BUJUMBURA April 4th (ABP) – The Education for All (EPT) Bafashebige coalition will soon equip 15 pilot schools in five regions of the country with computer tools, at the rate of three schools per region. The coordinator of this coalition, Ms. Denise Kandondo, announced it on Thursday, March 31, on the occasion of the official launch of the project “Digital solutions at the service of basic education in Burundi”.
Other flagship activities that will be carried out as part of the implementation of that project are centered on the training of teachers on the use of digital tools and the use of remote work software, awareness and training of different stakeholders on the importance of information and communication technologies (ICT) in school environments, exchange sessions with stakeholders in general and decision-makers in particular for scaling up and sustainability of that project, said Mrs. Kandondo
A total of 30 teachers in five regions of the country at the rate of two teachers per pilot establishment will be trained. Two hundred actors will also be trained and made aware of the importance of distance learning.
It is in that capacity that the EPT Bafashebige coalition commissioned two studies relating respectively to the impact of the media on distance learning in Burundi and the collection of data on the situation of Information and Communication Technologies for Education (ICTE).
In Burundi, the development of ICT is facing major challenges, including the adaptation of the ICT regulatory framework, the availability of energy and human resource capacities, said the consultant, Mr. Cassien Gashirahamwe.
To solve the energy problem, said Mr. Gashirahamwe, the government of Burundi had set itself, through the National Development Plan 2018-2027, a number of objectives, namely the rational exploitation of hydroelectric potential, energy, peat, municipal waste and geothermal resources, by improving the biomass sector (wood energy, charcoal, peat, municipal waste), while safeguarding the environment.
The government of Burundi also plans to promote renewable and alternative energies and improve the management capacities of the energy sector.
The results of two studies commissioned by the EPT Bafashebige coalition have just shown that the lack of ICT training for teachers, parents, students, school officials and the difficult access of households to infrastructure are among the main obstacles to success. of the distance learning model in Burundi.
The results of those studies also reveal that the news media operating on Burundian soil cannot effectively contribute to the success of the apprenticeship model in Burundi due to technical and material deficiencies.