Education dept planning new e-library

THE Department of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (Dherst) is developing an e-library for use by students and staff at tertiary institutions and members of the public.
Minister Pila Niningi emphasised the Government’s investment in digital education last week, saying the project would cost about K2 million.
“We will launch it sometimes towards the end of the year,” he said. “Our Government is aware that the benefits of higher education continue to rise but the cost of being left behind is also growing.
“Higher education is no longer a luxury in PNG. It is essential to national, social and economic development. Hence, for example, 2012 to 2018 we invested K311 million in Tesas while K33 million was committed in 2012.
“But for 2019 I ensured that more funds are available, I was able to secure K72 million.
“Higher education is expensive but it is the right investment into the future of PNG.
“The development of e-library and UNI 10 for all higher education institutions, which will be in Cloud, and each student and staff will have access to quality and updated learning and teaching resources from this year.
“Students can be more successful if they are digitally literate.”
Many early digital efforts in higher education focused on providing a single class that covered base-level skills such as creating a PowerPoint presentation or spreadsheet.