Project “Women’s ICT Trainers Education Centre”

As a part of “Training of ICT Trainers” project, “Equal Opportunities” is organizing module “PC Introduction” with the goal to increase the IT literacy of various target groups. This project was selected as one of the 6 finalists for the Gender and ICT Awards 2003. It is supported by ICT private sector (ICT vendors, operators, Internet service providers).

The project goals are:

The first module of this project is organized in cooperation with Republic Ministry of Education and Sport. Project started in August 2003. The training is five days long, and is organized for the primary schools teachers from rural areas in Serbia. The teachers have the opportunity to get basic knowledge in MS Windows, MS Office, as well as basic skills in internet usage.

The joint plan with the Ministry for Education and sport is to train ten groups of future trainers in 2003. Each group consists of sixteen teachers, and by the end of October 130 persons successfully finished the course. Also, in September, training was organized for the two groups of children and teachers from the Orphan’s Home in Belgrade.

Education is strategically important resource of every society. Teachers are representing the potential biggest group of future trainers, which can transfer information knowledge to their students (and also to the local population). Due to this facts, Center for Training of ICT Trainers in the first place was formed as the Training center for trainers, whose role will be the transfer of IT knowledge and inclusion in the curriculum.

Advanced School of Electrical Engineering and PTT College from Belgrade joined the project realization by providing teachers, equipment and computer laboratories. The project is supported by the companies in the ICT sector: Telekom Srbija, Ericsson, Mobtel, Telegroup, Teri Engineering, Eunet, CYPTT.

To become a part of new society and economy based on knowledge requires IT knowledge and access to computers and appropriate communication network. ICT program will contribute to the country action plans in the process of entering in Information Society. This year in the whole world is marked by preparations of World Summit on Information Society which will take place in Geneva in December, 2003, and in Tunis in 2005. UN delegated the Summit preparation to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), under which is working Work Group on Gender Issues (WGGI). “Equal Opportunities” has active cooperation with WGGI, which in turn included into the action plan also NGO “Equal Opportunities” program. Special attention is given to equal involvement of both women and men in IT knowledge programs, by creating the same opportunities of their access to information and balanced gender representation in the process of strategic decisions and planing of development of Information Society.

Follow up activities on progress of training and gender mainstreaming: