Hi Andy, Well done!
As a Linuxchic, I should have added gender issues in my comments. How will that be taken care of? Best Regards Anna Badimo -- WITS University ---------- Original Message ----------- From: Andy Carvin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wed, 23 Feb 2005 05:35:44 -0500 Subject: [Telecentres] Text and podcast of Andy's plenary remarks > Hi everyone, > > Below is the text of my remarks in this morning's intergovernmental > plenary, on behalf of the education, academia and research taskforce, > and the telecentres caucus. I have published a recording of my > remarks, available in OGG and MP3 formats. > > http://www.andycarvin.com/podcasts/plenary-carvin.ogg > http://www.andycarvin.com/podcasts/plenary-carvin.mp3 > > Thanks to everyone who offered input on the text. -andy > > A Joint Statement from the Education, Academia and Research Taskforce > and the Telecentres Caucus > > Presented by Andy Carvin, Digital Divide Network > Palais des Nations, Geneva > 23 February 2005 > > ------- > > Madame Chair, thank you for the opportunity to speak. > > We, the members of civil society's education, academia and research > taskforce and the telecentres caucus, have come together to address the > importance of the proper financing of educational ICTs and human capacity > building. ICTs can be a key tool in achieving universal primary > education, while wired schools and non-formal learning institutions > such as telecenters can play a major role in addressing the > development agenda of the MDGs. > > When considering appropriate financing mechanisms for bridging the digital > divide, do not neglect the role that schools, universities and non-formal > educational institutions such as telecentres play as a community hub > for building local knowledge, and integrating marginalized > communities into the information society. > > Schools, universities, telecentres, libraries and other learning > institutions all have an existing infrastructure that focus on the future > -- the potential of our children and young people. If properly > financed, this infrastructure can serve as a backbone for bridging > the digital divide. These institutions offer direct benefit to the > young people of the world, who cannot afford to be left on the wrong > side of the digital divide; their long-term wellbeing and prosperity > are at stake. > > However, it is not enough to finance infrastructure initiatives only- > educational capacity building such as professional development for teachers > and curriculum development must also be addressed simultaneously. Learners > must have access to curricula that is linguistically and culturally > appropriate, including open courseware. > > Moreover, there is a natural synergy that exists between ICT-enabled > schools, telecentres and similar institutions. Schools should be financed > so they too may serve as community-based telecentres, while > telecentres can serve as educational institutions in themselves. > This notion of multi-purposing should be addressed when making > decisions on investing funds to bridge the digital divide. > > As digital divide initiatives are financed, communities must have a vested > interest in the success of these institutions if they are to succeed > in the long-term. Financing models that embrace bottom-up approaches > will help foster educational ICT initiatives that address the > development needs of each community. > > We also encourage further investment in the development of local open > courseware initiatives. Open courseware offers an educational model for > promoting open access, cultural and linguistic diversity, and a > spectrum of teaching and learning styles. These initiatives should > be networked for worldwide capacity building. > > With these ideas in mind, we offer the following amendments to the chapter > regarding financing mechanisms: > > Paragraph 14: Change the phrase "capacity building" to educational > and human capacity building; > > Paragraph 15, last clause: change to: ...as a tool for the > achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. > > Paragraph 21, last sentence: change the phrase "poverty reduction > strategies" to "education and poverty reduction strategies"; > > Paragraph 23a: Change to: ICT capacity-building programmes, > materials, tools, educational funding, curriculum such as open > courseware, and specialized training initiatives, especially for > regulators, educators and other public sector employees and organizations. > > Paragraph 24h, end of the last clause, change to: "especially in the > public sector, including education." > > Thank you very much. > > ------------------------------------------------- > Andy Carvin > Program Director > EDC Center for Media & Community > acarvin @ edc . org > http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org > http://www.edwebproject.org/andy/blog/ > ------------------------------------------------- > > _______________________________________________ > telecentres mailing list > [email protected] > http://mailman-new.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/telecentres > To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. ------- End of Original Message ------- _______________________________________________ telecentres mailing list [email protected] http://mailman-new.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/telecentres To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
