Program History

School-based telecenters and the WorLD/World Links program
Sparked by the growing need for sustainability strategies, and by the explosion of interest in community telecenters in Africa, World Links and WorLD began exploring the power of school-based telecenters in Zimbabwe in 1999.

School-based telecenters in Zimbabwe
Anthony Bloome, then the country coordinator for WorLD in Zimbabwe, worked with Eliada Gudza of World Links-Zimbabwe and with Ted Sells of Zimbabwe's Ministry of Education, Sport, and Culture, to introduce the telecenter concept to several of the countries first 12 World Links schools. Several of these schools-including those in Bindura and Marondera-embraced the idea.

The World Links Bindura computer lab, in fact, supported itself solely as a telecenter for its first six months. Located in a government building in the town of Bindura, the lab had a full complement of personnel (two) and computers (ten) well before schools had agreed to send their teachers and students to it.

As a result, World Links Bindura was sustained initially by clients that included a local mining company, which used the computers for bookkeeping, and by distance-education students of Zimbabwe Open University.

With a planned expansion to 43 rural and urban schools in Zimbabwe, World Links undertook formalization of the development processes for school-based telecenters.

In February, 2001, resources for the Planning for School-based Telecenters workshop were field tested among teams of head teachers and resource teachers from schools that ranged from those with established community-focused operations, to schools with labs used only by students and teachers, to schools that were scheduled to receive computers in the subsequent months.

The workshop resources, developed by the Natoma Group working in cooperation with Futureworks, engage participants in framing mission statements and measurable objectives, identifying clients and services, crafting operations plans, and planning evaluation efforts.

Currently, 12 schools are identified as functioning as community telecenters, with some entering into the delivery of sophisticated services. The Mpopoma High School telecenter, for example, currently offers training in HTML and Web Design, is placing students in local IT companies, and is developing low-cost multimedia educational software.

. . . and in Uganda
With generous funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, World Links began planning the introduction of 11 Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) installations to serve 15 Ugandan schools. With high-bandwidth satellite-based Internet connectivity, these installations enable the program to expand to extremely remote locations, and to enhance the functioning of existing World Links schools.

The initial project design stipulated the schools would themselves bear all operating costs-including satellite connection fees of roughly $400 U.S.D. per month, roughly double the average connectivity costs of World Links schools.

Telecenter operations, focusing on community access and on participation in community-development initiatives, were seen as a crucial to the sustainability of the VSAT computer labs.

In September, 2001, head teachers and technology teachers from the VSAT schools participated in a Planning for School-based Telecenters workshop.

Some of the schools are experiencing challenges, the "normal" ones such as equipment malfunction and virus attacks, plus staffing challenges that have kept them from developing.

But others are experiencing problems of a different order. Raymond Korobe, ICT coordinator at Moroto High School, writes that, "clients often crowd in the Telecenter. The available computers are far too few to handle the growing population both of students and clients. In fact some have to go before they can get access to the service."

At Lango College, six to ten clients per day, including senior civil servants, doctors, college faculty, and tourists have been using the telecenter. Lango ICT coordinator Charles Ojok writes, "We have now captured the market for our area and many of our competitors have surrendered their services to us and are all wishing us well."

…and in Latin America
As of summer, 2002, WorLD is developing field tests of the school-based telecenter model, or telecentros escolares comunitarios, in Mexico, Peru, and Chile. (See WorLD launches Latin American pilot of school telecenter model" for more information.)

The Latin America field tests will involve localization of the planning workshop and its resources to reflect Latin American educational and infrastructural contexts.

Many countries in the region have already initiated nationwide programs to introduce ICTs into schools, such as Chile's Red enlaces in Chile and Proyecto Huascarán in Peru. In addition, telecenter programs such as the "Cabinas publicas" of Chile, and the new eMexico initiative, have already achieved high degrees of coverage in areas where infrastructure supports ICTs.

However, sustainability remains an issue-for both schools and telecenters-and the pilot program will seek to determine what are the effects of their combination in a single facility and how best to support this effort throughout the region.