Key Facts
Start date: ................. August 1, 2003
End date: .................. March 31, 2008
Implementor: ........... Education Development Center (EDC)
Description
The USAID e-Schools project improves the quality of teaching and enables the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) by teachers and students. The project is using the 6,000 computers donated by the Chinese Government to introduce ICT in Macedonian schools and create an education portal that will link the school communities in a virtual working environment. The Ministry of Education and Science, as well as the Bureau for Development of Education are closely involved in all training programs and activities, ensuring that the quality of education in Macedonia is improved through project work.
Impact
e-Schools trained secondary school teachers with basic ICT and a more advanced “Curriculum and Technology Integration” training to enable them to use computers to teach math, science and foreign languages.
The first educational web portal in Macedonia (www.schools.edu.mk) was turned over to the Ministry of Education and Science in September 2007.
The “ToolKid” software application was adapted for use by Macedonian and Albanian-speaking 1st – 4th grade primary school teachers.
Over 60 percent of trained primary school teachers are applying alternative and innovative instructional practices. 92 percent consider diverse approaches to learning. 60 percent have undertaken a group-based lesson or a project-based unit. 76 percent of the teachers plan a facilitator’s role for themselves and 98 percent for their students.
40 percent of the trained secondary school teachers are applying alternative and innovative instructional practices.
Legacy
By instigating the use of ICT in the public educational system in Macedonia, the e-Schools Project has left a rich and therefore exigent legacy to all its stakeholders. The legacy can be seen in three different aspects in which the project has built capacities - ICT infrastructure in schools through the computer installation, human resources through the comprehensive training, and digital content through the creation of the educational web portal and supplemental on-line materials for teaching primary and secondary school chemistry.
Contact Information
U.S.Agency for International Development
U.S Embassy, Samoilova 21,1000 Skopje, Macedonia
Telephone: +(389) 2 310 2000 Fax +(389) 2 310 2463
USAID Mission contact:
Natasha Buleska, AOTR
E-mail:nbuleska@usaid.gov
USAID Development Outreach and Communication office
Biljana Velickovska, DOC Specialist