SIBU, Aug 24: At least one teacher in every primary school in Sarawak from 30 education districts will be trained on how to use Raspberry Pi computers by the end of this year.
“This means that by the end of this year, we would have trained 1,265 teachers on the basics of using Raspberry Pi,” said Minister of Education, Innovation and Talent Development, Datuk Roland Sagah at the ‘Training on Raspberry Pi’ programme certificate presentation ceremony at University of Technology Sarawak (UTS) here today.
Raspberry Pi is a low-cost, credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor. It is a device that enables students to explore computing and to learn how to program in languages like Scratch and Python.
The ministry, Sagah said, had in 2021 set an ambitious aim to foster innovation and digital skills among young children though the use of Raspberry Pi.
“To-date our ministry has provided over 9,000 units of Raspberry Pi sets including monitors, keyboards, and mouses to primary schools all over Sarawak. This is in line with our objective of promoting STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and ICT education to students in the State,” he stressed.
Sagah added that over the past two months, University of Technology Sarawak (UTS) has helped to deliver six pilot training sessions to 221 teachers in Sibu, Sarikei, Julau, Kanowit, Song, Belaga, Meradong, Selangau and Betong districts.
The training provided by UTS as well as other delivery partners consists of four levels of training spread over three years.
Due to the importance of the training, Sagah said, it will not only be conducted in the southern and central regions but will be extended to the northern regions of the State.
Sagah said based on the ministry’s survey, a teacher from the training said that Raspberry Pi will help to empower his pupils to learn computing and become confident and more creative in problem solving.
UTS vice chancellor, Prof Datuk Dr Khairuddin Ab Hamid emphasised that this Raspberry Pi Training programme was a fruitful collaboration of UTS and Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak which will greatly impact primary school teachers and students.
“At UTS, we are committed to supporting the Sarawak government’s Post-Covid-19 Development Strategy 2030. The Raspberry Pi training is only one of the many initiatives that we are spearheading with the State government,” he said. — DayakDaily
