Kigali to host forum on IT in education

Several entrepreneurs, educationalists and technological experts from various parts of the world will next month converge in Kigali to attend the Rwanda International Conference on Technology in Education (RICTE).Organised by the Rwanda Education Board (REB), the event will take place at Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) from September 5 to 7. The Minister of Education, Dr Vincent Biruta, said that the conference is an opportunity for the country to showcase its achievements in the use of technology to promote and improve the quality of education.“It will all be about sharing experience as we look forward to build on what has so far been achieved in our education system as far as using technology is concerned,” Biruta noted.The minister explained that the conference will moot effective strategies to help promote Technology in Education around the world. Various countries have already confirmed attendance, including Ivory Coast, India, Thailand, Norway, Switzerland, Germany and the East African Community (EAC) partner staes.The conference, the first of its kind in the country, is expected to attract various eminent speakers including Prof. Tolly S.A. Mbwette from the Open University of Tanzania (OUT) and Ineke Buskens, an independent consultant based in South Africa.Also expected to attend is Professor Nicholas Negroponte, the Chairman One-Laptop-Per-Child (OLPC) project, which has greatly contributed to easy learning of computer skills among primary school pupils, including in Rwanda.Launching the project in Kigali October 2008, Negroponte said OLPC puts emphasis on the role of pupils as agents of change in society. So far, 115,816 laptops have been distributed to 227 schools, according to Nkubito Bakuramutsa, the OLPC National Coordinator. “The conference is an occasion for technology and education specialists to meet and compare notes, and together chart the way forward,” Nkubito said.He pointed out that currently, the project is in its second phase, with the target of reaching at least a school in each of the country’s 416 sectors.