Brainstorming Workshop "Towards Introducing E-learning at the Palestinian Education System"

The Belgian Government has been active in the education sector since the start of its cooperation with the Palestinian Authority. The Cooperation first started with:

1. The Palestinian Curriculum Development Centre (PCDC)

The development of the Palestinian Curriculum for grades 1 to 12, the production of textbooks and the rehabilitation of schools. The Curriculum development program has benefited many teachers, schools and children. The program continues to do so until today as the teacher’s training program is still effective, as well as the textbook production and assessment.  

Consequently, the Cooperation continued with the:

2. The Indicative Cooperation Programme 2002-2006 which supported:

• The construction of a girls‘ school in Kufr Raee. The Belgian Development Cooperation also approved to fund the rehabilitation of a boys‘ school in the same village with the savings generated from the girls‘ school.
• The construction of 8 schools in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, of which 4 girls’ schools, 2 boys’ schools and 2 coed schools.
• The improvement of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Palestine (West Bank and Gaza Strip). 

3. The New Indicative Cooperation Programme 2008-2011 for West Bank and Gaza; approved by the third meeting of the Joint Committee on Development Cooperation, gives priority to the Education Sector and to the Local Government Sector.

The new ICP includes a support to the introduction of E-learning into the Palestinian education system and a support to school construction, rehabilitation and equipment.

As a first step in the design of the future e-learning project, a short-term consultancy (180 days) is under way to help developing a National E-learning Strategy for the Palestinian Education System. Subsequently, the project will be formulated and implemented. Four Million Euros is available for this project.

On the 9th till the 17th of February 2009 a Technical Support Mission to Palestine by Matthias Risler, advisor EST – Education & Training was carried for the Education Sector in Palestine specifically for the E-learning project.

A brainstorming workshop "Towards Introducing E-learning at the Palestinian Education System" was conducted in Ramallah on the 16th of February 2009, at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education with funding from the Belgium Technical Cooperation.

This brainstorming workshop was directed by Dr. Matthias Risler and Dr. Wasel Ghanem.

The attendances were mainly from universities departments; Ministry of Education and Higher Education officials and school representatives on experience with and expertise in the introduction of ICT in education: in primary and secondary education; TVET and non-formal / adult education as well as teacher education and training.

The workshop covered:

• Experiences to be highlighted
• Role of ICT as an enabler of pedagogic innovation and quality development of teaching and learning
• International Trends in Education
• Quality Factor in Education
• Challenges of Palestinian Education Initiative (PEI)
• Promoting Educational Quality
• Improving quality of Learning Environment at Schools

Working groups were formed for the brainstorming of:

• What are the features/characteristics of the proposed curricula that we need to develop in Palestine in order to improve the quality of learning environment at school?
• What are the features/characteristics of the “good” approach that we need to adopt in curricula development?
• Project main outputs and indicators, key activities, key stakeholders to be involved in each activity.

The Brainstorming Workshop with “stakeholders” and experts in e-learning has highlighted the potentials of e-learning in the process of improving the quality of education, but also some of the major bottlenecks. At the same time, the participants have identified a series of enabling conditions, which are necessary for improving learning conditions in the classroom (and outside), where the learning process takes place.

It also reached its principal aim to federate university teachers and researchers among themselves and all of them with MoEHE and Palestinian Curriculum Development Centre (PCDC) professional staff, to build the basis for joint programming and implementation of a new intervention bringing e-learning to schools with the objective of improving learning outcomes.