Tanzania connects high schools to internet

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Communications, Works and Infrastructure, Prof Faustine Kamuzora (seated, left) and Tigo chief commercial officer, Shavkat Berdiev (seated, right), sign a Memorandum of Understanding in which Tigo will provide internet access to Tanzania’s secondary schools through the e-Schools Project.

This is the first time that the government and a mobile network operator are cooperating on an ICT project of such a large scale and scope.

As part of the agreement, the ministry will identify and provide a list of schools without computer labs to be connected and also guide the implementation of the project; while Tigo will sponsor the infrastructural development in schools across the country that will include wiring classrooms and installation of wireless LAN with internet access points.

While signing the memorandum of understanding at the Jangwani Secondary School in the country’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam, Tigo chief commercial officer, Shavkat Berdiev, said, “We are grateful to the government for accepting to partner with Tigo in this very important initiative aiming at supporting the government vision of ensuring that all mankind benefit from the access and use of information and communication technology (ICT) in various discipline to improve their social and economic situations.”

Berdiev said that Tigo was proud to be partnering with the Ministry to enable the youth and the wider communities to tap into the global mainstream of information and knowledge, where they will learn, expand their creativity and collaborate with peers across the world.

“Tigo will continue to work with the government on other innovative and exciting projects to uplift the lives of many Tanzanians,” Berdiev added.

While thanking Tigo during the signing of the agreement, The Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Communications, Works and Infrastructure, Prof Faustine Kamuzora, said: “It is through such partnerships that we shall be able to impart modern ICT skills and knowledge to the youth, to enable them to face the challenges of the ever-changing information trends in the society and global economy.

“I commend Tigo for its readiness to engage in public and private sector partnerships in order to help secondary school students in Tanzania and also welcome the participation of other stakeholders in the integration of this technology,” Kamuzora added.

Tigo’s e-Schools’ Project is one of the company’s strategic social investment projects and to date Tigo has been able to connect 31 public secondary schools in Tanzania with internet with an envisaged plan to connect 50 more this year.

Noting that it was the first time that the government and a mobile network operator were cooperating on an ICT project of such a large scale and scope, Kamuzora affirmed that the partnership will go a long way in imparting modern ICT skills and knowledge to the youth and enable them to face the challenges of the ever-changing information society and global economy.

“This technology will enable the students and teachers of the beneficiary schools and the wider communities to tap into the global mainstream of information and knowledge where they will learn, expand their creativity, collaborate with peers across the African continent and across the world, and generally  participate in defining the future of their world”, he noted.

The e-school’s project is among various projects that Tigo has undertaken to support community initiatives through the telecom’s corporate social responsibility portfolio. They include donation of over 2,700 desks to needy primary schools in a sustainable venture that is meant to alleviate the serious shortage of desks in the country’s schools.

Last year, Tigo partnered with Dar Teknohama Business Incubator (DTBi), a local NGO to offer scholarships worth over Tsh: 300m (about $136,363) to cover tuition fees, research fees, meals and accommodation for a period of four years to nine students undertaking ICT courses in local universities.