Dar es Salaam — The recent launch of the e-Schools Project countrywide by Tanzania’s digital lifestyle company Tigo Tanzania in partnership with the government of Tanzania has received thumps up from both students and teachers.

Tigo Tanzania and the government Tanzania signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will lead to implementation of the project at a ceremony held in Jangwani Secondary School in Dar es Salaam. The occasion was graced by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Communications, Works and Infrastructure, Prof. Faustine Kamuzora.

The agreement gives Tigo the green-light to officially start rolling out the provision of Internet access points in the country’s secondary schools so as to complement the e-Schools Project for a period of 2 years.

As part of the agreement, the ministry will identify and provide a list of schools without computer labs to be connected and also guide the implementation of the project while Tigo will sponsor the infrastructural development in schools across the country that will include wiring classrooms and installation of wireless Local Area Network (LAN) with Internet access points.

Excited with the gesture, Anastasia Samwel, a form three student from Jangwani Secondary School said: «I am very happy that Tigo will provide us with computers that are connected to internet because now I will be able to easily access educational materials even when there is no teacher in our class. I thank Tigo for supporting us.»

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Her counterpart, Happiness Erasto, a form one student from the same school was equally elated. She said: «Since we have inadequate reference books in our class, I will now be able to get more information on most of our topical subjects/notes from the internet. I will also be able to catch up with what our counterparts in other parts of the region and the world are studying.»

Jangwani Secondary School’s Headmistress, Geraldine Mwanisenga said the project had provided basic Information Communication Technology (ICT) training for teachers and will not only help the students to be ICT – literate but also improve education standards and provide self-employment later in life.

The Chief Commercial Officer Tigo, Shavkat Berdiev said: «Through our Corporate Responsibility department we are now implementing the government’s vision to transform the country into a knowledge-based economy by the year 2025 and our company is committed to ensure that most of the secondary schools have access to the internet in Tanzania.»

Berdiev said Tigo was proud to be partnering with the Ministry of Communications, Works and Infrastructure to enable the youth and the wider communities to tap into the global mainstream of information and knowledge, where they will learn, expand their creativity and collaborate with peers across the world.

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«Tigo will continue to work with the government on other innovative and exciting projects to uplift the lives of many Tanzanians», Berdiev added.

The Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Communications, Works and Infrastructure, Prof. Faustine Kamuzora who also represented the government in signing the agreement said: «It is through such partnerships that we shall be able to impart modern ICT skills and knowledge to the youth, to enable them face the challenges of the ever-changing information trends in the society and global economy.»

Tigo’s e-Schools’ Project is one of the company’s strategic social investment projects and to date, Tigo has been able to connect 31 public secondary schools in Tanzania with internet with an envisaged plan to connect 50 more this year.

Noting that it was the first time that the government and the mobile network operator were cooperating on an ICT project of such a large scale and scope, the PS affirmed that the partnership will go a long way in imparting modern ICT skills and knowledge to the youth and enable them face the challenges of the ever-changing information society and global economy.

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«This technology will enable the students and teachers of the beneficiary schools and the wider communities to tap into the global mainstream of information and knowledge where they will learn, expand their creativity, collaborate with peers across the African continent and across the world, and generally participate in defining the future of their world,» Prof. Kamuzora noted.

The government of Tanzania requires schools to teach basic computer lessons but with only 5% of schools having computers, ICT competence remains a mirage. With Tigo’s shot in the arm and other stakeholders’ support, the goal-posts are bound to change and might catapult the government’s resolve to hit the 700-target of schools with internet-connected computers.

The e-School’s project is among various projects that Tigo has undertaken to support community initiatives through the telecom’s corporate social responsibility portfolio. They include donation of over 2,700 desks to needy primary schools in a sustainable venture that is meant to alleviate the serious shortage of desks in the country’s schools.

Last year, Tigo partnered with Dar Teknohama Business Incubator (DTBi), a local NGO to offer scholarships worth over Tsh.300 million (about $136,363) to cover tuition fees, research fees, meals and accommodation for a period of four years to nine students undertaking ICT courses in local universities.