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• National Vision for ICT development of Mongolia up to 2010
• Draft Plan of action - ICT development in Mongolia (2000 – 2003)
• Mongolia Information Development Association (MIDAS)

Creating a favourable environment for a new knowledge society by 2010

In 1999, Mongolia held a National ICT Summit, closely followed in February 2000 by “ National Vision for ICT development of Mongolia up to 2010”, the first ICT policy paper for Mongolia, ratified by parliament. It recognized that ICT was an important tool for development in Mongolia. Shortly after the "National ICT Committee" was created, as was the "Mongolian Information Development Application Scheme" (MIDAS). MIDAS is now a committee of experts that amongst others, supports the National ICT Committee by sharing expert knowledge.

ICT Vision-2010 has three major components: a government-legislation framework, a business-economy framework and a people-society framework. Within the people-society framework, the goal is to “create a favourable environment for Mongolian citizens to communicate freely among themselves and with the world community, ensure opportunities for their equal and active participation in social life and improve quality of people’s lives.”

A National seminar in February 2001 established a National committee of ICT headed by the PM of Mongolia, recognising ICT as one of the priority sectors.

In January 2002, representatives of government, the private sector and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) together thrashed out a mid-term strategy and action plan to implement ICT Vision-2010. Both strategy and action plan had three major components, each outlining activities, specified time lines, an organisation responsible for implementation and the donor or national support required to achieve the objectives. Although the mid-term strategy, action plan and ministerial policy document are in place, there has been no money allocated in the state budget for its implementation.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (MOECS) has used Vision-2010 as a model to implement ICTs in the education sector, developing an action plan which was approved in 2001. MOECS’s vision for ICT in education has four major components, covering areas of:

• Training - the full utilization of ICT in each educational level’s curriculum and contents in order to introduce ICT possibilities and gain knowledge and skills in using it.
• Hardware - Supply of hardware allows the conduct of training according to different level of modern ICT development and provides possibilities of free access to information.
• Teaching staff - Supply of teaching staffs which have the capabilities to develop themselves in terms of their own knowledge and skills in line with rapid development of ICT.
• Information ware - Creation of possibilities of available and accessible information service by establishing educational information database and network.

The principal limiting factor in integrating ICT into education has been that the focus has been on the teaching of ICT as a subject, rather than the way in which it can be integrated to enhance the teaching/learning process.

UNDP worked with the Government of Mongolia to create a Plan of Action for ICT development in Mongolia from 2000 – 2003, assisting in building on and completing the work undertaken so far to complete a national strategy and plan of action for the use of ICTs as tools for sustainable human and economic development. This plan includes the following thrusts:

• Within basic education, the Government will conduct training towards improving knowledge and skills of the most popular and commonly used software such as word processing, spreadsheet, information exchange and communication.
• Starting from the academic year 2002 to 2003, the curriculum of the basic education will be revised to include a specification that by completion of 8th grade, students will have been taught at least 70 hours of “Informatics”.
• Furthermore, free access will be provided for students of secondary schools who do not have access to modern and well equipped ICT training labs through a voucher system. Mobile labs will be set up for short term training and information services for school lacking modern ICT facilities.
• For upper secondary, vocational and technical education, opportunities will be provided to gain knowledge and skills on the use of the most popular and latest application software, such as desktop publishing, Internet applications and e-mail, access to ICT applications, and to search and use necessary and available information.
• Model textbooks will be developed in ‘Information Sciences” for all levels of education.
  Pre and in-service teacher education initiatives will be established for staff in secondary schools, in revision of contents and curriculum, expansion of professional teachers’ training activities considering the increase of professional teaching staff in information sciences up to 50 percent by 2003 and up to 90 percent by 2007.
• Teacher training will also be organised for teachers who wanted to use ICT in teaching their subjects and favorable conditions will be nurtured to run ICT supported training programmes.

In 2003, the Ministry of Infrastructure was placed in charge of ICT policy and regulations in general, while the Ministry of Science, Technology, Education and Culture (MOSTEC) was made responsible for managing ICT policy and regulations within the areas of Education, Culture and Science.

(For more information, see ICT in Education in Mongolia by Mr. B. Erdenesuren, Vice Minister of MOSTEC, Mongolia)