SAKURA project: bridging the digital divide between rural areas and the capital city

Author : Hiroyuki Ide
Date added : 2003-09-26

Brief Project Background

Bridging the digital divide between rural areas and the capital city-this is the main objective of the SAKURA project. The SAKURA project plans to improve the situation of ‘information isolation’ and ICT education environment in rural areas, supported by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Education and Culture (MOSTEC) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which has responsibility for technical cooperation with Japan’s Official Development Assistance. The project’s name, SAKURA, is an abbreviation of the Mongolian phrase, “Install computers into schools, connect computers by E-mail.” The SAKURA project aims at not only implementing computers into schools but also at building sustainable environment for using Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in remote areas-training instructors, creating new Mongolian textbooks, and establishing a support system for instructors. Since the project started in November 2001, 297 network-connected PC s have been installed at 35 secondary schools in rural areas, while students and instructors of the schools have benefited from new information communication tools. By the end of November 2003, 15 more schools will join this project. The name SAKURA has another meaning: “cherry blossom” in Japanese. The SAKURA project was named with the hope that many students of rural schools will see their Internet and information literacy begin to bloom, just as cherry blossoms start blooming after a cold winter.

Mongolia is an independent and democratic country that changed its political regime from socialism to capitalism in 1984. It has a population of approximately 2.7 million, of which a third live in the capital city Ulaanbaatar. Mongolia has 21 aimags (provinces), 337 sums (city), and about 1500 bugs (villages for nomads). Though the government has implemented its new information policy, there is a huge gap in the level of communication infrastructure between Ulaanbaatar and rural areas. While some aimags near the railroad have optical fiber cables that enable the use of high-speed Internet, more than half of all sums use one shared telephone line only connected to Ulaanbaatar.

ICT is widely used in various fields. Today, all people who want to lead a civilized life need to have knowledge of ICT. Therefore, ICT education is becoming a part of compulsory education in many countries. Mongolia is no exception. The Ministry of Science, Technology, Education and Culture (MOSTEC) started implementing regular ICT lessons into secondary schools, especially 9th and 10th grade students, in 1984. This curriculum aimed at contributing to improving the quality of compulsory education as well as helping isolated schools in rural areas, where newspapers are delivered every ten days, to stay better informed. However, MOSTEC had difficulties in implementing this attempt because of a lack of equipment, proper teacher training, and technical support, as well as budget constraints, and poor communication infrastructure in rural areas. Due to these severe conditions, the Mongolian government requested the support of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in improving ICT education in Mongolia. JICA decided to support MOSTEC for two years, then dispatched Mr. Hiroyuki Ide, an ICT expert of JICA, to MOSTEC. Mr. Ide cooperated with MOSTEC and two local engineers, together starting the SAKURA Project.

The SAKURA project has three performance goals: 1) all students from 8th grade to 10th grade of target schools will use PCs for at least two hours per week, 2) all students and instructors of target schools will have E-mail addresses, using these on a daily basis, and 3) at least 85% of the computers in the target schools will be operational at any given time. In order to accomplish these goals, the SAKURA project has taken nine steps.

1. Research ICT Environment and Set Project Requirements: Mr. Ide conducted research about the ICT environment in Mongolia in order to form a list of necessary prerequisites for the success of the SAKURA project. Altogether, he developed five prerequisites. First, the project should focus on utilizing only existing infrastructure, such as the power supply and communication methods in rural areas, because it costs a lot to improve this infrastructure. Second, the SAKURA project should adopt Linux, the major free software, as standard software in order to be free from costly licensing issues and avoid using illegally copied software. Third, the SAKURA project should only focus on implementing E-mail through batch data transferred by the existing telephone lines. It was deemed highly important to establish a method for exchanging information to solve the issue of ‘information isolation’ in rural areas. Establishing Internet access was judged to be unnecessary and impractical because of the small availability and poor quality of telephone lines in most sums (cities), where village people often share a single telephone. Fourth, the SAKURA project would need assistance from the Computer Science Management School which would offer its academic network, ERDEMNET, for the SAKURA E-mail system. Technical advice from the university would be necessary for the project. Finally, the SAKURA project should support ICT instructors when they encountered technical problems. Through the research, it became clear that ICT instructors were reluctant to make PCs available to students because they were not confident in repairing the damaged PCs. In order to keep the PCs in more consistent working order, it was decided a support center would have to be established.

2. Select target schools: The target users were determined to be the students and ICT instructors in rural secondary schools, as well as the villagers themselves, provided the schools allowed them to use the facilities. The target schools, meanwhile, were determined to be the secondary schools outside of Ulaanbaatar that were found to satisfy 18 conditions required to participate in the project. For example, the schools had to have a sufficient facility-with a 24 hour power supply, a secured computer room, and a telephone line reaching to Ulaanbaatar without telephone operators. The schools also had to have enough funds to cover necessary expenditures, such as printer ink and paper, long-distance telephone calls, and travel expenses for instructor training. Since JICA was to fund the SAKURA project for only two years, the SAKURA project would have to create a sustainable system for rural schools after JICA’s support ended. The SAKURA project decided not to support the schools’ operating expenses from the beginning. Through paying minimum operating expenses, the schools have more responsibility and motivation for maintaining the project.

3. Publish an ICT textbook in Mongolian: There was no Mongolian ICT textbook before 2001. Instructors used Russian textbooks and translated them into Mongolian. Though a Mongolian textbook was published in September 2001, it was insufficient for using as an ICT textbook because it mainly only covered how to use MS-Office applications. In order to offer a high-quality ICT education, it was deemed essential to publish a new Mongolian textbook, which would include not only the software operations but also the concepts of information ethics, intellectual property, and computer networking.

4. Train ICT instructors and distribute PCs: Most ICT class instructors have a background of science and mathematics, however, they do not have enough ICT skills and knowledge to teach students. Though regular ICT education had been offered since 1991, teachers had to teach students how to use computers without computers. The SAKURA project offers teachers a training course covering all necessary skills and concepts for teaching ICT classes.

5. Establish a low cost computer lab in each school: There are 600 public schools in Mongolia; more than 300 of these, all in rural areas, did not have any computers. The fiscal support of donor institutions was not enough to provide PCs for all schools. In addition, expensive software license fees placed an added burden on the schools. The SAKURA project therefore decided to use secondhand computers donated by a Japanese NGO or purchased from Mongolian local PC shops, and adopted Linux software for establishing a low cost computer room.

6. Create School Support Center: It was judged important to create an environment in which instructors could receive computer repair services. Many computers were not available for students because instructors were afraid that students might break them. Fortunately, the Technical University offered its facilities and student volunteers, enabling the School Support Center to start its services. The center charges the schools minimum maintenance fees and training fees in order to hire full-time support engineers, and recruit student volunteers.

7. Monitor the target schools: After installing PCs and equipment, Mr. Ide has made a goal of visiting all target schools in order to make sure the project is going well. If the schools have problems, he creates an action plan for solving the problems.

8. Implement follow-up training for instructors: The SAKURA project offers follow-up training for instructors approximately 6 months after PCs and equipment are installed at the school.

9. Hand over the SAKURA project to a local NPO: Since JICA plans to support the SAKURA project only until February 2004, the SAKURA project will have to be taken over by a local non-profit organization (NPO) in order to continue its maintenance expansion. As of August 2003, steps 1 through 6 have been completed. At the completion of the first phase as of February 2003, the SAKURA project had finished training instructors for and installing equipment in 35 schools as of February 2003. The SAKURA project is preparing to monitor the schools and set up follow-up training for instructors. In addition, a new local NPO, the future successor to JICA, Japan Mongolian Information Technology Association (JMITA) has begun supporting the SAKURA project.

Results

The Sakura project has accomplished five important results since it started in November 2001.

First, the SAKURA project has provided Mongolian ICT education materials focusing on ‘IT literacy’ for instructors and students from 8th to 10th grade. The first edition of the new textbook was published in June 2002. The second edition was published based on instructors’ feedback in May 2003. Now, all 35 SAKURA Project member schools use the textbook. The new textbook covers information on Internet ethics (how to guard against authentication thieves and Internet crimes), intellectual property, computer networking, and Linux operation. Khoshavar, an ICT instructor in Erdene Sum, is satisfied with the new textbook: “The new textbook is easy to read. I like the methods for explaining in this textbook. It shows multiple ways to operate the software.

Second, the SAKURA project has offered training for IT instructors in order to improve their ICT skills and knowledge. Local engineers developed three kinds of textbooks for instructors: Linux installation, Linux administration, and network connections. The first training before implementing PCs was a seven-day course, and it was offered four times for 46 teachers from the 35 schools. The follow-up training, taking place after the implementation of the PCs, will be offered in September 2003. Participants have showed satisfaction with the training. They say that creating a networked environment was really practical and worthwhile. Some instructors have also shown enthusiasm about the advanced Linux training offered at the follow-up training.

Third, the SAKURA project has installed sufficient ICT equipment in the schools. Including new and second hand PCs, 297 PCs have been installed in 35 schools (i.e., one PC per 25 students in 8th through 10th grade). During project phase I, from June 2002 to February 2003, 35 schools started offering a new ICT class, as well as offering E-mail. One instructor noted that students have started asking questions of teachers more often since the SAKURA project started. Fifteen more schools will start offering a new ICT class by November 2003.

Fourth, the SAKURA project has built an environment for using E-mail in rural secondary schools. The key technology supporting the SAKURA project is UUCP (Unix to Unix CoPy), an old communication protocol for low-speed circuits. UUCP is an appropriate choice, for it has enough capability to send and receive E-mail. A simply configured mail server in each school stores E-mails sent by students. The stored E-mails are sent to the main mail server in Ulaanbaatar at midnight when no one is using the shared telephone lines. All 35 of the phase I schools were supposed to have an environment in which everyone could exchange E-mail with outside people, however, 16 schools could not do so due to financial problems. These schools only created Local Area Network (LAN). Even though the schools only implemented LAN, the students have enjoyed exchanging internal E-mail with their classmates and teachers.

Fifth, the SAKURA project created a ‘School Support Center’ for ICT instructors in September 2002. The schools have to pay minimum support fees of about 5 dollars per PC per year. Instructors can call the center and ask technical questions. The SAKURA project’s two local engineers work full-time at the center. Currently, the support center deals with an average of 4 or 5 calls per week.

Lessons

Over the course of the two and half years the SAKURA project has been in operation, the project members have learned the importance of utilizing the existing infrastructure and older equipment, as well as recognizing the potential within every student to become proficient in ICT education.

New ICT education projects with huge financial support usually focus on implementing new PCs and technologies. Sometimes such projects do not work well, especially in developing nations without updated infrastructure. In the case of the SAKURA project, the decision to use existing infrastructure for implementing E-mail has proven correct, as there was no necessity for using the latest PCs and technologies to learn and experience basic networked computing.

There are three important lessons that other ICT education projects in developing nations might learn from the SAKURA project: 1) second hand PCs have enough capability to use simple applications, 2) children’s ICT learning abilities are the same the world over, and 3) even outmoded communication protocols can be useful in countries that suffer from poor communication infrastructure.

1. Second hand PC s have enough capability to use simple applications.

If users only want to use the Internet and application software like E-mail, or word processing and spreadsheet-making software, PCs manufactured after 1996 have enough capability. The latest PCs are set up to allow users to enjoy new services offered by high speed and broadband Internet. If the project only needs to offer an environment in which many students can use computers for simple application software in developing nations without updated communication infrastructures and enough lucrative budgets, it is best to utilize inexpensive secondhand PCs for basic ICT education.

2. Children’s ICT learning abilities are the same the world over.

There is no difference in the ICT learning skills of students from developed or developing nations. A widely held opinion among educators in Japan is that the level of the ICT skill in a class improves up to the level of the best student’s ICT skill in the class. That is, students who understand the class will teach other classmates, so that everyone in the class will come to understand the material well. The Mongolian students of the SAKURA project did the same. Though most Mongolian kids had never seen PCs, they read the new textbook, taught each other, and sent E-mail to friends in a short period of time. They learned how to use PCs by playing with them along with their friends, just like children learn how to use other toys. The two essentials for improving students’ IT literacy are a high quality textbook written in the native language, and an environment in which students can use PCs whenever they want.

3. Outmoded communication protocols can be useful in countries that suffer from poor communication infrastructure.

Each small town has a few shared telephone lines. Since these telephone lines are not well protected, noise is generated that spoils the quality of sound. The SAKURA project adopts an old communication protocol, UUCP, a low speed communication protocol that overcomes this problem. Currently, TCP/IP is the main communication protocol between PCs, but it does not work well in circuits with much noise. UUCP, which has a velocity of 1200-9600bps (150 -1200 characters per second), is a very slow communication protocol; however, it can be an effective low-cost communication tool in developing nations with poor communication infrastructure. The SAKURA project users do not experience any problems with the communication system using UUCP. They enjoy exchanging messages with their family members and relatives in foreign countries. Utilizing outmoded communication protocols will become an important option for ICT projects in developing countries.

Development Impacts

Since the SAKURA project started in November 2001, 3825 students of 8th and 10th grade in rural areas have started learning new ICT lessons and using E-mail.

“Students who had never used computers before started using computers in daily life after the SAKURA project was implemented,” said Mr. Khosbayar, an ICT instructor in Erdene sum (city). “The Sakura Project gave opportunities for teachers, students, and people in Erdene sum to learn about ICT.”

Mr. Enkhsaikhan, an ICT instructor in Bayanchandmani sum, explained the positive impact of SAKURA project on his students: “Students are communicating with students of other schools. They exchange opinions about many topics. SAKURA project has given us a good impact. Students collect information by exchanging E-mail with people outside.”

Students in rural schools have overcome the problem of ‘information isolation’ since the SAKURA project started. Through exchanging information with students of other schools, students have expanded their opportunities to gather useful information resources. Information literacy skills offered by the SAKURA project will become one of the assets Mongolian students can use for creating an information society in the future.

The project had a strong impact not only on students but also on teachers. Mr. Enkhsaikhan stated that the SAKURA project offered his school an ideal environment for ICT education. Formerly, there were no computers in the school, so that they had to use only an old textbook for an ICT lesson. But after the SAKURA project had been implemented, Mr. Enkhsaikhan explained, 80 percent of his school teachers could use PCs. In addition, quick and accurate assistance from the school Support Center helped ICT instructors offer better lessons to students. The instructors now do not have to hesitate to make PCs available to students because they can receive accurate advice for repairing PCs.

The SAKURA project is providing invaluable opportunities to future Mongolian leaders in the computer technology field. Azar, a student of the Computer Science Management School, the best university of computer science field in Mongolia, working for the SAKURA project as one of the local technical staff, said, “I am very happy to work for the SAKURA project because I can learn practical skills through supporting the project, and contribute to the development of Mongolia.” This fall, 12 more volunteer university students will join the SAKURA projects. They have enough potential to lead Mongolia in the future. Thus far, the SAKURA project has realized two significant achievements: it has bridged the digital divide, while also raising future national leaders through practical experiences.

According to the latest report, Information Communication Technologies in Teacher Education, issued by the United Nations of Science, Education and Communication (UNESCO), there are three essential conditions which must be met in order to harness the power of ICT to improve learning: 1) sufficient access for teachers and students to digital technologies in their classrooms, schools, and teacher education institutions, 2) high quality, meaningful and culturally responsive digital content, and 3) teachers’ knowledge and ability to use ICT and resources to support all students. We can say that the SAKURA project satisfies all three conditions. SAKURA helps teachers make PCs available as long as possible by creating a Support Center. Though there remains a poor communication infrastructure, the SAKURA project offers an E-mail exchange environment using open source software. This is the ideal environment for students to learn computer networking and improve information literacy skills. Furthermore, two training sessions for teachers offer enough knowledge and skills for teaching a new ICT curriculum to students.

The number of students who learn new ICT skills will keep increasing after JMITA takes over the SAKURA project. After many students see their information literacy bloom, they will be able to expand their opportunities in the future in Mongolia. We are looking forward to seeing a surge of development in Mongolia.

Project Information

Organisation : Japan International Corporation Agency
Total budget in US$ : US$ 138,128
Country of activity: Mongolia [MN]

Are there any partners involved : JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), MOSTEC (Ministry of Science, Technology, Education and Culture), JMITA (Japan Mongolian IT Association), Computer Science Management School
What is partners role?: JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency): Donor to the SAKURA Project.

MOSTEC (Ministry of Science, Technology, Education and Culture): Recipient of donations from JICA. Its responsibilities include providing logistical support for a resident ICT expert (Mr. Ide), holding Mr. Ide choose schools, and providing a storage room for the project.

JMITA (Japan Mongolian IT Association): After its funding ends, JICA will hand over the project to JMITA.

Computer Science Management School offers its academic network, ERDEMNET, for the SAKURA E-mail system.

Contact Information

Hiroyuki Ide
hiroide@mobinet.mn
Room #101 Government Building III Ulaanbaatar, N/A, Ulaanbaatar, + 976-11-320358

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