ICTs in African Schools Workshop

A Workshop with a Difference

SchoolNet Africa, The Commonwealth of Learning (COL), the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) and the World Bank (WB) are organizing a historic workshop: ICTs in African Schools - A Workshop for Practitioners and Policymakers, where both schoolnet practitioners and education policymakers and officials will engage on practical and policy issues relating to efforts to bridge the educational and digital divides in Africa. This workshop will be hosted in Botswana from 27 April to 2 May 2003. An estimated 250 workshop participants will include representatives of schoolnet organizations and ministries of education from 30 African countries. Representatives from the donor community, development and multilateral agencies, and the private sector and civil society will also be invited to participate in the workshop.

The issues for discussion are based on the findings of high-quality research projects that form part of the SchoolNet Africa ICTs for Education in Africa Research Program.

Workshop Objectives

The main objective of the workshop is to allow a first-time opportunity for African schoolnet practitioners and policymakers to share information, experiences and case studies as Africans, thereby consolidating the network of schoolnet practitioners and policymakers in Africa and promoting co-ordinated interventions in bridging the digital divide and reaching inter alia, Education for All objectives. More importantly, the objective of the workshop is to find solutions to the challenges that accompany the introduction of ICTs into education.

The workshop is also intended to serve as an important mobilizing forum to highlight the plight of African countries in their efforts to bridge the digital divide and to make recommendations for consideration at the World Summit for Information Society (WSIS) and related global forums.

At the end of the five-day workshop, schoolnet practitioners and education policymakers will be more familiar with the African experiences in using ICTs to enhance education, the network of schoolnet practitioners and policymakers in Africa will be more consolidated and guidelines for the establishment of appropriate policy on the promotion of education through ICTs will have been established. The last will serve to inform processes related to the New Partnership.

Workshop Partners

The ICTs in African Schools Workshop in Botswana has been made possible by these SchoolNet Africa partners.