OLPC Pakistan

2007 status: green
green

This is the wiki for the OLPC Pakistan. The mission of this Not for Profit Organization is to create an environment for OLPC, take necessary steps to ensure every child in Pakistan get the laptops and develop the Local Activities for OLPC laptops that could revolutionize how we educate the children. Our goal is to provide every children of Pakistan with new opportunities to explore, experiment, and express themselves.

It is unfortunate that in Dec 2006, the Education Minister (a retired general) didn't show any interest to OLPC mission to Pakistan. After popular elections of Feb 2008, a new government is in place and a professor is heading the Federal Ministry of Education. OLPC Regional Office in Islamabad was invited by the Ministry of Education to make presentation to a group of senior educational mangers on OLPC deployment in the country. A second presentation was done by Dr. Habib Khan to another group of school principals this week (April 24, 2008). These are all positive signs of a breakthrough any time.

OLPC set up its Regional Office

Assuming responsibilities as Director of Education for Central and South Asia, Dr. Habib Khan made an agreement with International Islamic University in Islamabad and set up the regional office at the main campus of IIU. Salman Minhas and Waqas Toor joined the OLPC team as developers and the localized work for Pakistan in Urdu. The XO Laptop terminology is mostly localized by Afghan students of International Islamic university of Islamabad (Usman mansour Ansari and Sohaib ebtihaj Ubaidi)for two languages of Afghanistan: Pashto and Dari.

First Pilot Project at Atlas School

Excited laughter and revived- energy marked the air, of the old rusty school the first day of the pilot project began in slum area called Pir Wadhai located between the cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad). Eyes sparkled bright with excitement and gave way to numerous questions that sprung from everywhere. Students and teachers alike, all were eager to learn about the XO. A phenomenal change was observed amongst the teachers and students. Their relationship seems to have taken on a friendlier stance. Where teachers would previously use sticks to control the students, they now peacefully bond to discover the OLPC together. Some other interesting observations from the project are:

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