Investing in information technology in the countryside
Mongolia is budding with opportunities for business and entrepreneurial growth as a result of the country’s mineral wealth. Corporations are investing in the economic development of the region. Ask anyone who has lived in this country for the past few years and you will hear about the incredible changes that have taken place, transforming Ulaanbaatar’s landscape and economy. While new buildings go up, inflation has also gone up, causing prices to spike about ten to twenty percent within the last year. The end result is that yes, opportunities are blossoming, but also the pressures of day to day life are also increasing as Mongolians work to make a living. Foreigner violence has also risen in the past few years, with a reason being that Mongolians worry that their country’s wealth is being taken away from them. While foreigners are needed to develop the country, if you listen to any high profile business conversation among professional and executive expats, you will hear them say that there is a lack of trained local workforce to hire. What are the answers to these problems? Essentially you have an incredible growth combined with a gap in skilled local workers that can develop the country.
I spoke with Onchinsuren Dendevsambuu, Country Managing Partner at Deloitte, about the lack of technical skills young Mongolians have. She relayed that educational and community development projects tend to take place within Ulaanbaatar but not in the countryside or smaller cities. Ulaanbaatar has been growing as people move in from the countryside and smaller cities to find work. Deloitte- partnering with Onch Audit-recently opened its first Mongolia division within Ulaanbaatar in January of this year and had its official opening ceremony the 20th of April. Now Deloitte is working in conjunction with Jiguur Primary and Secondary School (translates to “Wings”) in Darkhan to improve the transfer of skills and knowledge.
“This helps students outside UB as they come to UB without experience and without computer skills so this gives them a head start” said Onchinsuren.
However, the teachers at Jiguur School had a different idea. They wanted to be able to use the lap tops to plan their lessons. Their argument was: how can we help students to use computers when we don’t know how to use them ourselves? So, they convinced Deloitte to donate the lap tops for the teachers to use.
Onchinsuren relays that though this was not her initial intention, the timing was perfect because Jiguur School had recently hired a passionate new principal who had been working on a project to bring the technology of the school up to speed. She has been busy writing proposals to NGO’s and donors to create a Teacher Development Lab. So far in the works is a plan to create a room with ten desktop computers, complete with scanners and printers to be donated by a parliament member. Jiguur School has ninety teachers, most of whom create written lesson plans rather than using computers. Discussing the plans of the school more with the principal and teachers, she was persuaded to also invest first in the teachers to improve their skills set as well as technology and training materials. She was impressed by the initiative of the principal and felt the program would be sustainable.
“We want to focus on simple objectives and not make it too complicated. We want to see the teachers’ improvement within one year’s time. To have them learn the Word program and how to create and present lesson plans on computers. We are really contributing to make their {Jiguur faculty’s} project sustainable,” Onchinsuren told me. After the teachers’ skills have been improved, the next focus will be on the students.
Teachers are still preparing and filing their grades hand-written on paper, afraid that they will lose data because they are not used to using computers. It is for these reasons and more that education is not up to international standards and that there is a lack of trained workforce to take part in the development projects booming in Mongolia. International staff is brought in from other countries because Mongolia can’t supply its own staff yet.
The school is planning to create a local area computer network—the first ever—for Jiguur School. They also want to have thirty-six TVs and thirty-six desk tops in the classrooms. They have a budget approved from the government for this project, according to Onchinsuren.
“Having one computer per classroom is not enough for ninety teachers. Having their own computers help them become computer literate.” Deloitte has donated thirteen lap tops so far but is working to get other international Deloitte offices involved so that when they change their lap tops, they consider donating them to the school.
I spoke with Onchinsuren Dendevsambuu, Country Managing Partner at Deloitte, about the lack of technical skills young Mongolians have. She relayed that educational and community development projects tend to take place within Ulaanbaatar but not in the countryside or smaller cities. Ulaanbaatar has been growing as people move in from the countryside and smaller cities to find work. Deloitte- partnering with Onch Audit-recently opened its first Mongolia division within Ulaanbaatar in January of this year and had its official opening ceremony the 20th of April. Now Deloitte is working in conjunction with Jiguur Primary and Secondary School (translates to “Wings”) in Darkhan to improve the transfer of skills and knowledge.
Deloitte has donated their old lap tops to Jiguur School with the intention of helping to bring Darkhan students into the technology loop. Onchinsuren wanted to create a computer lab for students.
“This helps students outside UB as they come to UB without experience and without computer skills so this gives them a head start” said Onchinsuren.
However, the teachers at Jiguur School had a different idea. They wanted to be able to use the lap tops to plan their lessons. Their argument was: how can we help students to use computers when we don’t know how to use them ourselves? So, they convinced Deloitte to donate the lap tops for the teachers to use.
Onchinsuren relays that though this was not her initial intention, the timing was perfect because Jiguur School had recently hired a passionate new principal who had been working on a project to bring the technology of the school up to speed. She has been busy writing proposals to NGO’s and donors to create a Teacher Development Lab. So far in the works is a plan to create a room with ten desktop computers, complete with scanners and printers to be donated by a parliament member. Jiguur School has ninety teachers, most of whom create written lesson plans rather than using computers. Discussing the plans of the school more with the principal and teachers, she was persuaded to also invest first in the teachers to improve their skills set as well as technology and training materials. She was impressed by the initiative of the principal and felt the program would be sustainable.
“We want to focus on simple objectives and not make it too complicated. We want to see the teachers’ improvement within one year’s time. To have them learn the Word program and how to create and present lesson plans on computers. We are really contributing to make their {Jiguur faculty’s} project sustainable,” Onchinsuren told me. After the teachers’ skills have been improved, the next focus will be on the students.
Computer literate students require computer literate teachers.
Teachers are still preparing and filing their grades hand-written on paper, afraid that they will lose data because they are not used to using computers. It is for these reasons and more that education is not up to international standards and that there is a lack of trained workforce to take part in the development projects booming in Mongolia. International staff is brought in from other countries because Mongolia can’t supply its own staff yet.
The school is planning to create a local area computer network—the first ever—for Jiguur School. They also want to have thirty-six TVs and thirty-six desk tops in the classrooms. They have a budget approved from the government for this project, according to Onchinsuren.
“Having one computer per classroom is not enough for ninety teachers. Having their own computers help them become computer literate.” Deloitte has donated thirteen lap tops so far but is working to get other international Deloitte offices involved so that when they change their lap tops, they consider donating them to the school.
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