We reported yesterday that the OLPC program designed to provide laptops to primary school children has a target of supplying 50,000 laptops to 150 schools countrywide. This initiative will not only enhance learning, but will enable the school children to discover the world at a tender age. With the wireless internet facility installed in the laptops, the beneficiaries will be able to connect to the environment that is oceans apart. What this means is that they can discover what goes on elsewhere and relate to their everyday life and, with guidance, adopt what would be resourceful to their education or general wellbeing. In primary school, the children tend to absorb much of what they are taught in class. However, they too have minds that are capable of solving issues or finding solutions to challenges that they may be facing. To develop this kind of critical thinking, they will need appropriate tools and teaching methodologies that support this kind of upbringing. There is no doubt that these laptops will play such a role. By looking at the bigger picture, once children are raised in such an environment, they grow up to become responsible citizens who are able to come up with homegrown solutions that would benefit the country. Rwandans have the potential to become experts or inventors in various fields. However, unearthing this potential will require starting from the foundation – with child education. Ends
