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In 2004, just 50% of Uzbekistan's secondary schools could access a computer—including outdated, Sovietera models—while only 18% had access to modern personal computers. So it is in many parts of Asia and the Pacific, where a lack of equipment and the capacity to apply and maintain it within school systems sustains the digital divide now at the forefront of development discussions.
Yet Uzbekistan and most of its Asian neighbors also have a clear desire to tap the power of information and communication technology (ICT) to improve education and provide students with the skills they will need to compete later in life. Many have anchored the adoption of ICT solutions into their education development strategies.
In its latest education sector report, ADB recommends greater emphasis on more responsive investment in ICT, and in science and technology. ADB is working to foster an environment that encourages its developing member countries to take up the latest technology in a way that will be financially sustainable, encourage still further innovation, and expand use of ICT into poorer, more remote areas. Education systems in the region can be radically improved through intelligent use of innovative ICT, appropriate training for teachers and sector managers, and support to centers that nurture new ideas.
A new $30 million loan to Uzbekistan—approved in 2005, and the first ADB loan devoted entirely to integrating ICT into basic education—underscores this point well. The loan advances ADB's efforts at improving the application of ICT solutions—which in the past have suffered from a lack of capacity within many school systems for handling computer technology—by putting special emphasis on training teachers and other staff to use ICT for learning, and encouraging the establishment of learning centers.
Increased computing power, combined with improved wireless access, userfriendly satellite technology, and reduced telecommunications costs, are lowering the barriers to a more widespread use of ICT in education
Among its four components, the Uzbekistan project will equip 860 "cluster leader" schools with ICT facilities and internet/intranet connections, which will serve as centers for spreading the knowledge to clusters of other schools in poor, rural, and remote areas.
These cluster leader schools will provide an efficient system not only for delivering to all schools e—learning materials and information, but also for instituting education development activities within each cluster. They will provide pedagogical, technical, and management support, and an institutional structure for the rapid development of teacher training.
The emphasis of this project is not only on additional infrastructure, but also on establishing the sustainability of the project and on teacher training issues, says Lan Wu, ADB principal social sector economist. "These are the parameters within which such a project must function. Otherwise, it is useless," he says.
The project also includes components to develop teacher and staff skills in applying ICT to learning and teaching, develop ICT learning materials in Uzbek and other local languages of instruction, and advise the government on how to strengthen the sustainability of its policy on ICT use in basic education.
In the last decade, ADB has been increasingly assisting countries in Asia and the Pacific in integrating ICT in education to support achievement of learning outcomes. The attached box provides examples of this assistance trend in the East and Central Asian region, including in Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, and elsewhere (see ICT in Central Asian Education).
Increased computing power, combined with improved wireless access, user—friendly satellite technology, and reduced telecommunications costs, are lowering the barriers to a more widespread use of ICT in education, making it more possible to reach all groups in a society, including the poor, and people in remote areas.
These developments make such computer and internet—linked concepts as elearning, e—textbooks, and e—teacher training more feasible. They have already begun to shape the way teachers teach and students learn in many parts of Asia and the Pacific, and those concepts will continue to grow.
The latest technological changes are also presenting alternative solutions to expensive desktop computers—including affordable laptops designed particularly for poor environments, handheld devices, and other options. ICT in education is a broadening field in no way limited to personal computers.
"ADB aims to nurture the use of ICT concepts in education and, in particular, to ensure useful applications for improving learning and teacher training in education," says Jouko Sarvi, ADB principal education specialist. ADB will work toward some of these goals through a $1 million technical assistance grant to explore the potential for new learning technologies, approved in December 2005, and known as the "Technical Assistance for Innovative Information and Communication Technology in Education, and its Potential for Reducing Poverty in the Asia and Pacific Region."
Financed by the Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund, the project's three components will include implementing studies to support policy and strategy development in the areas of ICT in education, analyzing the extent of demand for it, and determining how it can be used to improve access to quality education and thus reduce poverty
The project will implement pilot studies in Bangladesh, Mongolia, Nepal, and Samoa, piggybacking on ongoing ADBfunded education projects to support trial interventions in e—textbook development and e—teacher training in a small sample of schools. A third component will support an ongoing series of international conferences on ICT in education. The funds will allow more representatives of ADB's developing member countries to travel to the conferences and share their ideas.
To be most successful, however, ADB's support for ICT in education must coincide with investment in appropriate science and technology, as well as centers of excellence pursuing ICT innovations in education. When carefully combined, they will provide a strong impetus.
While some middle—income countries in the region have progressed in science and technology to meet their economic and social development challenges, the majority have fallen short
While some middle—income countries in the region have progressed in science and technology to meet their economic and social development challenges, the majority have fallen short and most lack the capacity to take full advantage of scientific and technological advances.
ADB can play an important role in adapting education systems to provide for the needs of economies reliant on ICT, and science and technology—related industries. It can provide capacity development and help support the links and cooperation necessary between these for their actions to succeed.
It means helping education systems produce graduates with an appropriate mix of skills for a knowledge—based economy.
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