African Youth Utilising IT-Essentials Innovation in Re-vitalisation of PCs to Equip Disadvantaged Rural Schools Shaping their ICT Learning Landscape: Namibian Case Study

Abstract

As the sub-Saharan region was expanding educational infrastructure, they met challenges to equip the rural schools with Personal Computers (PCs). The PCs as equipment that required frequently upgrading as technology evolved, the institutions from urban kept on replacing the outdated with the new ones that had high hardware and software specifications, such as RAM, hard-disc, CPU speed, etc. Though still functioning at an en-efficient level, the outdated PCs (o-PCs) were abandoned in some cases packed on corridors. These o-PCs were regarded as en-efficient because of degraded specification as in a long run technology demanded more resources. While these urban tertiary institutions were abandoning the o-PCs, the primary and secondary schools in rural areas were completely inaccessible of PCs. At a serious note, in some remote schools, pupils had not even touched a Computer Key-Board. These students were completely deprived of the IT/ICT technologies and services. It was against this background that the IT-Essentials students at the University of Namibia, in the Department of Computer Science, envisaged on an innovation of servicing and upgrading the abandoned o-PCs to be deployed in primary and secondary schools that were in remote areas. These refurbished PCs were deployed in targeted rural schools. In that way, these under privileged students had opportunity to experience and utilise the ICT facilities.