Schools in Kampong Cham and Tbong Khmum provinces have gone digital by adopting the Metfone-developed School Information System (SIS) that helps in administration work and uninterrupted learning.
Cambodia’s leading telecoms and digital technology, Metfone introduced the online education system at a workshop on December 21 that was attended by school directors, teachers and staff from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport’s provincial offices of both provinces.
Teachers and students in the two provinces, as long as they have internet access, can now access the online SIS application from anywhere.
The benefits:
• Student-centred: Easy to use, maximum learning needs, equipped with many convenient features such as allowing students to exchange, comment and interact with teachers at any time, exams are graded quickly.
• Better time management: Students can organise their time for any subject they attend, flexibility to focus on different learning methods based on the knowledge, skills and needs of each student.
• Cost-effective: E-learning saves 50-70 per cent of total education costs for teaching and learning – students don’t need backpacks, learning tools or travel expenses.
• Customise the learning environment: Traditional learning environments like the classroom are designed according to the frameworks of the past, limiting the potential and creative mindset of many learners.
• Automatic information collection and monitoring: Benefits schools and government education departments in evaluating and making strategies that will improve and develop teaching programmes, curricula and management.
• Solving the shortage of teachers in provincial schools, supporting valuable students and attracting new ones. Usually, one teacher can only teach directly to an average of 30-60 students per class, but with e-learning, it only takes one to two teachers combined to be able to teach big groups of students.
• Environmentally friendly learning methods like e-learning consume 90 per cent less electricity and generate 85 per cent less waste than a traditional environment. In addition, schools print less, further contributing to environmental protection.
• No learning tools needed as it transfers textbook to digital book and store on the system to use, view and download anytime. All learning materials are up-to-date with the latest content, unlike textbooks which need to be reissued when there are any changes with learners having to buy new books.
Kok Sichoeun, the vice-director of Kampong Cham provincial office of education, said the digital system has made life easier for both teachers and students.
“The SIS system enables teachers and school administrators to manage their work smoothly and effectively. And the students can also use it for their online study, thus saving them time and money,” said Sichoeun.
SIS was jointly developed by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and Metfone to digitalise the Kingdom’s education sector.
Teachers, students, parents, as well as school administrators and principals, can access the digital platform without having to travel to the schools.
Director of the provincial office of education in Tbong Khmum province In Povsambath said that at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, many schools were used as quarantine centres, disrupting operations.
“SIS has been so useful given the pandemic, making school operations as well as online teaching and study possible – and easy – by just using the internet,” said Povsambath.
Until now, SIS has been implemented in 265 schools nationwide, benefiting more than 300,000 students and 15,000 teachers.
Metfone plans to introduce SIS in 1,000 schools across all provinces in 2022 to encourage digital education for everyone – both in urban and rural areas.
With the additional add-on of the digital book and e-library, students now have more resources to engage in learning and improving their knowledge – wherever they are.
