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Technological Infrastructure and Use of ICT in Education in Africa: an overview 87 Box 5: WorLD programme telecentre in Uganda In Uganda the school-based telecentre approach to rural ICT access has been used as part of the WorLD programme. The aim of this model is to provide ICT for educational use within schools, as well as access to the surrounding community, after school, in the evenings, and at weekends. This is an important model to consider since the benefits of involving communities in education have been a focus of several educational projects in Africa (Watt, 2001). However, very often involving the community has been a response to an educational crisis rather than an integral aspect of educational planning that recognised the potential contribution that community involvement can make. The school-based telecentre model also addresses fundamental sustainability problems for telecentres with respect to management and relevant content generation. The project in Uganda began in September 2001 with training provided to representatives from 14 secondary schools and one national teacher training college. The network includes 15 school-based telecentres. Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) satellite technology is used to connect to the Internet. The cost for this connection is shared among the schools and is about US$200 per month, with World Links contributing US$200 per month for two years. SchoolNet Uganda provides the administration and coordination of the project, and a national coordinator, technical coordinator, and a community development and small business specialist are part of the staff. Within each school there is a local ICT coordinator who is generally also a teacher. Each school-based telecentre has a management committee who design the broad programme direction. Thus far, the project has made several important achievements. The Ministry of Education has given full support, the head teachers have taken responsibility for meeting the running costs, all ICT coordinators have been trained, teachers and students in schools are undergoing training, and in some of the communities where there was no other communication system before, the project is seen as fundamental to the community’s development. Source: Bloome (2002) 9. ICT in Primary and Secondary Education
88 Working Group on Distance Education and Open Learning 9. ICT in Primary and Secondary Education Box 6: Internet para as Escoles in Mozambique The Introducing Information and Communication Technologies in Secondary Schools in Mozambique initiative, also known as Internet para as Escoles, began in Mozambique in 1998 and ran until 2001. It was initiated and funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). The project had two main components: • To facilitate the sharing of ICT among students, teachers, and educational departments using email and Internet, and • To introduce computer literacy, as well as integrate computers, into the teaching of different subjects. The targeted beneficiaries were 350 teachers and 4680 learners at 24 schools in Mozambique. It was envisaged that for each school, 11 computers for the lab and one for email would be installed, although these targets were not met during implementation. The evaluation of this project, conducted by Siluma, Roberts & Browde (2002), revealed several important lessons. One is that it is essential to understand the context and plan carefully, taking contextual constraints into account. Infrastructure availability, skills levels, work conditions, and culture of technology use, must be understood and the project adapted to meet the specific contextual requirements for each of these areas. Proper management and communication channels between all stakeholders and at all levels of the project are essential. The scale of implementation should be realistic; ‘start where the skills are and then progress from there’. It is often tempting to get excited by the prospects offered by ICT, yet these prospects may not be appropriate to the specific context. Objectives should be simple and clear, and all involved should understand them. Government support is essential for ICT and education projects, but this needs to be carefully managed to ensure that control of the project remains with the implementers. Finally, this project highlighted the need for sustainability plans after donor funding has ended. Source: Siluma, Roberts, & Browde (2002)
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