Rwanda’s Far-Sighted Strategy

By Nina Wittrock

The chest depicted on the flat screen elevates, and blood circulates throughout the body while the biology teacher gives instructions in front of the blackboard by means of a PC. Dozens of African students are watching attentively. A visionary glimpse into the future? Not at all.

The above-mentioned scene from a Reuters’ documentary is just one example of how children learn with the aid of computers in Rwanda. The country has recently formulated a comprehensive plan for projects to get more computers into the school system. In fact, Rwanda has already launched a great number of projects to accelerate eLearning in secondary and tertiary educational institutions with the help of international partners.

However, it is not only the school sector where Rwanda has a growing commitment to ICT and eLearning. In the entire domain of ICT learning solutions and infrastructure, the country seeks to strengthen its leading position among African nations. According to an official statement, Rwanda envisions its economy becoming “middle income” by the year 2020 through its transformation from predominantly agricultural to one that is information rich and knowledge based – with ICT as the major enabler. The government’s desire is that the plan - called “Vision 2020” - should be understood and integrated into the life of every inhabitant of Rwanda. The implementation of vision 2020 began with a special training for teachers and upgrading of equipment.

Furthermore, public usage of the Internet is likely to be the major emerging service over the coming years. Dozens of Internet cafes already exist in urbanized areas, and these facilities are indeed very important for the public because they help to integrate ICT almost playfully into an everyday context. The rural population can take advantage of the various telecenters, where they have access to the Internet and can check email, which, for instance, allows them to follow market prices for commodities.

Yet another valuable ICT-related advantage is that people throughout the entire country can use mobile phones without difficulty. In this respect, Rwanda has already reached the level of highly developed industrial states. To provide access and affordability and to overcome the gap between urban and remote areas Rwanda, however, cannot afford to rest on its laurels.

A positive investment climate

With its national spending on ICT, Rwanda already stands at the same level as the OECD states, high above the African average. Recently, the country broke fresh ground with regard to eGovernment and video conferencing to shorten travel expenses and to improve communication among district authorities. Another goal to be achieved in the near future is the introduction of new technologies such as Voice over IP and high bandwidth connectivity.

Albert Nsengiyumva, the Coordinator of Rwanda’s Education and Research Network, who leads the Rwanda telecommunication Sector Performance Review as part of Research ICT Africa Network, said: “Rwanda’s government believes that competition and privatization in telecommunications are vital for the ICT sector. In the country’s officials point of view, eLearning can only succeed through a partnership among key stakeholders, including content providers, academia, and telecom operators or Internet service providers. The key issue remains low bandwidth at high cost for schools seeking to utilize eLearning opportunities. Capacity building is another area that need to be strengthened so as to make sure that teachers can develop their own eLearning materials and disseminate them around the country.”

With its strong commitment to ICT, Rwanda has been raising interest among investors: TERRACOM has implemented wireless broadband in Kigali, Microsoft has built several training centers, and NOKIA with the “One Laptop per Child” Movement. Infrastructure development is increasing around and across the country, with MTN Rwanda and MTN Uganda to connect with the EASSY project over fiber cable. Due to its efforts in implementing glass-fiber cable, Rwanda was chosen as headquarter for the EASSY (East African Submarine Cable has brought mobile telecommunications to rural villages. In 2007, the country also signed a contract Project) by several leading African countries.

Today, the Rwanda Internet exchange point, the E-Rwanda project, the GovNet, the ICT Park, the National Computing Centre, and the Telemedicine Network are counted among the lighthouse projects in building up an efficient ICT infrastructure in Rwanda. To emphasize its leading position among east African countries, Rwanda will also offer 100 ICT scholarships for undergrade students, starting in 2009 for students coming from East and Central Africa. The scheme is meant to increase the number of scientists in the region. With this approach, the government will set a good example of how the millennium development goals of the UN can be achieved by one of the poorest developing countries in the world.

At eLearning Africa 2007, speakers from various fields of Rwanda’s eLearning community will present their projects: Charles Karoro Muhirwe, National University of Rwanda (ICT-Enhanced Medical Education: Research via Customized ESP, Tuesday, May 29, 11.00 – 12.45); Gerald Rwagasana, National University of Rwanda (Open Educational Resources and Their Contribution in Improving Universities’ Physics Teaching. Wednesday, May 30, 9.00 – 10.45); Cassian Muhiire, Kigali Institute of Education Rwanda (Building Teacher and Research Capacity with the Help of ICT, Wednesday, May 30, 9.00 – 10.45); and Joseph Bashibirira (EDUAFRICA: Learning Content Management Systems for Distance Learning at School, Wednesday, May 30, 14.15 – 15.45).

Links

http://www.rwandagateway.org

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