The Perfect (and Elusive) School Computer Program

One of the activities I have engaged in while in Lusaka is visiting other schools with computer programs. This has been an interesting and sobering activity. I have visited several schools, both government run and private. I have met many very eager people trying to improve their programs, but have seen very few programs that I would consider complete and well functioning. The best programs have been at private schools. In fact, a contact I have at the Ministry of Education stated that he doesn’t believe that there is a single model of a well functioning computer program at a government school anywhere in the country!

There are many possible reasons for this problem, some of which you might have already figured out from earlier essays. My take on this is that the key issues are deficiencies in funds, IT skills, curriculum, and teacher/administrator training. In addition, it is hard for many Zambian educators to know what to strive for without seeing successful models of IT education at other schools. I was recently at a workshop in the town of Mufulira (in the Copperbelt region of Zambia) on IT programs in schools. The teachers attending the workshop were quite eager and were all believers in the importance of IT education. However, many of them had schools with no computers and had little or no computer training themselves. The school (one of the oldest and best regarded in the district) where the conference took place had a large computer lab with many computers, but upon a closer look it was apparent that most were either not functioning or were too old (Macintosh Plus’s or IBM computers running Windows 3.1) to be useful for much more than typing lessons. They also currently had no internet connection, and limited staffing for the lab.

So, one thing that I could work on (with my sponsor’s permission) in the new year would be improving the computer program at one of the schools that we are already involved in until it could become the model for IT education at a government school in Zambia. The presentations at the Mufulira conference and my own musings have resulted in a list, below, of what a functioning IT education program at a Zambian school should include:
1. A strategic plan
2. Financial commitments from both the school and a partner organization (such as an NGO)
3. A secure lab facility with enough computers for 1:1 instruction as well as internet access
4. A second secure lab facility for open study time and internet access
5. A broadband internet connection to all computers
6. Computers that are fast enough and new enough to be useful training tools
7. A well trained teacher (or two?) specifically assigned to computer education
8. A computer lab manager with skills in computer education, networking and computer maintenance
9. A no-cost student IT training program with a defined curriculum and time table
10. A no-cost teacher IT training program with a defined curriculum and schedule that works for busy teachers
11. A plan for helping teachers implement IT in their curriculum as an aid to instruction
12. A student computer club including computer lab monitors/assistants
13. Computer and internet access for administrative and secretarial offices
14. Opportunities for community access to computer facilities and training (for a fee)
Whew!
Of course, I could settle for a less ambitious project...