Core Partner

by deepak — last modified 2009-09-23 17:58

The REI is driven by the State Government and supported by the activities of the core partners, namely the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), the Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative (GeSCI) and the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The State Government and the three other core partners agreed to the vision and objectives of the REI and to work together to demonstrate the success of this PPP model in the field of the Education in the State.

Government of Rajasthan (www.rajasthan.gov.in)

As leader and driver of the REI, the Government of the State committed to:

Drive the programme and bring substantial public funding to the REI;
Ensure that efforts within the REI are aligned with broader objectives of the State and ensure smooth collaboration in such efforts; and
Undertake efforts to scale up successful PPPs catalysed under the REI and to bring them within the SSA and other government supported programmes.

Confederation of Indian Industry (www.ciionline.org)

CII committed to garner resources and skills for the REI in mobilizing its membership especially amongst Rajasthan’s small and medium scale enterprises ensuring the creation of local capabilities and capacities in making the REI sustainable.

The Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative (www.gesci.org)

The Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative (GeSCI) was established in 2004, borne out of the work of the United Nations ICT Task Force which identified education as an area in critical need of development and one where ICTs have the potential to make positive impacts.

GeSCI provides strategic advice to Ministries of Education in developing countries on the effective use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for education and community development. Adopting a demand driven, collaborative and comprehensive approach, GeSCI aims to improve the quality of teaching and learning through the strategic and effective use of ICTs, thereby transforming education, empowering communities and promoting development.
GeSCI's fundamental goal is to facilitate sustainable and impactful education and community development, through the effective deployment of ICTs in schools, in support of the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Working at the local, national and regional level, GeSCI supports the creation and implementation of ICT4E strategies, using a collaborative, comprehensive and demand-driven approach. Acting as guide GeSCI fosters country ownership of ideas, strategies and implementation.
GeSCI’s initial objective was to convene stakeholders and start a planning process in four countries: Bolivia, Ghana, India and Namibia. That initial objective has since been realised and GeSCI has broadened its mandate to include Rwanda and has successfully concluded the final phase of its work in Namibia.

The Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative (GeSCI) signed the Partnership Description Document of Rajasthan Education Initiative (REI) along with other core partners on November 29, 2005. In order to assist the Ministry of Education, Government of Rajasthan in the effective planning and implementation of REI as strategic and core partner, GeSCI signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on January 18, 2006.

The MoU assigned the following responsibilities on GeSCI.

To facilitate the strategic planning and implementation of the REI and assist the Government of Rajasthan in structuring the Initiative for ensuring optimal value;

To support the setting up of the REI project management office;

To provide access to the services of its own specialist personnel and other experts from partner organisations of GeSCI, in key areas such as technology options, content and monitoring & evaluation;

To leverage its knowledge capabilities and its network of global partners to ensure that international best practices are applied to the REI;

To deploy a full-time Facilitator in Rajasthan to deliver or enable delivery of the above services, and provide advice and support to the Government of Rajasthan on the REI and on ICTs in Education generally

Ever since GeSCI joined REI as the core partner, it has engaged in several activities to support REI and strengthen the programme content. These are as follows.

Preparation of Vision and Partnership Document
Workshop with REI partners for Gap Estimation
Development of M&E Framework through Logical Framework Analysis
REI Base Paper
REI Baseline Study
REI website

World Economic Forum (www.weforum.org)

WEF brings its unique capabilities in catalyzing private public partnerships by engaging its global membership and providing expert support in the management of PPPs.

The World Economic Forum is an independent, international organization incorporated as a Swiss not-for-profit foundation. The World Economic Forum is striving towards a world-class corporate governance system where values are as important a basis as rules. Its motto is ‘entrepreneurship in the global public interest’. It believes that economic progress without social development is not sustainable, while social development without economic progress is not feasible.

The Global Education Initiative (GEI) of the World Economic Forum builds on a proven model of multi-stakeholder partnerships in education (MSPEs) that combines the strengths of government, the private sector and civil society stakeholders to advance education development. Originally launched by business leaders from the Information Technology and Telecommunications Community of the World Economic Forum, the World Economic Forum engages in GEI through three broad levers, as follows:

Primary research and advocacy on the opportunities and value proposition for the global business community to work with government and the development community to improve education
Action oriented country and regional initiatives that engage all stakeholders in MSPEs to improve education
Methodologies, best practices and actionable frameworks for business, government, and the development community to initiate and create sustainable MSPEs.

The World Economic Forum has been contributing to the REI through following means:

Bring the benefit from the GEI achievements, outcomes, and platform to the REI, including promotion and celebration of the REI achievements and success stories during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos and the India Economic Summit;
Assign resources towards the projects, such as providing resources for a communication specialist within the Project Management Unit);
Facilitate resource requests and allocations through interested partners.

Since the inception of REI, the World Economic Forum has been engaged as an active partner to achieve the results-to-date of the REI undertakings. Going forward, World Economic Forum plans to continue its level of engagement and step up further to play an even more active role in REI in facilitating continued and increased engagement by REI partner companies.. In 2008, this will include one or more of the following:

Soliciting support and engagement by World Economic Forum partner organizations to help set up a Technical Project Management Unit (PMU) for REI;
Assigning a Global Leadership Fellow of the World Economic Forum as the primary contact point from the Forum’s side to play a more active role in REI, including: offering advice on best practices with Technical PMU management structure design and process guidelines; more frequent on-the-field involvement; and
Identifying lessons learned and best practices from REI and bring that to the world stage in order to raise the awareness of this initiative at the global level.