ICT Congress to highlight 'challenges in education'

The International Congress on Information, Communication Technology (ICT) next month, will highlight the topic on "Unfulfilled promises of the digital revolution and the many obstacles on the road towards Universality in Education."

Swiss Ambassador of Federal department of foreign affairs, Walter Fust, is set to discuss on this topic to give participants a wider view of ICT development and its challenges in the worldwide landscape.

The event, which will be held at Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino on November 16 to 18, carries the theme "Global Challenge in Education." It is organized by the Commission on Higher Education (Ched-7), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda-7), and Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) in cooperation with the Cebu Development Agency for Cooperation (CDAC).

Fust, who is also the chairman of the board of GKP, said that despite the technological potential to overcome geographical distances and remove socio-economic barriers, millions of children are still deprived of the right to basic education and excluded from acquiring the necessary skills for a life in dignity.

GKP is a network dealing with knowledge, information and communication technologies (ICTs) within the scope for cooperation.

According to Fust, his talk will focus on the obstacles towards universality in education which will explore under the perspectives of three major challenges, these are; the challenge in providing affordable access to ICT; the challenge of cultural diversity and multilingualism, highlighting the need for relevant meaningful and content in educational material; and the challenge of continuous teacher development.

Significantly, Fust will emphasize on the need for creating a new momentum for bridging the educational gaps.

He said that the gaps will be achieved by combining the resources of different stakeholders, public and private, by sharing relevant experiences and knowledge, and by building broad based alliances at national and international level.

The upcoming ICT Congress, is the first ever event, initiated by the three government-owned institutions in the regional level, CHED, Tesda, and Department of Education.

The congress is expected to draw around 1,500 delegates from all over the Philippines and representatives from 40 countries.

CHED-7 regional director Enrique P. Grecia said that the holding of the Congress is an independent move of the three agencies in education sector, without being told by their respective head offices.

"We wanted to update the academe, students, teachers, and other stakeholders in ICT on the latest trend in technology right now. We hope to provide knowledge buildings [academe], and the students the update and prospects in technology," said Grecia in an earlier interview.