lawrence kambiwoa nunatcho hubert h. humphrey fellow pennsylvania state university united...
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Integration of Information Technology into the School System of Cameroon. Lawrence Kambiwoa Nunatcho Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow Pennsylvania State University United States of America. National Pedagogic Inspector of Informatics Ministry of Secondary Education Republic of Cameroon. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
National Pedagogic Inspector of Informatics
Ministry of Secondary EducationRepublic of Cameroon
Tuesday March 4, 2008SITE 2008Las Vegas, Nevada
Integration of Information Technology into the School
System of CameroonLawrence Kambiwoa
NunatchoHubert H. Humphrey Fellow
Pennsylvania State UniversityUnited States of America
AbstractStatus ReviewCurrent Approaches: Developments
Multimedia Resource Centers (MRC) Non-State Funded Computer Laboratories Other Institutionalized Measures Undertaken to Diffuse IT
Current Approaches: ChallengesPrevious Approaches: Evolution & Impact ofImprovement for the Future
The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)ConclusionThe Next StepReferences and Acknowledgement
Outline
AbstractChallenges:- Provide diverse opportunities for every learner and teacher to stimulate creativity & collaboration
- IT infrastructure are expensive to set upAs a result, we need:- Innovative solutions which promote use of IT on one-to-one basis for each learner in Cameroon;
- Government to assume appropriate measures, adopt XO, involve teachers & the public
Following the 1998 Law on Education:Scientific and technological advancement is the responsibility of the State
Use legislative and regulatory mechanismsorganize educational activities, andelicit contributions from parents, for example
acquire and implement XO in all schools November 30, 2001 - two MRC inaugurated (Fig.1):• Lycée Général Leclerc, and GBHS Essos Yaounde
Status Review
Status Review, Cont’d
Figure 1: A screen-shot of the Multimedia Resource Center in Government Bilingual High
School, Bertoua.
Two methods of granting access Government funded multimedia
resource centers in selected public schools;
Business entities sign formal contracts with Heads of Schools for an annual fee
Current Approaches: Developments
Multimedia Resource CentersIn the first phase 2001 – 2006, 17 MRCs
went operational (Fig. 2);During the second phase (2006 - 2011),
a number of MRCs will be constructed and interconnected to the pilot schools;
The National Pedagogic Support Unit will be designated to take a central role in populating didactic content and hosting an e-library.
On Aggregate, about 77 students to 1 computer
SchoolsFigure 2: Schools having a multimedia resource
center
Num
ber
of S
tude
nts
or
Com
pute
rs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 160
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
200082726420257953482660
1457
5258
1118
1709
4890
832
21333809211622194396
60 60 60 53 60 27 60 30 30 60 25 60 60 50 60 60
Number of studentsNumber of computers in MRC
Schools placed in their order of MRC creation
Non-State Funded Computer Labs
Implementation of Ministerial Circular of November 7, 2005 on the provision of agreement to business entities to manage school computer labs.
Schools charge extra exorbitantly on fees.Number of computers in use never
proportionate to the student population.Lack of teachers of IT or access to computer
lab, generates rioting and chaos on campus.
The government has constructed a number of Tele-centers in rural communities of difficult access; committed itself to the NEPAD e-School Project through a Memorandum of Understanding with some consortia to implement the pilot phase in selected schools; and the Head of State earlier in 2001, invited Cameroonians of goodwill to promote technological development.
Other Institutionalized Measures to Diffuse IT
Current Approaches: Challenges1 computer to over 30 students; In 6 years, 17
MRCs put in place meaning there will be only 58 MRCs by 2022 ; Equipment and software are expensive & scarce, impedes learning and training of IT teachers;
IT program is mandatory nationwide, not achievable (about 15% coverage); Limited interaction with devices;
Community Tele-centers have computers < 10, thus it promotes hate and rural exodus; NEPAD e-School project raised iota of hope but inadvertently, promoting IT inertia in the school arena.
Previous Approaches: Evolution & Impact-Progressively create and setup other centers;-A platform for creating and sharing e-
pedagogic resources;-APLON (Fig. 3) is mandatory for the
management of pilot MRCs;-100 teachers received in-service training in
early 2007.However, the impact is not felt within the
school arena- Government has endorsed IT teacher training
and the first set are expected in schools by 2010.
Figure 3: A screenshot of partial use of APLON
To reading, writing and arithmetic of the past has now been added use of IT which is purported to enhance our learning, workflow, and creativity; Prioritize the goals of literacy as underscored by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals :Engage our school children and educators into one-to-one (Fig. 4) computer use with responsibility, andUrge and promote collaborative learning within school and across borders.
Improvement for the Future
Figure 4: Prototype of the OLPC XO
The integration of IT into the school system of Cameroon has been institutionalized but it has not been invested to create an impact on the technological growth in the education of the common child.
However, by judiciously urging parents and teachers to make contributions to the OLPC concept, we will quickly have more students and teachers interacting with the technology of their time so that by 2015 we will become participative in this e-age.
Conclusion
9-to-11 year olds
11-to-13 year olds
Class 5 Class 6 Form 1Form 2
Senior Primary classesSecondary school beginners
(are determinants for(General Education, Technical
secondary schools) Education and Workforce)
National Estimates1,500,000 pupils 1,000,000 students
Composition of National Committee
Ministry of Basic Education Ministry of:
(1) Secondary Education, and(2) Vocational and Professional Training (Workforce Education)
The Next Step
Next Step, Cont’d- National Private Education Secretariat- Civil Society
- Representative from the Ministry of Economy and Finance
- Representatives from the Office of the Prime Minister
- Embassy of the United States of America in Cameroonrepresenting the OLPC Foundation
First year: A consignment of 2,500,000 required by September 2009
Second year: A consignment of 1,000,000 required by September 2010
Third year: A consignment of 800,000 required by September 2011
Subsequent years: A consignment of 800,000
For teachers and trainees, a consignment of 50,000 required for thefirst year and 5,000 in subsequent years.
ReferencesLaw N°98/004 of 14th April 1998 To Lay Down Guidelines for Education in Cameroon, Ministry of National Education Archive.Ministerial Circular N°26/05/MINESEC/IGE/IP/Info of 7th November 2005 Specifying the Modalities of Obtaining an Agreement to run a Computer Lab in Schools, Record Book of the Inspectorate of Pedagogy for Informatics.Ministerial Order N°000197/MINESUP/DDES of 07 September 2007 Bearing the Creation and Opening of the Computer Sciences and Classical Letters Discipline at the Higher Teachers Training College of the University of Yaounde 1, www.minesup.gov.cmURL for the One Laptop Per Child: www.olpc.org
AcknowledgementsWe are thankful to the Minister of Secondary Education, for having commissioned us in the Inspectorate of Pedagogy for Informatics to follow-up and control Multimedia Resource Centers in schools. We are also indebted to the Secretary of State whose coordination meetings and feedback on various commissioned assignments to these centers have helped us to put this piece of work together.
Also, we owe much gratitude to the Hubert H. Humphrey program for committing registration to the SITE International Conference at Las Vegas, USA. In fact, we are very much delighted with the critic of the material expressed by Dr. Syedur Rahman, Director of International programs at the College of Education, Pennsylvania State University.
Finally, we would like to also appreciate the remarks made by Mrs Ogork Susan, National Pedagogic Inspector of English as well as Mrs Doh Vivian, teacher trainer, for skimming through the original manuscripts.
In all, your remarks or comments were closely followed while setting this piece of work.