One Laptop per Teacher improves teaching skills

Jean-Baptiste Uwamuremwe has taught Biology at St Joseph Secondary School for three years. However, as he went about imparting knowledge to the younger generations, he found himself teaching about certain things that he has never seen how they work in real situations. Recently, Uwamuremwe acquired and started using a laptop for the first time, a development that has transformed the way he teaches his students. “When I got my laptop, the first things I did some research on were the topics I teach my students. I found a lot of knowledge on the internet, and now I can show my students on the laptop as I teach them. It is much easier for me and for them because the material is at our disposal,” he said. Uwamuremwe is one of the over 1,000 teachers who recently acquired laptops under the One Laptop per Teacher programme introduced by GiraICT, a youth-run company. Those teachers who have so far acquired the laptops, such as Uwamuremwe, hail the programme and urge other to embrace the scheme. Indeed, hundreds of new applications are pending as more teachers become aware of the benefits that come with the use of ICT in advancing their profession. While national focus was on the One Laptop per Child, there was a dilemma on how the children could effectively use their laptops yet the teachers who are supposed to instruct them did not own or even know how to use the same gadgets. It was for this reason that GiraICT, came up with the One laptop per teacher programme. “Unlike the One Laptop per Child programme, this one is not free of charge. We address the need for laptop penetration in the teaching sector at factory price with favorable terms of payment,” Says Nadia Uwamahoro, the chief executive officer of Data Systems, the firm that owns GiraICT. The laptops are sold to teachers on loan basis because all of them are monthly salary earners. “And the one thing that has helped us is that the biggest number of them are members of Umwalimu Sacco,” she added. Membership to the Sacco makes loan processing and repayment easier. According to Umwamuremwe, apart from making teaching easier, he has also become a more informed person on what is happening around the world. The laptop also keeps him in touch with relatives through social media. Appoline Kabega, a teacher in a public school in Kigali says the time she takes to prepare her teaching plan and notes has greatly reduced. “I used to spend very many hours at night preparing work to be taught in just two hours. It was very tiresome but now things have changed. It now takes me about 30 minutes and I also do some research and prepare the best for my students,” she said. She added that, “I am a science teacher and things keep changing in this discipline, but with the internet and my laptop, I always keep up-to-date. I have become a better teacher with a laptop; it has been of great help.” Kabega urged fellow teachers to embrace the programme and leverage ICT to build a strong network of teachers for sharing notes and new ideas through the internet. In addition to the laptops, GiraICT also gives the teachers internet access for six months to enhance their laptop usage and get to learn a lot of things. According to Uwamahoro, the programme is not only about supplying laptops but it also makes sure that the beneficiaries use them to improve the quality of teaching. “Aside from supplying laptops on loan, we went to different districts for ICT awareness campaigns; we talk about the importance of these laptops to teachers and many others. We are now working with every branch of Umwalimu Sacco so as to take the laptops to teachers all over the country without them necessarily coming to Kigali,” she said. About GiraICT Data Systems Ltd is a professional ICT outsourcing company which is based in Kigali. It has several branches in Burundi and Ghana that provide IT services, supply equipment and implementing document management systems. The company works in partnership with renowned brands such as HP, Lenovo, Fujistu, Samsung, Apple and Star Times.

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One Laptop per Teacher improves teaching skills