Google for Education Team Visits Ministry of Federal Education to discuss Pakistan’s First Educational Innovation Centre of Excellence 22 September 2022, Islamabad: Google for Education team along with Tech Valley, Pakistan visited the Federal Ministry of Education and Professional Training to understand the current challenges of the education sector of Pakistan and discuss the execution plan for Pakistan’s first Educational Innovation Centre of Excellence in Pakistan (EICE). EICE is a part of a larger digital education transformation journey that has been previously launched in 9 countries across the globe. The experience, research, output, and challenges accumulated from different countries will be duplicated in Pakistan with the help of the local country partner of Google for Education, Tech Valley Pakistan. The program will contribute to promoting skill sets for teachers and students with respect to the digital transformation of the education sector. Aamir Ashraf Khawaja Secretary – Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training appreciated the Educational Innovation Center of Excellence provision in Pakistan and mentioned it can transform the educational ecosystem of Pakistan by empowering teachers with professional development and equipping schools with technology. Chris Malone, Education Specialist, Google for Education said, “I am excited to visit Pakistan to discuss implementation of Educational Innovation Center of Excellence at a school, Islamabad, that will be transformed with the help of Google for Education tools and Chromebooks. He also added that Pakistan has a huge potential for digital transformation in the educational ecosystem. A detailed research will be conducted in this center with the help of an academic partner where researchers will test different practices to develop a localized content and promote technology adoption at teachers and students level. Such centers were previously launched in Indonesia, Japan, Korea and Vietnam for successful digital transformation and professional development of teachers, students and administrators involved in education. Umar Farooq, CEO of Tech Valley said, “With our vision and mission to bring the technological revolution to the educational ecosystem, we are happy to share that the Educational Innovation Center of Excellence will incorporate 21st-century tools, like Chromebooks and Google for Education, with a localised content and context. He further shared the progress of other projects and added that with technology, we can also help flood-affected areas with pilot initiatives like School on Wheels, which can be used later for Out of School Children.
