XO laptop from OPLC
President Kagame told a gathering of top government officials, diplomats and an OPLC team that Rwanda would stop at nothing to avail the laptops to facilitate ease teaching and studying.
In January, Government ordered some 100,000 worth about $20million from the OLPC initiative that are due in the country this month as authorities have been promoting the use of computers in its education system. Financing schemes have been introduced to help parents work with schools to buy the specially developed XO laptops for their school-going kids at about $200 (Rwf. 100,000).
The OLPC had committed to start the learning centre in Rwanda to support the use of the computers in Rwanda and other African countries. Countries in Africa including South Africa, Nigeria and Ethiopia have also ordered the laptops for use in schools.
But Rwanda tops the list of the number of computers that have been ordered. Ethiopia has been shipped 5,000 laptops, and South Africa and Ghana have each received at least 100 laptops, according to project officials.
Some 60 people from the OLPC Corps, a group of students from different U.S. universities have volunteered to teach children how to use the laptops in schools. A team of volunteers is also expected to be dispatched to other African countries with OLPC laptops to spearhead and support OLPC activities.
Rwanda and OLPC reached a deal in 2007 when President Paul Kagame met OLPC founder and Chairman Nicholas Negroponte. More than 2,000 teachers have already completed training by KIST in the use of specialized OLPC XO-1 computers. The training has also been conducted by the Rwandan Development Gateway Group (RDGG) in partnership with Washington's Development Gateway Foundation.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
