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“It is a firm belief of the Government of the Republic of South
Africa that ICTs offer significant opportunities for the improve-
ment of the quality of people’s lives, particularly on the African
continent, where South Africa’s foreign policy is prioritised. The
South African Government is a founder member of the e-Africa
Commission, the ICT special task team of the New Partnership for
Africa’s Development (NEPAD). The NEPAD e-Africa Commission
is hosted by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
(CSIR) in South Africa, with additional major support for its core
activities provided by the Swiss Development Agency.
I am pleased to present the following article focussing on one of
the flagship programmes of the e-Africa Commission, the NEPAD
e-Schools Initiative.”
Lyndall Shope-Mafole, Director General,
Department of Communications, South Africa
.
I
N
M
ARCH
2003, the NEPAD Heads of State and Government
Implementation Committee (HSGIC) adopted the NEPAD e-
Schools Initiative. This priority continental undertaking is
aimed at ensuring that African youth will graduate from African
schools with skills that enable them to participate effectively in
the global information society.
The NEPAD e-Schools Initiative is led by the e-Africa
Commission, the special task team of NEPAD responsible for
the structured development of the ICT sector on the African
continent. Over a ten-year period the initiative will develop all
African schools (estimated to be in excess of 600,000) into
NEPAD e-Schools. These will be provided with necessary infra-
structure and information and communication technologies
(ICT), with appropriately trained teachers and access to appro-
priate applications and digital content, to ensure that ICT plays
a meaningful role in enhancing education and health conditions
on the African continent.
Specifically, the objectives of the NEPAD e-Schools Initiative are:
• To provide ICT skills and knowledge to primary and secondary
school students that will enable them to function in the emerg-
ing information society and knowledge economy
• To make every learner health-literate
• To provide teachers with ICT skills to enable them to use ICT
as tools to enhance teaching and learning
• To provide school managers with ICT skills so as to facilitate
efficient management and administration in schools.
The NEPAD e-Schools Initiative will be implemented in three
phases, with between 15 and 20 countries in each phase. The
countries that constitute the phase one are:
Implementation of the NEPAD e-Schools Initiative is
progressing apace, with all activities expected to converge in a
large-scale rollout in 2007. There are several phases involved
in the initiative:
Development of the business plan
– After a rigorous process,
the e-Africa Commission has selected Ernst and Young to
develop a detailed business plan for implementation of the
NEPAD e-Schools Initiative in the phase-one countries. The
draft business plan will be compiled in consultation with the
governments of participating countries, and will be completed
by March 2006.
Establishment of the satellite network
– Given the relatively poor
state of connectivity on the African continent, a satellite network is
being established to provide communications to all NEPAD e-Schools.
Through a request for identification (RFI) process, detailed informa-
tion has been received from around thirty global satellite service
providers. This information has recently been analysed, and will be
used to design the NEPAD e-Schools satellite network.
Setup of national implementation agencies
– The approach
adopted by the NEPAD e-Africa Commission for this initiative is
one of ‘Continental Coordination – National Implementation.’
It is therefore necessary that each participating country formally
establishes and capacitates the NEPAD e-Schools National
Implementation Agency, which will be responsible for all opera-
tional aspects of implementation.
NEPAD e-Schools Demonstration Project – a public-
private partnership
The NEPAD e-Africa Commission has identified the NEPAD e-
Schools Demonstration Project (Demo) as a critical initial step
in the continental implementation of the NEPAD e-Schools
Initiative.
The Demo will provide a continental learning mechanism,
based on real-life experiences of implementing ICT in schools
across the African continent that will serve to inform the rollout
of the broader NEPAD e-Schools Initiative. To this end, the Demo
The NEPAD e-Schools initiative
The New Partnership for Africa’s Development
• Algeria
• Angola
• Benin
• Burkina Faso
• Cameroon
• Republic of Congo
• Egypt
• Ethiopia
• Gabon
• Ghana
• Kenya
• Lesotho
• Mali
• Mauritius
• Mozambique
• Nigeria
• Rwanda
• Senegal
• South Africa
• Uganda