€8.6m invested in state school eLearning Solution

Transport minister Austin Gatt and parliamentary assistant Stephen Spiteri announced €8.6 million investment in an eLearning Solution for state schools in Malta.

The investment, part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund Programme, is intended to strengthen Malta’s educational system by merging ICT and traditional teaching methods for students, teachers and parents alike online.

“Government is fully committed towards this project as we believe that by investing in our children, we are ultimately investing in our country’s future," minister Austin Gatt said.

Software firm Fronter was selected to provide the eLearning solution and a seven-year agreement was signed with the Malta IT Agency (MITA). Implementation will begin next month and will be available to all state schools in Malta and Gozo by mid-2013.  

Learners in primary and secondary schools will have access to high quality interactive learning content as well as an online space to interact with fellow learners.

Educators will be provided with online means to create, maintain and distribute their learning materials as well as space to store students’ work and performance reports.

“We have ensured that the eLearning Centre within the Ministry for Education is fully equipped with the necessary staff that are qualified to deal with the support that teachers in schools might have in using the eLearning solution. Members from the Centre will also be visiting schools to explain to parents how the system works and address their queries,” Spiteri said.