School on Wheels, a Google-funded pilot project aims to encourage students to continue their education by providing engaging curricula and enjoyable activities.
School On Wheels, a Google-funded pilot project, was launched in Dera Ismail Khan to assist flood-affected students in returning to school.
The Ministry of Federal Education and the KP Education Department have launched an initiative in Government Higher Secondary School Shorkot to provide classroom amenities and powerful devices, such as Chromebooks, to students in Dera Ismail Khan.
Tech Valley, a Google Education Partner in Pakistan, is implementing this project. Heavy rains and flash floods damaged over 350 school buildings, causing educational activities to be disrupted in some areas of the D. I. Khan district.
According to an official in the district education department, the recent rains and floods have destroyed or damaged approximately 257 male and 87 female schools across the district’s five tehsils.
A single model will be deployed for three months at DI Khan as a proof-of-concept, complete with internet, generator, foldable desks, whiteboard, and LCD to create an effective teaching and learning environment.
School on Wheels, a Google-funded pilot project, aims to encourage students to continue their education by providing engaging curricula and enjoyable activities.
KP Minister of Local Government, Elections, and Rural Development, said on the occasion, “Our government prioritises education, and we applaud Google for Education and Tech Valley for taking on this initiative.”
“According to the Minister of Local Government, School on Wheels is a fantastic facility for training our youth in IT from the ground up to world-class standards. We hope that by launching this initiative, we can attract students to educational activities that will pique their interest in exploring the digital world,” the minister continued.
“We are thankful to Google for helping us visualise the idea and execute it with the help of multiple local and international teams,” said Waseem Ajmal, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Federal Education.
The Ministry of Education will investigate additional opportunities to scale up this concept through this pilot initiative. “It has the potential to transform Pakistan’s educational ecosystem by providing professional development to teachers and equipping schools with technology,” he said during the inaugural ceremony.
The Google for Education team also participated remotely in the launch ceremony, as did representatives from the Ministry of Federal Education, the KP Education Department, the Deputy Commissioner, and D. I. Khan, who also attended the ceremony.
“With this initiative, we plan to engage and motivate students in D. I. Khan to pursue their education after being affected by floods and equip them with basic digital literacy skills so they can continue learning remotely in the future,” said Umar Farooq, CEO of Tech Valley.