SchoolNet Africa made another visit to Angola to consolidate efforts at establishing SchoolNet Angola and undertaking its pilot project.

The objectives of the visit were to:

• Secure an agreement with the Ministers of Education, Science and Technology, Telecommunication and Social development  on SchoolNet Angola Pilot project
• Agree on a SchoolNet Angola governing body and its role;
• Secure agreement on shipping of  more affordable computers and peripherals to Angola;
• Inspect schools in Luanda in which computers will be deployed

Meeting with Deputy Ministers: - Anna Maria; Dr. Pedro Teta and Simao Phinda

The meeting with the ministers took place on the 29th of May 2020 at the National Commission for Information Technology (NCIT) premises – A national commission established to establish strategic guidelines aimed at bridging the digital divide and accelerating utilization ICT in all aspects of life in Angola. The objectives of the meeting were to seek:

1.  Support for an entity/organisation that will be responsible for school networking  and e- learning in Angola;
2. Nominations from the Government to the governing body of SchoolNet Angola (SNAG) to oversee its functions;
3. Discuss and agree on excise duty on computers for SNAG pilot project

Present were the Deputy Ministers of Science and technology, communication and Education with representatives from the Ministry of Social Development. (Director of Statistics and Planning Programmes and Projects) 

It was revealed by the Deputy Minister of Communication that a number of programmes and projects were in place to achieve the aims of the NCIT. The macification project in particular aims at establishing virtual libraries, computer refurbished centres, Internet kiosks and e-learning across the country.  Other projects the commission will be involved in include:

• Setting up digital villages
• Infrastructural development
• e-government
• ICT policy formulation and
• Intellectual property rights and Information security

The Deputy Minister of Communication who is also the deputy coordinator of the commission indicated that the vision of SchoolNet Africa in establishing SchoolNet Angola will help fulfill the vision of the macification project as it will support students’ research and best practices, develop skills that will inform all at sundry of the value of ICT as a cross cutting technology.

She indicated that Angolan Telecom will help with connectivity but presently concentrates its activities only in the capital Luanda. Satellite technology used across the country is presently expensive.

The Deputy Minster of Education indicated that the SchoolNet Angola project is important for schools in particular and the future economic development of the country. There are a number of school computer initiatives in Luanda and Benguela. He hoped that the ICT in education projects will spread through out the country to benefit the 3 Million learners currently in schools. He is hopeful that:

• Strategic guidelines will be in place to guide the project
• Coordination between the various Ministries will be clearly outlined
• Technology setup guidelines and time frames and sustenance models in place

The Minister indicated further that computer studies appears at secondary level in the curriculum and could be an added subject in Primary Schools and the Ministry of Social Development is to set up community Centres to train people to be able to use Information Technology.

Prof. Pedro Teta (Deputy Minster of Science and Technology) indicated that the Angolan Government has been concerned about the increasing digital gap and has in place a 10 year plan to address the situation. They recognize that telecommunication infrastructure was not the best. Projects in place to address telecommunication situation include: 

• SATRI fiber optic project to compliment the costly VSAT.
• Backbone for Science and Technology to link up with the Universities
• Local Government involvement for equipment to cover the whole country
• Post and Telecommunication Ethernet project at all offices soon to be established across the country. 

He indicated that such a massive project requires the support of other partners. The government has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with Microsoft in the areas of education, e-government and ICT and industry.  Content development as a challenge needs to be addressed.

An ICT academy at the National University will soon be set up and together with the Ministry of Education there are plans to pilot e-learning in 5 Schools. The government is working on a national roll out in the 18 provinces. The challenge is electrical power and connectivity.” We are therefore hoping to use solar panels, CDs and DVDs with 15 computers in the Schools. Local government will provide the sites with content in Portuguese”.

Creation of an association such as SchoolNet Angola was endorsed by the Ministers to partner with Government to achieve its aim of providing an opportunity for Angolan learners in an information age. The government will require the experiences from Celeste and Ilda for best practices. SNA should be able to work out costs from outside and provide guidelines in our efforts to involve top national champions in e-education in our country. 

The ministers committed themselves to the involvement of NGOs and the private sector in achieving the vision of the commission and the ministry of Social Development promised to help deliver computers from outside the country to schools for the SNAG project. 

Agreement on a SchoolNet Angola governing body and its role

A meeting was held with some role players nominated to the SchoolNet Angola governing body. These are from the Ministries of Education, Science and Technology, The two universities in Angola, teachers’ representatives, the private sector, NGO, the National Commission for Science and Technology, Communication Ministry and Ministry of Social Development. 

Visit to Schools in which computers are to be deployed

A visit to two schools earmarked for the deployment of computers and two to source information on School computer lab projects in Angola was undertaken on the 28th and the 29th of May 2020.  

School No. 902, Escola Preparatoria is located at the Viana suburb of Luanda. This is a senior secondary school which is science biased and prepares learners for pre-tertiary institutions in Angola. The grades levels are 7, 8 and 9 with 2020 learners, 68 educators running 3 shifts a day.

Escola 902 is the biggest school in the municipality and the only one with physics and chemistry labs. Other schools in the community use these labs. It will therefore be suitable to locate a computer lab in this school which the principal and staff have agreed with service other schools as well as the community. The school also has: 

There is suitable security with only two gates into the school yard. A room that will house the computers is also available, and the principal has a 386 with a windows 95 OS which he uses for school administration purposes. A telephone line exists, four teachers have computer skills. As computer Science is being introduced into Angolan Schools the computers in Escola 902 will go a long way to boost the ICT curriculum integration process. 

The Challenges however include irregular electricity supply which will be taken care of from time to time by a generator supplied by the municipality.

The issue of sustained connectivity will have to be discussed with the School as telephone costs seem high.

Institute Medio Normale Education: Gracia Neto is located in the Central Business District of Luanda. It is a pre-tertiary public institution, Grades 9-12, science biased with focus on teacher training. There are about 3000 learners with 3 shifts a day.

The school has 8 computers for teachers administrative and lesson planning tasks. It has a secured environment which could serve as a central training hub for teachers. Almost all teachers use computers for their lesson plans and the principal is keen to bring learners to use the computers for accessing information and learning.

It emerged that this school was one of the first to consider the use of ICTs in education. The limited computers donated by a charitable organization were only enough for teachers’ class administrative tasks. Enthusiasm by learners has sourced to the level that there was a desperate need for more computers to engage learners as well.

School No 204 Is a primary School Grades 1-4. With 856 learners, the school runs two shifts and is used as an observation and teaching practice centre for trainee teachers. It already has computers as one of the government e-learning projects. The computers are not yet connected to any network and the school, which integrates deaf learners, desperately requires software to assist deaf learners.

It emerged at Colegio Elisangela Felomena that Future Kids Computer project was piloted at this school. The project failed because the school could not afford the cost. As a private institution with learners from the upper class there was indication that computers were desperately needed as most teachers and learners have computers at their homes.

Challenges of the SchoolNet Angola project

Rollout to 3 centres in the other provinces of relative demand for ICT in education such as Benguela will not be easy. Issues such as transportation to such areas will require careful planning. Internet access will need to be discussed with NGOs that have such facilities for sharing purposes.

The use of CDs to compliment Internet resources will need to be explored as there is growing concern of the cost of Internet. Such CDs will need to be sourced from Portuguese speaking countries engaged in ICT s for education.

The way forward

With the green light given by the Ministers for SchoolNet Angola pilot project, the next stage will be deployment of computers to two schools in Luanda. This will happen simultaneously with one day workshop with the governing body of SNAG to review roles and responsibilities and adopt a constitution which is in draft.

The identified SchoolNet Champion Celeste will workshop the SchoolNet concept in schools identified for the rollout in order to seek the buy in from parents, school governing bodies and the community. This will address sustainability and Internet cost issues. The development of a training manual for the first level training of teachers

1.  Train the trainers in technical skills will be undertaken.
2.  Train the trainers in using desktop applications;
3. Discussions with teachers on SchoolNet Africa’s Operation Dot Learn programmes and other collaboratory projects such as iearn and GTP.

Traveling to the regions is required to access the concentration of ex-child soldiers and displaced youth to locate a resource for their use. It will also provide information for ICT in education outside Luanda that will feed into the ICT in education scan in Angola.

Source: Report by Dr Hillar Addo, SNA Project Officer