Egypt: NEPAD e-schools officially launched

Highway Africa News Agency

The Egyptian Minister of Education, Dr Yousry Al-Gamal, has officially launched the NEPAD e-Schools Demonstration (Demo) Project at Al-Haddain Secondary School in El Behaira Governate, Egypt.

The project is a joint venture of the Egyptian Government, HP Consortium, ORACLE Consortium and NEPAD e-Africa Commission.

Egypt is the sixth country to launch the project after Uganda, Ghana, Lesotho, Kenya and Rwanda. It is also the first North African country to launch the NEPAD e-Schools.

The NEPAD e-Schools Project is led by the NEPAD e-Africa Commission-the NEPAD Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Task Team responsible for developing the NEPAD ICT Programme and implementing related projects.

The project focuses on providing end-to-end ICT solutions that will connect schools across Africa to the NEPAD e-Schools Network and the Internet.

Solutions also include the provision of content, learning material and the establishment of health points at schools.

Said Dr Henry Chasia, the Executive Deputy Chairperson of the NEPAD e-Africa Commission, "The Demo Project is intended to provide a learning mechanism, based on real-life experiences of implementing ICTs in schools across Africa. This will serve to inform the rollout of the broader initiative, and we are convinced the Egyptian experience is critical in attaining these objectives"

"We believe that the public-private partnerships we are creating to address the challenges of imparting modern ICT skills and knowledge to the African youth, will enable the latter to participate as equals in the ever changing information society and global knowledge economy, thus defining their future. This technology will not only benefit the young people, but also the teachers of these schools and the wider Egyptian communities. In so doing, we shall also be contributing to the attainment of the millennium development goals", he added.

The HP and ORACLE Consortia, and a number of other private companies are sponsoring the Demonstration Project, consisting of six schools in each of the 16 participating African countries, for a period of 12 months.

The HP Managing Director, Eng. Ahmed Samy said: "In collaboration with its partners, HP has participated in this project to develop the educational sector in Egypt.

HP has supplied three computer labs in three schools in three Governates with the latest state-of-art technology including computers, computer servers, wireless network, smart boards and Internet."

The ORACLE Consortium is providing solutions to half of the NEPAD e-Schools demonstration project in Egypt. Eng. Hussein El Gueretly, Country Manager of Oracle Egypt said that "we at ORACLE are very proud to be part of this great project, which will ensure a better future for the youth of Egypt and the region. We are looking forward to working with the governments of the region and our colleagues in the IT industry to expand this project in order to bring about the kind of change and progress this region and its people deserve".

The HP Consortium is providing solutions to Al-Haddain Secondary School, El Moqta Secondary Mixed School and Omaer Ibn Abd El Aziz Elsalaa Secondary School.

The ORACLE Consortium is providing solutions to El Grrfa El Tegaria Secondary School, Sobeih Secondary School and Elwesan Experimental School.

"We now have a very good chemistry teacher who teaches us from Cairo via Internet. As he teaches, we see him and what he is teaching on a big screen. It is like we are with him in the classroom! Chemistry is now very interesting to learn. I now want to become a Doctor and save lives", says Habiba, one of the female students at Al Heddain School.

The countries participating in this demonstration project are: Algeria , Burkina Faso , Cameroon , Egypt , Gabon , Ghana , Kenya , Lesotho , Mali , Mauritius , Mozambique , Nigeria , Rwanda , Senegal , South Africa and Uganda .

In each country, the project aims to transform all African secondary schools into NEPAD e-Schools within five years of implementation start date and all African primary schools within ten years of implementation start date.

In total, more than 600 000 schools across the continent will enjoy the benefits of ICT and connectivity to the NEPAD e-Schools Satellite Network upon completion of the project.