Education Sector ICT
STUCK UP A BIT
Globalisation and rapid technological change have made knowledge a critical determinant of competitiveness in the world economy. Information and communications tech-nologies contribute to education that ultimately hasten improvement of standards of living. With increasing demands for a highly-skilled work force, it is clear that New Zealand accords a high priority to building the capacity that effectively utilises technology in education.
Within the current scheme of ICT for education in New Zealand, the Crown’s role is to fund network infra-structure, hardware, software and technical support of schools. The role of the Ministry of Education, on the other hand, is to allocate resources and set standards. But the role of schools are to develop, design and maintain their own ICT systems and infrastructure to meet needs of students, teachers and their organisations. This is where things may get stuck up a bit as most schools have difficulty defining their ICT needs much less implementing them effectively.
TREMENDOUS OBSTACLES
Our youth face tremendous obstacles and challenges in regard to school-to-work transitions. This refers to the critical socio-economic life changing period between approximately 15 to 24 years of age – a period when young individuals develop and build skills, based on their initial education and training that helps them become productive members of the society.
Some of the most immediate economic considerations of this period in a young person’s life include issues related to education and skills development, unemployment and inactivity, job search, labour market entry and segmentation, occupational matches, stable employment and adequate income. Analysing the transition from school to work is quite complex. It is because many young people begin employment while in school, migrate out of their communities, perform casual or unpaid work, or are easily discouraged from job searching. But, there are also multiple pathways for acquiring skills and furthering education including different institutional set ups and mechanisms for skills development.
With knowledge as the crucial input for productive processes within today’s economy, the efficiency by which knowledge is acquired and applied determines economic success. Effective use of ICT does contribute to the timely transmission of information and knowledge, thereby helping our education system meet these challenges.
GATEWAY TO OPPORTUNITY
Networking technologies also have the potential to increase the availability of quality educational materials. Their interactivity and global reach allow for customised sharing of knowledge, materials, and databases, quickly and cost-effectively over long geographic distances. Furthermore, online resources offer educators access to a vast and diverse collection of educational materials, enabling them to design curricula that best meet the needs of their students.
In New Zealand, secondary education is a gateway to opportunities and benefits of economic and social development. It is now being recognised as the cornerstone of educational systems in the 21st century. The task before today’s societies is to transform secondary education institutions and current schooling practices and align them with the demands of a globalised and technology-driven world.
School boards and educators must continue to address the twin challenges of increasing access to and improving the quality and relevance of secondary education for all our young people. In doing so, secondary education systems everywhere across our country will need to be more flexible and responsive to local needs in light of the global environment in the 21st century.
This is where Digital Summit’s expertise and support for ICT in education is primarily focused on.