Rwanda

The World Links program in Rwanda has three components:

Primary Schools: World Links is working to develop computer literacy in Rwanda's primary schools by providing hardware and training to more than half of all primary schools in Rwanda.  World Links will be providing each school with at least one computer equipped with Birchfield Interactive software and Microsoft Office.  Two teachers from each schools will be trained in basic ICT concepts and the use of the educational software.

Secondary Schools: World Links is implementing its four Phases of training in 20 secondary schools throughout the country.  At least two teachers from each school will be trained and the computer labs will be opened to the community to improve access to ICT. This project is being fund by the Post Conflict Fund at the World Bank. The teachers are learning how they can integrate ICT into post conflict resolution.

Kigali Institute of Education: World Links is working to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of distance training provision to pre-service and in-service secondary school teachers by installing the hardware and providing training for the staff at KIE’s Kigali Campus and 10 distance learning centers throughout the country.

Jean Baptiste, World Links Master Trainer in Rwanda tells his story from his school, Groupe Scolaire Notre Dame de Lourdes Byimana, Gitarama World Links is a global organization whose mission is to improve educational outcomes, economic opportunities, and global understanding for youth through the use of information technology and new approaches to learning. Be it at least in the town of Byimana in the central province of Gitarama, World Links seems to have achieved its mission.  The following testimony from Jean Baptiste’s a teacher in the High School GSNDL Byimana and World Links master trainer, certainly leads to believe so. “Thanks to World Links, the provision of 15 computers in the GSDNL Byimana has changed the pedagogical, social, and intellectual life of this school”.To date 25 teachers have been trained on the use of computers and the internet in the classroom. 195 students, most of them from the Office Management Program have been able to familiarize themselves with computers and are now able to communicate from a distance thanks to the Internet. They take this occasion to do research, which is an integral part of their studies.

It‘s not just the school and its population that benefit from World Links’ training of trainers. In fact, a great number of people coming from the outside also benefit from the lab. It’s the case for 25 teachers coming from different provinces as well as the staff of the health center of Byimana (10 people). All these people have received World Links’ phase 0 and phase 1 training as well as internet browsing training. Social life has also changed. According to Jean Baptiste, social life in the community where the school is housed as well as in neighboring communities, revolves to the most part around the computer lab. Jean Baptiste shares with us: “students and teachers from 3 neighboring schools often come to GSDNL Byimana to check their emails and that adds to the social life of the school”.Even though, there are some challenges related to the low number of PCs available to users and technical maintenance among others, it seems that World Links in Gitarama, represented by Jean Baptiste, is a mission accomplished.