KPESEs Digital Literacy Programme Khyber Pakhtunkhwa initiative is running successfully across 225 Elementary and Secondary Schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In the advent of the digital era, the orthodox and outdated computer science curriculum being taught at schools has become irrelevant to the rapidly evolving and in-demand digital skills. Digital technology has emerged as the single biggest market disruptor and it has not only changed the way we interact with the world around us but has also redefined literacy and competency required to participate in the society as useful citizens.
As we inch towards digitization, it becomes paramount that we bridge the digital divide across the various socio-economic classes of the society by imparting digital literacy and relevant digital skills. This shift in priority needs to be reflected in the curriculum adopted at public schools in order to stay at par with current trends. Coding and Programming are essential tools of computer science. The emergence of drag and drop computer programming has enabled easier learning for coding languages and kids can learn to code using visual code blocks that represent real programming concepts. This particular concept of block coding forms the very essence of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Technology Board’s (KPESE’s) Digital Literacy Programme Khyber Pakhtunkhwa initiative.
KPITB in collaboration with the Elementary & Secondary Education department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa launched the Digital Literacy Programme Khyber Pakhtunkhwa project in 2017.In the Phase-I of the project from January 2017 to December 2017, 3000 students and concerned IT Teachers of 57 Government Schools in 13 districts were trained on EAP curriculum. In the Phase-II of the project from January 2018 to June 2019, the initiative was extended to 300 Government Schools of 14 districts, wherein 17,000 students and IT Teachers of the respective schools were trained on EAP curriculum and currently in Phase-III 11,000 students of 225 schools across 10 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are benefitting from the said Project. The project has produced remarkable results and the computer literacy and digital skill level of the marginalized students of government schools have improved significantly. The curriculum developed for the Digital Literacy Programme Khyber Pakhtunkhwa initiative is by far the most advanced in the country, leaving behind the curriculum offered by most of the renowned private schools. It is pertinent to mention that the Digital Literacy Programme Khyber Pakhtunkhwa initiative falls under the Digital Skills pillar of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Digital Strategy. The initiative is well in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and promises to contribute towards the economic uplifting of the country as well as reducing inequalities and improving the quality of education.
Impart training in 357 (221 boys and 136 girls) government schools in fourteen (14) districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to 20,504 school children of Class-VI to Class-X in Digital Literacy Programme Khyber Pakhtunkhwa & IT Essentials.
Capacity building and human resource development of 357 (Male 216, Female 141) Government IT teachers/instructors on Digital Literacy Programme Khyber Pakhtunkhwa tools and curriculum
Advocacy and Lobbying for “Digital Literacy Programme Khyber Pakhtunkhwa & IT Essentials” become a core part of Government High Schools curriculum.
Code.org® is a non-profit dedicated to expanding access to computer science, and increasing participation by children involvement. Our vision is that every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science, just like any other subject. Code.org is supported by generous donors including Microsoft, Facebook, the Infosys Foundation, Google, Omidyar Network, and many more.
With Scratch, you can program your own interactive stories, games, and animations — and share your creations with others in the online community. Scratch helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively — essential skills for life in the 21st century. Scratch is a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. It is provided free of charge.
Mobirise is a free offline application for Window and Mac. It is easily create small/medium websites, landing pages, online resumes and portfolios, promo sites for apps, events, services and products. Mobirise provide simple, appealing and responsive templates for students to create websites. It is a drag-and-drop based website builder and is designed to construct small-medium sized websites, landing pages, portfolios, and other such low-functionality websites.
MIT App Inventor is an innovative beginner's introduction to programming and app creation that transforms the complex language of text-based coding into visual, drag-and-drop building blocks. The simple graphical interface grants even an inexperienced novice the ability to create a basic, fully functional app within an hour or less.
Digital Literacy Programme Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Project is running successfully in 300 Elementary and Secondary Schools across fourteen districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Course contents of Digital Literacy Programme Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Project have been designed to bridge the digital divide across the various socio-economic classes of the society by imparting digital literacy and relevant digital skills to stay at par with current trends.