United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

Portugal had a low percentage of families using a computer and the Internet proficiently. Although steps to overcome this limitation had been taken in the past, like other one-to-one programmes for lower and upper secondary education students, adults in adult education programmes and teachers, it was concluded that these achieved their golas in increasing ICT literacy regarding the beneficiaries, but had little, if any, "viral" dispersion to other community/family members. Therefore, a one-to-one programme was designed and implemented for primary education students, which are better suited as "vehicles" of information and knowledge in the home, induce also their families to use this new tool, hence achieving a larger target audience in the development of ICT skills, almost 100% of Portuguese families. Furthermore, and most importantly, this generation of young students will be better suited to meet the job market demands of their "global future", since they will dominate ICT as a "first language", as well as they do their mother tongue.

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
This programme meets the main goal defined by the European Union in the Lisbon Strategy, to increase qualifications of the Portuguese people, bringing Portugal and Europe to the forefront of a worldwide inclusive society and ICT based knowledge economy. Conditions were given to families so as to make this programme nearly universal, with more than 95% of students covered. This was achieved by benefits given to least favoured families, that can receive the laptop without any payment or as little as € 20 and a maximum of € 50. This allows families that would otherwise not have the possibility to provide their children (and themselves) with access to a computer. Also, many other countries, after studying the Portuguese solution, are now assessing the possibilty of implementing similar programmes. The Portuguese one-to-one programme for primary education students has therefore become a best practice case-study in the field. This benefits not only Portugal and it's students but has also the potential to influence policy making in other countries.

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
The Portuguese Technological Plan proposed this solution and the Ministry of Education implemented it, in the scope of the Technological Plan for Education. An international public tender was conducted to provide primary education students and their teachers and schools with personal laptops, involving, as winning bidders, three portuguese manufacturers and distribution companies.

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
The main objectives of the programme are the generalisation of the use of computers and the internet in primary education students and their families. To accomplish this goal, laptops were distributed in exceptional conditions to students. Also, teachers and schools were equiped with the same computers. Training (formal and informal) sessions were designed to meet the teachers needs in these "new" schools with a one-to-one ratio and also for families that wish to accompany their children in the quest for developing new ICT-based skills. Municipalities are involved in equipping local schools and developing extracurricular activities devoted to ICT for primary education students. Local and the national parents association are developing ad-hoc training for families. Regional and central services of the Ministry of Education provide in-service training on ICT to primary education teachers.

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
Jan 3rd 2011 - Beggining of the 2nd phase Nov 4th 2010 - 1st phase distribution complete Sep 13th 2010 - Beggining of the 1st phase distribution Sep 6th 2010 - Positive visa from the National Court of Auditors Jul 16th 2010 - Contract signature Apr 28th 2010 - Contracts awarded to 3 national companies: Prológica – Sistemas Informáticos, S.A. / Prológica Solutions, Lda. / J.P. Sá Couto, S.A. Jan 6th 2010 - International Public Tender announced Dec 30th 2009 - Authorization of the International Public Tender and programme roll-out in 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 by Resolution of the council of Ministers 118/2009

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
One very important challenge of this programme was inducing the teachers to use these new tools in the classroom, a goal that could only be met by providing teachers with the adequate ICT skills themselves, with an in-service training programme. One other main challenge is the gathering accurate information from schools on a nationwide scale. This was overcome by using an information system based on the School Portal (a unique point of access for school's management services and educational digital content repository). The involvement of municipalities was also crucial since the primary school's infastructrure is largely dependent on them. Municipalities were invited to meet the technological needs in their schools with incentives and financing programmes, turning all national schools into modern, technology-based schools. The Ministry of Education provided consulting support and all the contract provisions needed, as implemented in lower and upper secondary schools, for the aquisition of desktop computers (e.g., for administrative needs), videoprojectors, interactive whiteboards and the implemention of local area networks where they did not exist yet. The Ministry of Education also provided all schools with appropriate Internet connection to meet the needs of ICT-based classes.

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
Finantial resources: 50M€ to acquire computers through an international public tender and implement the programme in a two-phase/year roll-out; financing is 100% national budget and less than 20% is supported by family contribution; Technical Resources: Specific applications developed for logistic management in schools; Educational software developed by universities for the MoE; Anti-theft solution developed with the manufacturer; Human Resources: 1 Head of Division at the Ministry of Education responsible for operationalisation; 2 Project Managers at the Technological Plan for Education; 1 team of software developers; 5 regional teams from the Regional Directorates for Education;

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
This initiative has a high transference potential. Several delegations of foreign Ministries of Education have visited Portugal specifically to get to know how the roll-out of this project: Finland, Poland, Georgia, Morocco, Taiwan, Tunisie, etc.

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
More than 92% of primary education teachers are using computers in the classroom on a weekly basis, at least. It is the Portuguese Governmen's strong belief that this investment in the qualification of it's students, together with a number of other projects in the scope of the Technological Plan for Education, is the key to a more prepared and sucessfull generation of students thus contributing to a more promising and inclusive worldwide knowledge society. Students introduce the first computer in the family home (studies on family use are being conducted by na independent observatory). It is fundamental that in the implementation of such initiatives, Governments create the conditions to make them universal, thus reducing social gaps by introducing unifying measures such as this one.


Institution Name:		Ministry of Education - Technological Plan for Education
Institution Type:		Government Department
Contact Person:		Carlos Pinto Ferreira
Title:		Director-General
Telephone/ Fax:		00 351 213 949 200
Institution's / Project's Website:		00 351 213 957 610
E-mail:		gepe@gepe.min-edu.pt
Address:		Av. 24 de Julho, 134
Postal Code:		1399-054
City:		Lisboa
State/Province:
Country:		Portugal

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information