ICT for education in rural Malaysia By Alice Kok | 19 November 2008

Sekolah Menegah Kebangsaan (SMK) Tenom in a remote part of Sabah state boasts a wireless connection and computer-aided programmes for its students. This connection is meant to help these students keep pace with others in larger, more privileged districts in the state and across Malaysia.

Abdul Aziz Mohamed Zain Headmaster of SMK Tenom says having ICT in place has promoted excellence in teaching and enhanced students’ learning. “Students are excited about using computers in their lessons. Interest in learning and computer skills has improved.”

Under the 9th Malaysia Plan, the Education Ministry has allocated US$6.3 million for the replacement of ICT equipment and infrastructure.

Recently, the internet service speed has been upgraded by the ministry from 2MB to 4MB and this infrastructure is shared by primary and boarding school students. Currently, there are 80 personal computers located in the computer labs, a kiosk, offices and classrooms. On average, one personal computer is allocated to every 13 students.

Other than using ICT in school subjects, students are exposed to applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Flash and downloadable online software.

A boost for ICT training By ZUHRIN AZAM AHMAD zuhrinazam@thestar.com.my

CYBERJAYA: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has opened the first Huawei global training centre outside China that will put Malaysia on the world map of ICT players.

The Huawei Malaysia Global Training centre here is aimed at positioning Malaysia as the venue for global professional training in the next generation of ICT technologies.

The Prime Minister said the facility would provide training to Huawei's global customers from the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

                                          

                                               

 

The fact that Huawei chose Malaysia over 140 countries to build this centre is a great honour,” he said.

“But I would like to think that it is a reflection of the increasingly important role we play in the global marketplace.

“All these initiatives by Huawei are expected to contribute a total of RM1.2bil in gross national income by 2020,” he said here yesterday.

Huawei is a leading global ICT solutions provider with about 150,000 employees and its revenue last year stood at US$35bil (RM111bil). Among its clients are 45 of the world's top 50 telecommunication operators.

Najib said Malaysia was entering a crucial phase of transformation where the challenges did not get any easier as it aimed to become a developed nation by 2020.

“That is why, in making that final push, Malaysia must make every effort to cultivate a knowledge-intensive and innovation-led economy

“To this end, I introduced the Economic Transformation Prog-ramme which identifies 12 key areas with the potential to drive economic growth and 131 Entry Point Projects to kick-start development across those sectors.

“The ETP's aim is simple: To drive growth, investment and create jobs without neglecting to take into account the complexity of modern economy and, in particular, the fact that digital technology continues to exert an increasing influence in every aspect of our lives from business and entertainment to communications, content and infrastructure,” he said.

Najib added that the digital economy now accounted for more than a third of global trade while total worldwide ICT spending was expected to grow by 3.7% to US$3.8tril (RM12.1tril) this year.