| posted: Tuesday March 10, 2009 |
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Beirut, Lebanon, on March 10th 2009:
Building on its dedication to enhance educational initiatives and reform, Intel, in collaboration with Arab Thought Foundation (ATF), Triple C and the Ministry of Education has launched the first of its 1:1 e-learning program in Lebanon. This program initially underlined in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in December 2007, the “Dissemination of Digital Learning in Arab Countries” project, which saw the donation of 9,000 PCs built on Intel technology and allocated for education purposes in Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan.
Lebanon was selected as the first Arab country to pilot the e-learning initiative with a donation of 560 PCs of the Intel-powered classmate PCs to the Ministry of Education, which were then distributed to nine public schools across the country. With the support and guidance of the Lebanese Minister of Education and Higher Education, Mrs. Bahia Al Hariri, a working group was formed to follow-up the implementation of this project and included representatives from the aforesaid Ministry, the ATF, Intel Corp. and Triple C Company (Intel agent in Lebanon). Following the selection process, workshops were set-up to acquaint participants with the concept of digital learning, while introducing and training them on the methodologies and tools used in digital education; Intel-powered classmate PCs, digital content and others. As a result of this, both faculty members and students at the selected schools will have access to high performance computing, enhancing their quality of education through digital literacy.
His Royal Highness Prince Bandar Bin Khalid Al Faisal, member of the ATF's Board of Trustees, accompanied by the Ministry’s Director General, Mr. Fadi Yaraq, the General Manager of Intel Corporation in Egypt, the Levant and North Africa, and Dr. Soliman Abdel Moniem, ATF Secretary General, had a field visit to one of the schools benefiting from the donation offered by the Arab Thought Foundation considering the impact of this initiative and making sure that the students are appropriately using and benefiting from these modern learning tools.
Afterwards, the delegation headed to the headquarters of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to meet with the Her Excellency the Minister of Education and Higher Education, Mrs. Bahia Hariri and representatives from the media in a press conference attended also by HRH Prince Bandar Bin Khalid Al-Faisal and Mr. Khalid el Amrawi, Intel’s Manager in the Middle East, Egypt and North Africa.
The press conference shed the light on the project, the methods of its implementation as well as the future steps.
In her opening speech, Her Excellency, the Minister Bahia Hariri thanked His Royal Highness and the Arab Thought Foundation as well as Intel and Triple C and all those who contributed to the project’s success. She emphasized on the importance of digital education by saying that the positive response to the initiative proves the increasing demand on the use of technology in education. She added that digital education and communication are becoming highly important for competitiveness worldwide; therefore, it is crucial that local talents be encouraged by paving the way for them to better use these tools. “It is an honor for us today to show our commitment and to provide all education’s institutions with this technology”, she said. In the end of her speech, the minister invited the head and members of the Foundation’s board of trustees to Beirut in May 2010, to participate in the 10th anniversary for launching the Arab Thought Foundation “as a token of loyalty from Beirut to those who were faithful to it”.
Prince Bandar Bin Khalid Al-Faisal said in his speech that using this technology in the education process in the Arab countries is a huge step and a leap forward for the schools and their traditional curricula. He added: “The initiative that brings us here today promotes knowledge which is one of the objectives that the Arab Thought Foundation aims at achieving, knowing that education and knowledge are the basis of the human being who represents the real treasure of the country. Improving our children's educational environment is not only the teachers and the government's responsibility, it is however also the result of common efforts between all society’s sectors. We do hope that this initiative which is financed by the honorable members of ATF board of trustees would motivate businessmen and intellectuals in the Arab world donating more to educational institutions in their societies, in order to disseminate digital learning and deploy the needed efforts for our countries to meet the requirements of the modern world and bridge the digital gap between the East and the West. ATF is proud to implement the first phase of the project in Lebanon, the country that embraced the Foundation since its inception.”
"We recognize that in today’s knowledge economy, a modern and technological approach to education is required, which will result in tomorrow’s workforce being more digitally capable,” said Khalid Elamrawi, Intel General Manager in Egypt, The Levant and North Africa. “For forty years Intel has focused on aligning the growth of technology with that of education. Initiatives such as Intel® TeachandIntel® TeachAdvancedOnline, amplify our joint collaboration and successes with the Ministry of Education, showing that technology can truly make a difference in the classroom".
"Being an Intel Channel Partner Premier TRIPLE C has contributed to the success of this project by providing full end to end integration", said Bernard Rizk, Triple C President CEO. "Intel-powered classmate PC is a great tool for schools who believe that digital learning is an important step to enhance their educational system. With this laptop designed for children, students can go beyond the books and access great resources to enrich their education in order to assure a promising future.
He further added: “Thanks to Intel’s strategy of empowering local channel partners in Lebanon to deliver technology solutions, we have aligned our long expertise in the design and implementation of Integrated IT Systems with Intel’s technology, ATF support and the collaboration of the ministry of education, in order to make from this project a good example to follow”.
Phase two of the initiative, currently under implementation, works on gauging the responsiveness of teachers and students to the newly learning methods, with a focus on assisting them to overcome any difficulties they may encounter. Until now, the feedback has been very positive, with teachers acknowledging that the use of the Intel-powered class PC has increased overall student engagement and productivity.
About the ATF:
The Arab Thought Foundation is an independent, international, non-governmental institution, having no political or sectarian. It is a solidarity initiative between the business community and the intellectuals to promote the proud attachment to the nation core values through a responsible freedom. Dedicated to all domains of knowledge, i.e. science, medicine, economy, management, information and literature, the Foundation unites intellectual and cultural efforts to promote the attainment of the nation’s solidarity, its advancement and the preservation of its identity.
The Arab Thought Foundation was established by HRH Prince Khalid Al Faisal; its members comprise elite Arab businessmen from all Arab countries, in addition to a number of thinkers, intellectuals and experts in all cultural and scientific fields. The Foundation holds three annual conferences namely “FIKR” Annual Conference and issues the Arab Report on Cultural Development deemed the index of cultural development in the Arab world.
Please visit our website:
www.arabthought.org
About Intel Corporation:Intel [NASDAQ: INTC], the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live. Additional information about Intel is available at
www.intel.com/pressroom and
http://blogs.intel.com.
About Triple C:
Since its inception in 1994, Triple C has provided turnkey information technology solutions for different vertical market segments in Lebanon. Triple C uses best-of-breed products from reputable international suppliers. TRIPLE C adds value using highly experienced and dedicated technical teams to provide professional consultancy and integration services combined with professional support and technical assistance. Additional information about TRIPLE C is available at
www.Triplec.com.lb.