Introduction [TJ]

8.4.8 Policy

There is no definitive national ICT policy in place. The Ministry of Education and Sports is however engaged in a process to generate a viable ICT policy for education. A number of workshops have been held that have generated a multiplicity of ideas on how best ICT can be integrated in education to enhance the delivery of education services. One of the major recommendations has been the urgent need to evolve an ICT policy for education. Having such a policy in place is viewed as central to coordinating government efforts of integrating ICTs in the education sector.

The Ministry of Education in August 2000 established an Education ICT Task Force. Its objective was the formulation and implementation of an ICT policy for the Ministry of Education and Sports. It is also responsible for managing, monitoring and evaluation of all ICT activities in the Ministry of Education and Sports. Its specific tasks are to:

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  Formulate an ICT policy for Ministry of Education;
  
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  Initiate ICT activities and projects;
  
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  Review and direct new and ongoing ICT activities and projects;
  
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  Monitoring and evaluation;
  
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  Dissemination of information; and
  
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  Publicising the ICT policy for Ministry of Education internally and among stakeholders in the education sector.
  

A Dutch NGO, the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) is supporting these efforts in the Ministry of Education and Sports. There are other ICT policy initiatives under Uganda Council for Science and Technology, Uganda Investment Authority and the infoDev: Information Infrastructure Agenda Project, which is sponsored by the World Bank. The question remains however how best can these different efforts be linked together to share resources and avoid duplication.

8.5 Effects of the Project

8.5.1 Achievement of Project Goals and Objectives

Learner Participation in SchoolNet Uganda

The majority (76%) of learners indicated that they had not heard of SchoolNet Uganda and 91% had never participated in SchoolNet Uganda activities. This is not entirely surprising given that SchoolNet Uganda's activities have been centred more on educators than learners. SchoolNet Uganda did not interact directly with learners. Learners most likely do not know about its facilitative role in the provision of computers and access to the Internet. It is possible however, as suggested earlier, that learners are not familiar with the name, since the WorLD Program in Uganda was originally known as the "School to School Initiative". This is an area that SchoolNet Uganda might need to address more seriously.

Educators' Knowledge of SchoolNet Uganda

The majority of educators (91%) on the other hand had heard of SchoolNet Uganda. The majority of the educators (83%) also indicated that they had participated in SchoolNet activities e.g. a number of training programs organised by SchoolNet Uganda. In addition nearly three quarters of the educators indicated that SchoolNet Uganda had played a role in facilitating their schools’ access to e-mail and the Internet.

Figure 8.13 The Role SchoolNet has played in Access to the Internet and e-mail
Nearly all educators (91%) indicated that SchoolNet Uganda had played an influential role in the ICT knowledge of the learners. The use of ICTs has had a positive influence on teaching and learning in their classrooms and SchoolNet Uganda played a role in these developments.
8.6 Conclusions and Recommendations

8.6.1 Institutional Structures and Staffing

SchoolNet Uganda has not had an active Steering Committee for more than a year. The Steering Committee for SchoolNet Uganda should be reactivated so that SchoolNet can play its rightful role;
Ways need to be found to support the ICT Coordinators in schools. Schools need to reduce the other duties of teachers to enable them to spend more time training other educators and learners. At the moment this is not happening;
Schools need to come up with sustainability plans that reflect innovative ways for raising funds to continue operating and expanding their computer laboratories. There is a need to demonstrate that school networking can work, and that it is manageable and sustainable if it is to take root in schools;
Some of the schools are currently running training programs for community members during holidays. Depending on the different locations of schools i.e. urban/rural and socio-economic status of surrounding community, the training of community members especially in rural areas is likely to remain more of a community service than an income generating activity. If a school aims to raise funds through these kinds of initiatives, they are likely to experience some frustrations, especially in areas where people are relatively poor and where the demand for computer training is limited. There will also be areas where people cannot afford to pay very much for these kinds of services much as they would like to undergo such training. If the school’s aim is to provide a community service then the training for community members may have to be highly subsidised in most cases. The question however remains, subsidised by whom? This raises the question to what extent can schools afford to offer these kinds of services to their surrounding communities and at whose cost would these services be rendered. It also raises the issue of long-term sustainability.

8.6.2 Partnerships

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  There is a need to sensitise parents through workshops organised by schools, to expose them to the benefits of ICTs and what there are paying for;
  

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  There is a need for schools to extend their partners beyond the parent community, thus building local partnerships to mobilise resources; and
  

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  Schools could lobby large organisations for donations of ICT equipment, as well as the government to waive taxes on ICTs. Ideally, SchoolNet Uganda could pursue this but the individual schools should take responsibility for mobilising their own resources.