Yesterday Brad and I were invited to attend the Launching Ceremonies for the ‘One Laptop Per Child’ (OLPC) program at Kagugu P.S. The ceremony was held by the Ministry of Education (Mineduc) and included all 3,100 students of Kagugu, Kagugu teachers and staff, Mayors of Gasabo, Kicukiro and Rwamagana Districts, Representatives and students from Rwamanagana B. P.S. and Nonko P.S., the Minister of Education, and the Minister of Science, Technology and Scientific Research. It was a packed house! the day was filled with speeches, performances, and of course the handing out of each laptop.
The OLPC project began in January 2003. The program’s mission is “to create educational opportunities for the world's poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning”. Rwanda is the first African country to which OLPC came and Kagugu is the first school in Rwanda to give a laptop to each student. OLPC and the Government of Rwanda ran a pilot program of OPLC in Rwamagana last year, giving out 100 laptops to students in P2 and P4 and has viewed that program as a great success. OPLC greatly ties in with the government’s vision to transform Rwanda into a knowledge-based society by introducing science and technology into the education system and general public. Kagugu now has 20 desktops available to teachers (and housed in the Library/Resource Center), 3,100 OLPC computers, and WiFi throughout the school grounds - it has been incredible to witness the transformation.
The laptops themselves are designed specifically for children in developing countries. They have a kid-friendly design, are resistant to harsh conditions (dust, rain, long walks home, etc.), have long battery power, and have wireless capabilities. Kagugu teachers have all received training on these laptops and should begin using them in their lessons this week.
Everyone at Kagugu is really excited to start using these computers - there were a lot of smiles and signing and dancing at the launch today! The IEE will definitely be keeping up with the OPLC program, how it works in Kagugu, and where it will go next!
