Tehran Times� � Smart classrooms constitute 22 percent of the total classrooms across the country, head of the department for information technology at the Ministry of Education has announced.

Smart classrooms are often considered as classrooms with a focus on ICT hardware and software and in particular the use of ICT-based enrollment and other online processes.

All schools are planned to be connected to the national information network and the national school network, Fars quoted Mehdi Sharafi as saying on Saturday.

He went on to say that the target community accounts for 50 percent of the entire country�s population, because students, parents and teachers are the main users of the service.

It aims to provide online services for these groups of the society to prevent them from referring to the offices, he said, adding, it enables many people to receive services virtually.

Pointing to the smart schools, he said, �We have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology to provide the infrastructures and equip the schools with technological advances.�

As per the MOU, the whole schools will be connected to the national information network as well as to the national network of schools, a hardware infrastructure for sharing content will be provided and classrooms will be equipped with software for electronic content, he explained.

�Special training courses on technological advances and electronic content have been held for the teachers to empower them for smart schools.�

Currently, some 22 percent of the classrooms are smart and ICT-based, he noted.

He expressed hope that the rest of the schools would be provided with the necessary infrastructure of smart schools.