Samsung Electronics Africa have made a new step towards the launch of e-learning in Uganda, with the inauguration of the solar-powered internet schools (SIPS).
Last Thursday, officials gathered at Nsangi SS in Wakiso, for the formal launch of the SIPS smart classroom, previously housed in a cargo container, but now moved into a building.
Officiating at the function, Samsung’s country manager Amos Mulago, explained that they were establishing this measure to enable more students to benefit from soft skills, necessary for their future.
“We realised that the computers were very few [in the SIPS] and we had to get a bigger classroom for the students,” he said. “We did this because this is one of the needy schools.”
He acknowledged that in the past, students complained about the few computers and heat, prompting the move. The container is repurposed to accommodate up to 24 pupils; at Nsangi the student, making for student to computer ratio of 38:1. The school enrolment stands at over 2,133 students.
Samsung electronics recently delivered another SIPS to Mackay College in Nateete, imported from South Africa. Unlike the one in Nsangi, the smart classroom at Mackay College is equipped with air conditioning.
Speaking on behalf of the education ministry, the commissioner in charge of Secondary Education, Benson Kule, commended the move for also dealing with other challenges such as the lack of electricity and internet connectivity.
“This innovation of the solar-powered internet schools will go a long way in resolving lack of electricity and ICT class room infrastructure especially in rural areas,” Kule said.
The new classroom accommodates 43 computer laptops. However, Samsung will distribute temporary smart classrooms to schools with a critical need. The temporary classroom consists of a 12-meter renovated shipping container that has been customized into a classroom setting.
It is equipped with a 65-inch large format display screen, a teacher laptop designed to monitor all other activities done by the students and a solar panel.
According to the World Bank, only seven African countries have electricity access rates exceeding 50 per cent. Only 15 per cent of Ugandan households have access to electricity and far less to computers.
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