Follow Us:

UNESCO convenes ICT policy workshop for education planners

© Peter Van Gils

From 5 to 8 June 2006, the UNESCO “Workshop for Educational Planners” brought together representatives from the Thai Ministry of Education to learn about the “ICT in Education Toolkit for Policy Makers, Planners and Practitioners”.

Held in Bangkok, Thailand, the workshop aimed to acquaint the participants with the concepts of the ICT in Education Toolkit and demonstrate how to apply each tool. In addition, the participants learned how to apply the Toolkit in revising their ICT in Education Action Plans, which will be consolidated and form part of the National ICT in Education Plan (2007-2011).

Following the workshop, Education Planners are in a better position to propose options regarding the integration of ICT into education in Thailand to the Minister of Education, thereby facilitating better-informed decision-making.

The workshop was held as part of the ICT in Education Policy project, which is being implemented by the UNESCO Bangkok office, with the support of Japanese-Funds-In-Trust (JFIT).

Recognizing that, unless implemented judiciously, investing in ICT can be a waste of scarce resources, UNESCO initiated the Policy project with the aim of raising the capacity of decision-makers to make informed choices. The project seeks to assist decision-makers in the Asia-Pacific region to recognize how ICT can be best utilized in their countries to enhance the quality and reach of education, and raise their awareness of the issues surrounding the integration of ICT into education.

The ICT in Education Toolkit was developed in response to the request by high-level decision-makers who attended UNESCO Policy project workshops in 2003 and 2004. These policy makers saw a need for a systematic approach to integrating ICT into education and recommended that UNESCO develop a toolkit to guide policy makers through the planning process and provide policy options.

The Toolkit has been under development since 2004. It provides contextualized and relevant information which can be used by Ministries of Education, international organizations and researchers to assist them in coming to informed decisions about the utilization of ICT in education.

The first Toolkit Training Workshop was held from 5 to 10 September 2005 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It was attended by representatives from the Ministries of Education of Pakistan, Philippines and Thailand. At the end of that workshop, the Thai delegation raised the idea of having a workshop exclusively for Thai Educational Planners, in order to assist the MoE in revising the national ICT in Education Plan for 2007 to 2011. Following discussions, it was decided to have the Thai “Workshop for Educational Planners” in June 2006.

This Workshop will be followed by similar country-level workshops in other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Each workshop will be modified to meet the specific needs of the country concerned and will be facilitated both in English and in the national language of the host country.

Further information: