SchoolNet – Mozambique

During its pilot phase, SchoolNet targeted secondary schools, technical institutes, and teacher training centres — 10 sites in all. The sites received 486-computer donation that had been refurbished but not maintained for more than a year. The project organisers say the donation was translated into 200 state-of-the-art computers and 25 free Internet connections to schools in Maputo, Mozambique's capital.

The network hopes that it will help level the playing field by providing rural dwellers and urban centres outside the country's capital with equitable access to educational materials and resources. "To broaden the reach of SchoolNet throughout the country, technological options, such as packet radio, satellite, and wireless communication systems, will be explored."

In addition to being part of SchoolNet, it is also home to the Projecto Evolução Pela Comunicação e Informática (EPCI), a community telecentre. Students and teachers use the facility for free, while walk-in users pay for services, such as email and access to the Internet. The students and teachers have developed micro projects such as designing Web sites and recycling and repairing computers.

Students and teachers in the SchoolNet network use the Internet as a learning tool. Mozambican students have participated in Internet-based exchanges such as the Global Environment Youth Convention and the Math Olympics. Some, like Afrosio Sadie, have now become content developers. A graduate of Francisco Manyanga school, he was among the first hand-picked group of students to receive computer training in the school's new computer lab. Among the skills he was taught was Web design.

Technology, Education, Youth

The network hopes to redress some of the problems endemic to Mozambique's education system, such as inequity in access to education, especially between urban and rural dwellers.