Mobile ICT Training to Rural Youth: Bridging the Gap

Project Location

Country: 
Uganda
City: 
Kampala

Organization

Organization Name: 
Nakaseke Rural Youth Sustainable Livelihoods Initiative
Organization Type: 
Other

Website

facebook.com/nakasekeruralyouthsustainablelivelihoodsinitiative

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Project Type

Helping youth step in the job market

Project Description

Description Frase (max. 500 characters): 

Mobile ICT training is an ICT training initiative that is aimed at equipping the young people with basic ICT knowledge and skills as a means for literacy improvement and human resource capacity-building, preparing them for future employment. The project targets rural underserved young people in rural areas of Nakaseke, in Central Uganda that have been left behind in terms of ICT skilling, thus bridging the digital informational gap between their counterparts in the urban centres.

 

Project Summary (max. 2000 characters): 

Uganda developed its initial ICT national policy in 2003 in which the framework document recognized that the country needed to embrace the goal of lifelong education for all. The policy also addresses literacy improvement and human resource capacity-building with strategies that include integrating ICT into mainstream educational curricula as well as other literacy programmes to provide for equitable access for all students regardless of level. Efforts have been made to introduce ICT both in primary and secondary schools of Uganda so as to equip learners with the necessary skills and tools that would prepare them for the job market.

Although the country’s national ICT policy lays emphasis on providing infrastructure to schools, this has not yet been realized mainly in rural schools as the adoption level is still low.

There have been hindrances ranging from low income to support the programme, limited power supply to rural schools, shortage of ICT teachers and many others. Irrespective of these challenges, the government has moved on to make ICT education as one of the compulsory subsidiary subjects at secondary levels of education. It is a very big challenge to many rural students and schools as they can’t afford to own computers as their counterparts in urban schools which has created a digital divide among the rural and urban students.

It is behind this background that the Nakaseke Rural Youth Sustainable Livelihoods Initiative was established. The project is conducting an ICT training programme to rural schools and communities to help them acquire skills as a means for literacy improvement and human resource capacity-building in rural areas.

The Nakaseke Rural Youth Sustainable Livelihoods Initiative, a rural youth project that also runs other community development programmes on agriculture and health, started with 3 laptop computers that we used to carry out training. As of now, the project has grown and boasts of 15 mobile computers that can at least accommodate the average class population of 60 students at a ratio of about 4:1. Our project has a committed, competent and experienced training team of trainers with a very rich expertise in conducting and managing ICT training classes. Each day of the week, the team moves to the different schools and communities as per the training schedules. The training involves both theory and practical tailor made lessons.

How long has your project been running?

2015-07-01 00:00:00

Objectives and Innovative Aspects

Specific obectives for starting this project are;

  1. To prepare the young population for future employment opportunities
  2. Equiping the young people with ICT skills that would help them to compete with the ever changing world of technology
  3. Bridging the digital gap between the rural and urban youth in terms of access and usability of ICT tools.

The instruments used in achieving these objectives are;

  1. Computers
  2. Still and Motion digital Cameras
  3. Mobile phones
  4. Sound recorders

Results

Describe the results achieved by your project How do you measure (parameters) these. (max. 2000 characters): 
We have achieved a number of successes; 1. Since its establishment two years back, the programme has benefited over nine hundred (900) students and out of school youths from the community, among which many have been employed and others have started their own business centres. 2. We have continued to register an overwhelming number of students offering the subject however much it’s a new subject on the national curriculum, to especially rural learners. 3. We have also helped to improve on the way teachers deliver their lessons. We have organized special trainings for them to equip them with skills on how to effectively use ICT tools to simplify their teaching methods. 4. At instructional level, we have been able to help students understand how to use computers to improve their learning using e-resources like Encarta and the Encyclopedia that have added to their general better performance. We have done various assessments and we are keenly monitoring our learners to see their continuity with ICT. We have also been able to find job placement for a number of our youth trainees from our community as our main goal for empowering rural young people for future employment.
How many users interact with your project monthly and what are the preferred forms of interaction? (max. 500 characters): 

We usually interact with over 200 young people on a monthly basis.

These we meet them during our school training programmes around the community schools and at our local training hub. We also reach others online through our online platform and by short messages (sms) direct to their mobile phones.

Sustainability

What is the full duration of your project (from beginning to end)?: 
More than 6 years
What is the approximate total budget for your project (in Euro)?: 
Less than 10.000 Euro
What is the source of funding for your project?: 
Sale of products or services
Specify: 
Community Based Organisation (CBO)
Is your project economically self sufficient now?: 
No
When is it expected to become self-sufficient?: 
2020-06-01 00:00:00

Transferability

Has your project been replicated/adapted elsewhere?: 
No
What lessons can others learn from your project? (max. 1500 characters): 

Other practitioners can pick some good lessons from our project;

  1. That we can use the available resources to support our local communities not waiting for donations and grants only.
  2. That ICT skilling can help the young people cope up with this ever changing world of technology.
  3. That as individuals, we can help do something towards community development without waiting for our governments.
Are you available to help others to start or work on similar projects?: 
Yes

Background Information

Barriers and Solutions (max. 1000 characters): 
1. First, rural communities had a bad attitude towards technology which required a lot of sensitization for mindset change of our communities. 2. Startup equipment and facilities like hardware. Such equipment is still very expensive in Uganda and this required much investment with no external support. 3. Frequent hardware and software breakdowns that require replacements and routine maintenance. 4. Unstable or completely no power supply to rural communities has greatly affected our lessons at some point, as computer power runs out and the alternative is costly to maintain. 5. Poor transport infrastructure has also greatly affected our programme and this has caused hardware breakdowns. 6. There is limited access and connectivity to the internet. Many times, we have failed to conduct internet-related lessons such as web design, email and internet searching, due to poor connectivity. Among the many challenges we have, we are trying to make strides to solve some of them. 1. We are seriously trying to partner with government to increase on the hardware equipment we have for better access. 2. We have trained a well qualified technical team to help us with hardware and software breakdowns. 3. We have started engaging our local government to support our cause to improve transport and electricity infrastructure in the rural areas we operate in. 4. We are already hopeful about the government's effort to move the internet backbone around most rural areas which will improve the connectivity.
Future plans and wish list (max. 750 characters): 
1. Considering the ever increasing demand for ICT training services, we are aiming at increasing our reach to further rural young people so as to give them equal opportunities to access and get skilled. 2. We are also looking forward to adding more and better training equipment to accommodate the ever increasing demand for the service. (like projectors, computers and other digital gadgets) 3. We are planning to start up ICT training camps during school breaks (holidays) to equip more youths who may not be beneficiaries of our routine schools outreaches with skills. 4. We have plans of establishing a fully-fledged vocational training centre that will offer mainly ICT training and other developmental courses and programmes in order to equip the young generation with skills that would contribute to sustainable livelihoods. 5. We are eagerly looking forward to partner with global players of ICT to increase and improve our skilling program. 6. We also hope to spread the idea to other rural communities to give chance to many more young people around the country.
ICT rural Youth