Internet access in public schools to reach 60 per cent

The Rwanda Education Board (REB) has announced that this fiscal year it aims to achieve 62 per cent of the current 52 per cent Internet connectivity among secondary public schools.

According to REB, the goal is in line with the National Transformation Strategy (NST1) which aims to achieve universal Internet connectivity in public schools by 2024.

As NST1 kicked off in 2017, Rwanda’s internet access in public high schools was just 12 per cent.

“We aim to reach 62 per cent of Internet connectivity in public secondary schools in this fiscal year 2020-2021,” Christine Niyizamwiyitira, REB Head of ICT, told The New Times on Monday, July 13.

According to REB, internet accessibility will help students boost their performance among others, as they can easily access online academic content.

Niyizamwiyitira also noted that “Rwanda ‘s recently embarked Giga Initiative as a leading country would help accelerate the goal.”

The initiative was launched by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in 2019 with the objective of providing connectivity to all schools around the world by 2030.

There are 1,459 public and government-aided secondary schools so far, 724 of which are internet related. Among these, 678 schools have 4 G coverage.

Niyizamwitiyira said the goal to achieve 100 per cent connectivity in public schools by 2024 would cost an estimated Rwf 4.8 billion.

There are 1,459 public and government-aided secondary schools so far, 724 of which are internet related. Among these, 678 schools have 4 G coverage.

Niyizamwitiyira said the goal to achieve 100 per cent connectivity in public schools by 2024 would cost an estimated Rwf 4.8 billion.

“We estimate a cost of Rwf 4.8 billion for us to connect the outstanding 42 per cent. To order to minimize costs, we intend to link most of the remaining schools to 4G,” she said.

Rwanda is one of the African countries where efforts are being made to equip schools with digital technology to revolutionize education into an ICT-based field.

In 2016, the Ministry of Education challenged educational stakeholders to fast-track a new model called “Smart Classroom,” an initiative aimed at digitizing education from a paper-based system to a digital-driven sector.

It was revealed that 711 schools have adopted the “Smart Classroom” program in the first quarter of 2019.

It also endeavoured to provide schools with computers and Internet access.

The government also introduced One Laptop per Child in 2008-an effort to allow all elementary school children to own computers.