A QUIETLY spoken Canning woman has dedicated 20 years of her working life to educating teachers in developing countries on how to use technology to provide lessons to the poor.
Based in East Cannington, Dr Termit Kaur is an expert in her field and travels overseas at least a dozen times a year training teachers in the use of technology in education in places such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Republic of Maldives.
Last month Dr Kaur was in the Maldives working as a consultant with the Ministry of Education, a place she has been visiting since 2008.
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READ NOW“There are a lot of underprivileged people in the Maldives. When we talk Maldives we think of resorts.
“Yes, there are beautiful resorts and it is a beautiful holiday place. But, in the very |remote islands there are very underprivileged people. There are students who are really keen to learn but they lack opportunity, unlike students in Australia.”
She said the Maldives was a group of scattered islands and technology was being used by teachers to reach students that lived on remote islands.
“On one island there may be only 200 people and 20 to 30 students but you cannot deprive these children from school. You have to get education out there and one of the best ways to do so is through the use of technology.”
She said education was provided to students in the Maldives via the use of Skype and interactive whiteboards.
“Just like here, the young people are very good with their devices so what better way to get them to learn than by using the gadgets that they are so comfortable using.”
For years Dr Kaur has worked as an Information and Communications Technologies leader, training with |UNESCO in Bangkok, Thailand and through this role she has visited developing countries in the Asiatic region.
She has travelled to remote schools in countries such as Pakistan where she has seen 40 children taught in a small classroom in 50 degree heat.
After one particular visit to a school in Pakistan that had only one water cooler system to service the needs of 3000 children, she raised funds from friends and colleagues and donated 11 water cooler systems to needy schools.
“My passion is education and to bring education to the very rural parts of any country,” she said.
Dr Kaur is presently a visiting fellow at University of Lincoln, UK where she is helping develop new international |educational partnerships.
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