Microsoft aims to create new opportunity for everyone through education

Through Partners in Learning, Microsoft is leveraging the transformative power of software to create innovative educational experiences that remove limitations, create opportunities, and bring students and teachers closer. Since its launch in 2003, Partners in Learning has touched the lives of more than 90 million students, teachers and education policymakers in 101 countries.

In the next five years, Microsoft is aiming to triple the impact of Partners in Learning's three core programs: Innovative Teachers, Innovative Students and Innovative Schools.

Partners in Learning is a key education initiative under Microsoft Unlimited Potential, the company's commitment to creating sustained social and economic opportunity for everyone.
"Microsoft has always believed that education is the cornerstone of opportunity, and that investing in education is the best way to help young people achieve their potential," said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft.

"Partners in Learning is one of the ways Microsoft works with governments and schools around the world to help teachers use technology in the classroom to make learning exciting and relevant for the 21st century."

Students, teachers, educators and governments already impacted by Microsoft's commitment to the Partners in Learning programme can be found across the region. One such teacher is Maha Al Shakhshir, a biology teacher from Jordan's Jellol Secondary School in the Middle Bedouin District and a past recipient of the Secondary School Content award at a Partners in Learning Innovative Teachers Forum (ITF). She has attended several regional and global ITF events in recent years and says the opportunity to collaborate with teachers globally has a positive impact on her time in the classroom.

"Teachers all over the world face the same challenges as I do each day. Our role as educators is to prepare our students for the outside world," Shakhshir said. "Integrating the power of technology with our curriculum can improve the quality of life and economic vitality of our community by preparing our students for the future."

Other successful regional Partners in Learning programs include Bahrain's Ministry of Education who partnered with Microsoft to train teachers in ICT skills to use their new technology knowledge to teach their students. To date 1,000 teachers have been trained in ICT skills, in turn training a further 10,000 teachers. Similarly, Egypt's Ministry of Education partnered with Microsoft to train more than 50,000 teachers.

In Qatar, Al-Bayan Educational Complex for Girls was a founding member in Microsoft's Innovative Schools two-year program with the goal of transforming the school into a model for successful 21st-century education. This program will equip girls with the skills they need to participate successfully in Qatar's work force and continue to increase the number of women making a significant contribution to the country's growth as a knowledge economy.

"Microsoft provided us with a unique opportunity to take an innovative approach at creating locally appropriate and relevant curiculum," said Hissa Abdulla, Principal of the Al-Bayan Educational Complex for Girls. "Success will have national implications, as Al-Bayan is a leading school in the education reform initiative in Qatar."

In addition, the Innovative Students program provides affordable, reliable software to qualifying governments purchasing Windows-based PCs for primary and secondary students' personal use at home. Finally, through the Innovative Schools program, Microsoft works with governments, educators and partners to deliver expert guidance in holistic school reform, plus a road map for technology integration to help schools meet their education objectives.

Today's announcement represents a new, five-year, $235.5m investment, and will bring the company's total 10-year commitment in Partners in Learning to nearly $500m. Ensuring that everyone has an opportunity to learn is an enormous challenge that requires participation by both the public and private sectors. Microsoft is deeply committed to collaborating with education partners around the world to provide relevant, high-quality learning experiences, and enable students and teachers to achieve their fullest potential.