and aid the progressive transformation of education in Assam at large,” said Singh.
PiL, introduced in 2008, is a global Microsoft program that helps in providing teachers with tools aimed at enhancing their IT skills and the integration of ICT into teaching and learning in a meaningful way. In India, 708,017 government school teachers in the country have been successfully trained under this program in 17 states of India, some of which includes Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Uttaranchal, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat.
