ICT Basic Training

Introduction

Initiative Name:	ICT Basic Training
Author:	Hellen Katusabe
Implemented by:	Kyambogo University
Timeframe:	Five Years
Country:	Uganda [UG]
Theme:	Education
	Capacity building
Download:	English

The Story

Background and context:

With the world advancing in the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), Kyambogo University has left nothing to chance when it comes to sensitising its students about the basic computer programmes available on the market today. With the help of the International Institute for Communication Development (IICD), Kyambogo University can now send out computer literate graduates.

In 2001, the Netherlands-based IICD committed resources as well as technical assistance to Kyambogo University to establish an ICT training center under the project name ‘ICT Basic Training’ (IBAT). This project as the name suggests was meant to train and sensitise students at the university and the community around in basic ICT skills.

The project aimed at filling the ICT gap at the university and over the last five years the gap has been narrowing. It also aimed at creating ICT awareness for development among the students and the surrounding communities such as, Kyambogo residential area, Banda trading centre and the Ntinda industrial area.

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The development problem/obstacle addressed:

At the time the project started, there were so many students at the university that had little or no knowledge about ICTs or the role ICTs could play in developing societies. “Students did not know how to use the computers and didn’t seem to realise how important they were in their day-to-day activities,” Ms Lillian Ndagire, the computer laboratory manager at IBAT says.

“In the initial stages, students didn’t express as much interest but this picked up as the programme moved on. When we began giving certificates, more interest was generated and we got flooded, numbers increased from 200 to 400 students per semester,” says Ndagire.

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Organisational aspects:

On the outset, students were trained in four packages; Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Power Point and Access.

However, when demand in accounting programmes and other such professional programmes went up, the centre had to change strategy and thus introduced Pastel, Sage and Quick Books to take care of the demand that was created.

A Project Implementation Team (PIT) made up of four members has managed the project over the last five years. Two members of the team help train the students while others are outsourced from institutions.

During the implementation phase students were charged Ush50, 000 a month and this catered for the hired trainers, other staff members and the services rendered.

The center has been running four sessions a day so as to accommodate as many students as possible. After four months of such training, students are certified as having acquired basic ICT knowledge.

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ICTs and problem solving:

Before IICD’s intervention, the university did not have any such facility and according to Ndagire the project has narrowed the digital divide at the University for before only computer sciences students were privileged.

Ms. Agnes Masika, a former student at the university says, “Despite the fact that the course is very important and has done good things for me, it does not cover all areas, it only gives us the introduction to all these packages. If it could be made broader then we would be able to learn more and expand on our knowledge base. It would also be nice if the packages were integrated into other fields of study at the university. The project has helped people like me get a skill that the university could not give. And if the university failed to take on the project I would feel so bad because my sisters would miss out on a good opportunity”.

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Impact Assesment

Awareness:

While it is sad for the students of Kyambogo that the project implementation phase has ended, the impact it has had on the university students and indeed members of the community is evident.

Mr. John Achire, a Social Sciences student at the university who has attended the training says the project has been a good thing for him given that he came to the university from an upcountry school where the use of computers is still low.

Achire said: “When I came to the university, I was encouraged by the way the trainers handled us, they explained to us things in detail and made sure that we learnt every step before going to the next step. Now, I am able to use a computer and even train others with the skills that I have acquired.”

The fact is some students and locals have set up businesses after attending this training, what more impact would the designers of the project have hoped for.

Masika says she is glad she took up the computer packages because she has been able to find a job. “Right now, I am working here at T-net Internet café where I can put the skills I acquired to use”.

However she says that she has discovered more at her workplace where she has access to a computer and the Internet, those baby steps she made at the centre were the spring-board.

Going back to her university days, Masika got to know about the project through literature that was circulated around the university but making the decision to attend was preceded by fear. “Before I joined the training, I can tell you I knew absolutely nothing I even feared to touch a computer. But that fear left me when I started for I got to know the various computer parts and what each of these parts does, today I fear no more”. Well this is especially true given the fact that for one to run a café one needs to have adequate answers for their clients.

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Empowerment:

Ndagire says that there are some students who are putting the skills to use at their work places and these always come back for new skills. Achire adds that in this modernised world, “it is very necessary for us all to know a thing or two about computers and new technologies and also keep ourselves updated on those technologies.”

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Economic effects:

“Once in a while at the café, I typeset course work for customers who come in and don’t know how to use a computer or have no access to a computer elsewhere,” says Masika. Masika does not earn a lot from her current job but for a person who has just come out of school, she is doing fine.

“At the café I earn very little but the computer knowledge I have acquired is good for my Curriculum Vitae (CV) as I am now able to apply for jobs where they say ‘computer knowledge will be an added advantage’ without thinking that I will be rejected,” Masika says.

“Some of my colleagues who have computers can now make money out of their acquired skills,” says Achire. “These guys typeset course work for other students who don’t have access to the computer and get money for it”.

According to Achire, this in turn is helping those enterprising students become financially self-reliant. “Financially, these students are better off than some of us”.

On his own, Achire says he can put the skills he has acquired to use given a chance. “With the skills that I have acquired, I think I can do the same and can now develop economically and provide for my self.”.

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Effects in the institution and/or sector :

With the end of the contract between IICD and ICT basic training, the university is working on taking over the project.

“When the contract with IICD has expired the project will be integrated within the university. The project will no longer be facilitated by IICD but the university administration, the project has indeed served its purpose for students are now more knowledgeable than before” says Ndagire.

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Lessons Learned

General:

Financially, the project does not have enough funds to run smoothly, which has been a major set back because the centre is limited to the number of students it can take on in every session.

Given the demand, there are few computers available, and now that the university is set to take over the project, this is one of the challenges that will have to be address.

Lack of Internet connection has been a problem for the project. While Internet access was part of the package in the first three years it was awfully slow and yet so expensive it’s for this reason that a decision was made to cut it off.

For the students, unlike those that have found something to do with the skills acquired, there are those that do not have access to computers and therefore can’t put their skills to use.

“The lack of access to computers after training is a very big problem for us students who have no access to computers for we tend to forget easily since we cannot practice what we have learnt,” Achire lamented. “With computers and other new technologies, one needs to have access to them every now and then to learn more and improve on what we already know.”

Technology:

“We have 40 working computers and four spoilt computers. These can barely support the number of students that apply to join,” Ndagire said and the university now has a challenge of reconnecting the Internet. Power cuts too affected training sessions in the last year of the project and this resulted in increased running costs.