The Mauritius ministry of Education and Microsoft have signed an agreement to popularize the information tool as a means for the transmission of knowledge in the country’s educational sector.
The agreement, Programme Partners in Learning (PPL) will benefit some 12 000 teachers and 270 000 students of the primary and secondary sectors of Mauritius and will be spread over five years.
At the signing ceremony on Saturday in Port Louis, Alexandre Brouchoud, Microsoft Public Sector Lead, said the company’s initiative was to help every country in their strategies of promoting the information technology as a learning tool.
Mauritius’ education minister, Dr Vasant Bunwaree, for his part, said the initiative coincides with the government’s new strategic education plan and that partnership will help raise the level of computer literacy among students and teachers.
The first stage of the program will consist in helping teachers master the information technology so that they are well prepared to pass it on later to their students.
Microsoft will put at the disposal of teachers specific software at extremely reduced price and will also encourage students to become “life-long learners and uplift their knowledge and interest through internet.”
The second stage will consist of installing computers in all classes in schools and colleges of the country.
The program will also allow exchanges between educational departments of different countries through a network which has been set up by Microsoft.
Also Brouchard indicated that Microsoft will help Mauritius organize a National Innovative Teachers Forum next year. Winning participants will then represent the island at the Pan African Innovative Teachers Forum.
Source African Press Agency
