Exploring technology, creativity and imagination to ensure quality education for the marginalized

Under the Patronage of the Minister of Education and Higher Education His Excellency Mr. Elias Bou Saab, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Lebanon and the International Education Association (IEA) showcased today the Pi4L programme (Pi For Learning), an innovation that is brought to education for the first time in Lebanon and the Middle East.

By introducing low cost digital content and hardware into learning programmes in Lebanon, a big step will be taken forward towards improving access to and quality of learning for all children in Lebanon. This tool is designed to make learning through technology more accessible to all ages allowing for an in-depth knowledge in an interactive and entertaining way.

"With almost 300,000 refugee children being out of school in Lebanon, we need innovative solutions like the Raspberry Pi to deliver non-formal education into areas where many displaced children and vulnerable Lebanese communities reside including informal tented settlements and community centres" says James Cranwell-Ward UNICEF Lebanon's Innovation Specialist.

Annamaria Laurini, UNICEF Representative in Lebanon considered this project as “a first step towards exploring all kinds of technologies and means of creativity and imagination to ensure quality education for marginalized children”.

The Pi4L programme utilizes Scratch, a visual programming language developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, combining both education and technology. Pi4L runs on the Raspberry Pi, a low cost, credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV, and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. It's capable, by using different interactive software, of doing everything you'd expect a desktop computer to do.

Today's event aims to highlight the success of the Pi4L at the pilot Dhour Shweir public high school that was selected by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education due to its enthusiasm and commitment to the programme.

“The pilot was gratifying because teachers and students took the challenge.  Students have turned their ideas into projects. In doing so, they have learnt to apply the basic principles of design and entrepreneurship seeing ideas come to completion and fruition", said Director of IEA Eliane Metni. 

The showcase at the Dhour Shweir public high school shares the successes of the innovative programme Pi For Learning.  It exposed and highlighted the potential for this way of learning. 

Participants gained understanding of the project and the possibilities for the application of this technology within Lebanon. 

UNICEF has declared 2014 as the Year of Innovation for Equity to focus the world's attention on showcasing and developing innovative solutions for children's well-being. In this regards, adopting the Pi4L programme will play an important role is innovating education in Lebanon with equity.