Multimedia class in 15,000 schools by March

Works to set up technology-based multimedia classrooms, with modern teaching methods, in the 15,000 secondary and higher secondary schools of the country will be complete by upcoming March, said officials concerned.
The government has targeted to set up 20,500 multimedia classrooms in the secondary and higher secondary schools across the country, aiming to stop students from memorising whatever they are taught, they added.
“The government has already set up 4,000 multimedia classrooms and equipment, including laptops and multimedia projectors, have been sent to another 7,000 educational institutions for launching multimedia classes,” Abul Kalam Azad, director of the government-run Information and Communication Technology Education project, told the news agency on Saturday.
He said 12,000 teachers have already been trained up while user-friendly digital contents for teachers to use in classrooms have been developed with the technical assistance of Access to Information (A2I) Programme of the Prime Minister's Office.
The multimedia classrooms are being set up in the educational institutions following the model innovated by Access to Information (A2I) Programme of the Prime Minister's Office.
National Project Director of A2I Programme Md Nazrul Islam Khan said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on May 20, 2012 launched 1,000 multimedia classrooms for secondary and primary schools in support of the education ministry's initiative to set up 20,500 multimedia classrooms by the end of 2013.
He said Tk 1,23,900 is required to set up a multimedia classroom in a school as per the model innovated by the A2I Programme.
“By setting up a multimedia classroom at the cost of Tk 1 lakh we have saved a substantial amount of money.
“Earlier, before the introduction of the model innovated by the A2I Programme, a huge amount of money was required to set up a multimedia classroom in a school,” said Nazrul Islam Khan.
He said it would be an exceptional experience for the students as learning from digital contents stimulates the enjoyment of learning and engages them in ways that encourages and feeds their thirst for knowledge.
Nazrul Islam Khan said the training provided to teachers increased their skill and facilitated the use of their creativity in preparing and delivering lessons.