| Theme:
Access & Connectivity
Participants: Ghana, Nigeria, and Uganda
Duration: 2.5 hours
Target Audience: Policymakers and practitioners in the field of ICT
& Education
This was first
global dialogue of the Global Dialogue series.
watch video
clips from this global dialogue
Summary
- A
presentation from SchoolNet Uganda
- Current
state of the telecom environment and telecom activities in education
for the participating countries
- Current
state of the use of ICT
- Partnerships
between private sector, NGOs, schools and government
- Concluding
comments and suggestions for future VC topics
1. Presentation on SchoolNet Uganda: The experience
and issues surrounding a project with 15 VSAT schools.
The VSAT project
- SchoolNet Uganda
(http://www.schoolnet.sc.ug/homepage.php)
works in partnership with:
- The project
provides shared Internet access for schools and communities in rural
areas via Satellites. Eleven schools are connected via VSAT and 4
are connected via wireless spread spectrum links off a VSAT school.
- There is one
center which is central to managing and connecting the others.
- Services include
training for ICT in Education, community access.
- High impact
services include telemedicine, youth training in ICT, AIDSWEB, and
e-commerce.
- Evaluation
results have shown that the access to information technology has increased
in the VSAT areas, school capacity has improved, online activities
have increased, and ICT training has increased.
- Supply and
infrastructure challenges to the project include the lack of electricity
in many schools in north Uganda and the time consuming process to
develop new materials for the community.
Issues surrounding
Costs and Sustainability
- Initial VSAT
site equipment costs: $6,700 per site, excluding computers, etc.
- Installation
and site service: $4,000 per site.
- Operational
costs: Each school pays $400 per month to SchoolNet Uganda. World
Links is currently subsidizing half of that cost.
- At the School
level: each school charges students for ICT use. This money is used
for expansion, bandwidth fees, expendables, and training teachers.
The community also pays for the usage.
- If the number
of schools increases then the recurring costs should subside to $200
per month and the schools will be expected to cover these costs without
subsidies.
- Sustainability
relies on shared costs between communities and the telecenters and
increase in the users is one way to achieve it.
2.
Current state of the telecom environment, telecom activities in education,
private sector engagement in telecom sector and access in rural areas.
Nigeria
SchoolNet Nigeria
- Education Tax
fund and SchoolNet Nigeria have projects similar to the Uganda’s
SchoolNet.
- SchoolNet Nigeria
is an Internet project for teacher and technical training development
at 35 rural sites.
- Total 35 sites
will be connected via VSAT - 7 in community centers for teacher development
program to train teachers in different regions, 28 in secondary schools.
- There will
be a mix of open source and propriety software to reduce costs.
- Collaboration
among regions will be emphasized.
- After 2pm the
centers will be opened to the community and for training projects.
- Material is
currently being adapted for Nigerian schools.
Telecommunication
scene in Nigeria
- SchoolNet Nigeria
is working with the KU band in order to work independently of the
telecommunications sector.
- Obtaining a
telecom operator license is now relatively easy as compared to 2-3
years ago.
- National Open
University of Nigeria is deploying VSATs around the country.
- Education for
Democracy and Development International (NGO) is setting up 6 community
learning centers to provide IT to communities.
Ghana
The government
wants to employ ICT in every secondary school in the next 3 years. Initial
goal is to connect university sites, institutions with special projects,
and community centers. Then the program will be expanded to the rest
of the secondary schools in the country.
Challenges include lack of electricity, and the need for content development
to enhance the use of ICT in schools and communities.
Telecommunication
scene in Ghana
- Ghana Telecom
is providing for digital transmission around the country.
- Ghana Telecom
is trying to connect district capitals around the nation.
- Ghana Telecom
is working with other ICT initiatives and hopes to facilitate the
connection process.
- Current Ghanaian
Telecom Activities:
- Data Service
called “GT funding” for digital IT
- ISP service
for entire country
- Pilot Project
with ISDN currently implementing VCs
Uganda
- Liberalization
process in early ‘90s allowed other companies to enter the telecommunications
sector. Licensing was facilitated.
- Currently,
there is a registration fee for each terminal and then an annual fee.
- A fund has
been created to subsidize rural telecommunication structures.
- Uganda Communications
Commission (http://www.ucc.co.ug/)
established in 1997 regulates and promotes developments in the communication
sector.
- Open Source
training in Linux has been achieved in some of the schools with Canadian
help.
- ICT is being
use to deliver the content in many schools.
- SchoolNet Uganda
now has 5 years experience in the use of technology in pedagogical
teaching.
- There are many
school based telecenters. The community has access to these centers
after school hours.
- Challenges
include the development of content and the interface in local languages
so that communities can better understand and know how to effectively
use the computers for their benefits.
- Also the lack
of electricity in many rural areas has been a barrier and new source
of electricity like solar powered PCs can greatly increase the reach
of ICT.
- Due to increasing
influence of private sector organizations the equipment and connectivity
costs are decreasing.
Summing
Up
- Uganda is in
first year of pilot phase of project.
- Nigeria about
to launch an initiative to 35 sites and the initiative with the Open
University.
- The Ghanaian
government has made a commitment to extend telephony to each of the
senior secondary schools in the next 3 years.
3.
Current state of use of ICT
- Uses of ICT
include: Email, Internet, Distance Education, Access to Health Materials,
Online Discussions on Health related topics and the training of Doctors.
- Youth are creating
websites to promote local activities and awareness to various important
issues such as HIV/AIDS.
- Language not
such a prominent issue in some countries at the moment. The emphasis
is on providing the information. For example in one of the telemedicine
project, the medical officers are able to access information from
the central hospital and transfer that knowledge to the local communities.
This has been successful. Content in the local language is still very
important and its development will be emphasized in the future.
- Besides telemedicine,
the access to the Agricultural information is also becoming very important.
- Use of ICT
for raising the awareness on HIV/AIDS has proved to be very successfully
with the AIDSWEB project. The goals of the project are HIV/AIDS prevention
and education through the use of ICT.
- Emphasis is
on discovering knowledge on HIV/AIDS and allowing youth to create
websites for other young people.
- CD-ROMs containing
various materials on HIV/AIDS have been created for easier dissemination
in areas where Internet connectivity is still very unreliable or expensive.
- Online counseling
is a future project where young people can receive counseling services
from experts through chat rooms.
- Following on
the success story of AIDSWEB, a similar approach to raise awareness
on Reproductive health issues is also being considered.
4.
Importance of partnerships between MOE, NGOs, teachers, headmasters
and telecom operators
Nigeria
SchoolNet Nigeria
- Launched in
2001
- Education Tax
Fund, Private Sector, MOE, Telecom Companies all worked together to
start SchoolNet Nigeria.
- Project in
35 sites in the next 3 years.
- Importance
of partnerships between the Education Tax Fund, private sector and
government.
- Private sector
interested in working with SchoolNet Nigeria and NGOs in general.
- Curriculum
is being developed and collaboration projects among teachers are currently
aimed at creating content.
Education Tax Fund (ETF)
- Education Tax
is a 2% profit tax which is then distributed by the Education Tax
Fund for education purposes.
- Besides working
with SchoolNet Nigeria, ETF also works on the Education Resource Center
project which aims to create science labs, libraries and multi-purpose
halls.
- ETF has a strong
emphasis on literacy. It has a mandate to increase literacy rate of
general population.
- ETF is also
providing funding to universities and other institutions to improve
education levels and standards as a part of their Centers of Excellence
project. Within this project ICT and Education has been emphasized.
Not just Internet but also the use of audio and video.
- It is also
working towards upgrading the medical schools with the use of ICT
to train doctors and share information. The goal is to improve performance
and capability of doctors by using ICT.
Open University
- Launched by
the president of Nigeria.
- Open University
emphasizes the use of ICT to spread knowledge around Nigeria.
- It aims to
establish 30 centers around the country with auditoriums to hold about
100 students for lectures. The centers will also have libraries and
computer work centers.
- Open University
is working with the private sector and international development agencies.
- Open University
hopes to connect 150,000 students and to reduce education and connectivity
costs.
Ghana
- Ghana also
has an education tax fund where people pay 2.5%. This fund has not
been targeted to ICT yet.
- Telecom and
access: e-rates. There is increased push to get the national telecom
companies to provide special e-rates for schools.
- Funding challenges
and costs have allowed for a very limited number of schools to have
connectivity. The government is dedicated to providing secondary school
Internet access. But, it is imperative that a partnership is established
with the private telecom providers so that ICT can develop in schools.
There must be an emphasis on support from the private sector because
the current costs are too high for schools.
- USAID programs
have also provided for computers in schools and Internet access in
Ghana.
- World Links
and Think Quest have also been helpful in supporting ICT in Education.
5. Closing Comments
Nigeria
- A new initiative,
Virtual Library Project, is being launched within National Open University
and is also supported by government.
- As a part of
this project, all information, periodicals, newspapers etc. will be
put online so that students can access information without setting
up an actual physical library.
- Other African
countries would also be able tap into this resource and access information.
- Right now there
are at least 14,000 volumes of material for uploading.
- SchoolNet Nigeria
has shown interest to participate in the next round of training for
policy makers.
- For the next
video conferences the proposed issues to be addressed are:
- Use of
ICT for management purposes. School management or system management.
- Importance
of reaching teachers in their workplace.
Ghana
- Improving teacher
education through ICT. Imfundo has been helpful and the government
is supportive. USAID has provided the computers and Imfundo will work
on connectivity.
- Ghana wants
to be included in the headmasters/headteachers conferences.
Uganda
For the next video
conferences the proposed issues to be addressed are:
- e-learning
initiative.
- issue of advocacy
with partnerships with the private sector to mainstream ICT in education.
- expansion of
the Ugandan World Links for Development initiative from pilot stage
to a sustainable program. Expansion to other schools.
Other projects:
- Sustainable
development in education conference was done online with teachers
from Uganda and Ghana. They produced a CD-ROM.
- Curriculum
Net translates curricula and puts the material online.
Key issues and
challenges to MOE:
- Problem of
teacher training. Teachers must be familiar with ICT when they exit
university.
- Problem of
resources. Importance of providing infrastructure in schools so government
initiatives can take off.
- Challenge of
moving past the pilot phase.
- Challenge in
increasing private sector involvement.
- MOE is committed
to improving ICT access in schools.
Many countries
during this VC emphasized the importance of discussing how to develop
content and how ICT can be useful in promoting learning. These may be
future VC topics.
more such dialogues
are being organized, see
schedule
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