Bulgaria is the first country in Europe with which the US giant has signed such an agreement
The Municipality of Plovdiv and the US technology company Intel Corporation presented their first initiative in the field of education. They will collaborate on the implementation and development of Intel’s STEM program “Skills for Innovation”, which aims to introduce innovative teaching methods and learning content. According to the future project, the Municipality of Plovdiv will use the provided lessons in natural sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) free of charge for a pilot program, which will be implemented in Plovdiv schools.
“I want to thank Intel for choosing Bulgaria and Plovdiv for this project. This is proof that we are working in the right direction “, Mayor Zdravko Dimitrov greeted the partners.
“I am glad that Bulgaria is the first country in Europe to sign an agreement with Intel on Skills for Innovation, but in fact the more important thing is that we will get to apply the most modern educational content in the Bulgarian educational system. This program will give us a huge chance in the next few years to build a comprehensive concept of how to do project-based learning and how to build STEM lessons, “said Deputy Mayor for Education Stefan Stoyanov. According to him, the project will enable students to get as close as possible to everyday life, to the economy and to life outside of school, and for their future careers.
The program contains 70 starter packs for students from 5th to 12th grade. The lessons include learning natural sciences through artificial intelligence, machine learning, 3D modeling and creating computer simulations. The curriculum is designed to help both students and teachers in order to meet the evolving pedagogical needs of teachers who prepare kids for the professions of the future. Nearly 500 teachers from Plovdiv are expected to be trained under the program.
Luigi Pesina, Intel’s Director of Public Sector and Sales for Education in Central and Eastern Europe, said there had been a recent shortage of critical youth skills in education, which was why Intel had developed Skills for Innovation. “The program is designed to bridge the gap between student content and skills. It includes the development of social skills and teamwork, as well as specific skills such as programming and understanding artificial intelligence,” he said.
His colleague, Tomasz Hodakowski, Intel’s Business Development Manager, added that it was important to catch up with these skills through technology because of their growing role in society. “What we found in Plovdiv is the presence of very strong leadership at the local level and a clear vision of how to transform education. That is why we have made another investment in Bulgaria so that the educational content in “Skills for Innovation” can be available entirely in Bulgarian,” he said.
Representatives of the Center for Creative Training, with whose assistance the project is being implemented in Bulgaria, made a brief demonstration of how the Intel program works. According to the director of the center Alexander Angelov, by 2022 40 schools are expected to work on the program in Bulgarian, 10 of which will be in Plovdiv. “This means that Plovdiv will have the largest concentration of schools in the country working on this program,” he said.
The event was also attended by Stanislava Dimitrova, Senior Sales Specialist at the US Embassy, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nadia Cherneva, Vice-Rector of Plovdiv University “Paisii Hilendarski” and Ivan Stoyanov Principal of 138 Prof. Vasil Zlatarski High School.
More about Intel Corporation:
Intel Corporation is a leader in the production of microprocessors and network cards, chipsets for motherboards, computer components and other devices. In 2020, the company was ranked 45th in the Fortune 500 ranking and reported $ 77.87 billion in revenue. It is a supplier for Lenovo, HP, Dell, Acer and many more leading comuter manufacturers.
photo: laptopmedia.com
