THE Rwandan government on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to promote the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in schools.
USAID donated US$4.8 million to the ministry of education to support the project and the money will be used by Rwanda Education Commons (REC) to develop capacity and content through the use of multimedia and platform to establish a network for education stakeholders that will provide opportunities for collaboration, learning and sharing knowledge.
The four-year programme under REC will be funded by USAlD and implemented by Global Learning Portal (GLP) to help Rwanda expand access to quality education through the effective use of ICT.
The REC complements and connects existing projects and programmes and allows teachers and educators to work together to solve Rwanda’s education challenges.
Rwanda’s education minister Daphrose Gahakwa commended USAID for the initiative and said the country was committed to promoting the use of ICT in primary schools up to institutions of higher learning. She said the country is committed to building an ICT-literate population.
Rwanda is positioning itself to become an ICT hub in the region. The country is also implementing a programme dubbed One Laptop Computer per Child in primary schools.
“We are happy to partner with the Rwandan government and I am optimistic that this project will be a success,” Steven Ehrenberg, the programme officer from Global Learning Portal said.—ITNewsAfrica.
