The Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (APCICT), in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Science, of Kyrgyz Republic, Central Asian Research and Education Network (CAREN), and Kyrgyz State Technical University, co-organized the High Level Briefing on the Primer Series on ICTD for Youth on 28 April 2017.
The event was attended by over 120 participants comprising of officials from the Kyrgyzstan Ministry of Education and Science and representatives from various universities including Kyrgyz National University, Academy of Education of Kyrgyzstan and Kyrgyz Turkish Manas University. The briefing highlighted the enabling role of ICT in achieving the 2030 Development Agenda and the importance of strengthening the coverage of ICTD education in university curricula. It highlighted APCICT’s learning resources (called Primer Series) on ICT for development that can be used by university professors and lecturers in undergraduate and graduate courses.
The high-level briefing also introduced APCICT’s Engaged Learning initiative, a pedagogical approach that links classroom learning to community development. Through Engaged Learning, students have been provided the opportunity to develop and implement ICT-based projects that benefit local communities. Experiences from Mahasarakham University (Thailand) and Kathmandu University (Nepal) were showcased to the participants to share how other universities are adopting the Engaged Learning practice.
About the Primer Series on ICTD for Youth
APCICT’s second flagship programme is called “Turning Today’s Youth into Tomorrow’s Leaders” (TTYL). It aims to create future leaders who possess a sound understanding of the role of the ICT in promoting sustainable development. The programme seeks to impart key knowledge of ICT for sustainable development to students and youth. Within the TTYL programme, APCICT introduced the Primer Series on ICTD for Youth (Primer Series) to provide learning resources on ICT for development for institutions of higher education in Asia and the Pacific. This will help expand the coverage of ICTD education in curricula of colleges and universities. More information is available at www.unapcict.org/pr.
