Mobile Computer Lab - Why we wish to provide this service....

Vocational training in the Philippines is supposed to start at Grade 5. Students at Indangan Primary school study vocational skills and technology from their textbooks, because there is no equipment to practise ICT, sewing, woodwork etc. Agriculture is also included in the Work and Vocational curriculum. There are a total of 324 Grade 5 and 6 students at Indangan Primary school who are learning vocational theory without the practice.

Cabantian Primary School does not even bother with providing this subject. They have not received the subject text books from the government and they have a computer lab with a grand total of 2 computers! The 199 Grade 5 and 6 students are allowed to go across once a year for a 40 minute session in the computer lab, which mainly involves playing an educational game unassisted.

Both principals said that even if they did have the equipment for the technology workshops, they would not have the money for consumables for students to learn and because their families are so poor, students would be unable to pay a material fee.

Kids Worldwide hopes to address this need. First we will focus on the ICT needs of the schools. Whilst the initial outlay and expenses for an ICT lab will be considerable, maintenance should not be an issue, as we have a few computer technicians who have offered to volunteer their services should we need it. We wish to purchase a van in which it is possible to stand, so that we may also add other capabilities in the future – such as transform it into a small mobile classroom or library.

Initially we hope to start with 15 laptop computers. Mobile labs have been proven to be more cost effective in the long run than desktop PCs (countless research articles on the internet about this) and they offer more versatility in provision of programmes.

With 2 children per laptop, and 60 minute classes, we will be able to provide the government teachers with a welcome respite from their overloaded classes (30 children taken out at a time). There are currently 6 classes at Indangan Primary school at Grade 5 & 6 level and 4 classes at Cabantian. This would mean that we would be providing a total of twenty 60 minute sessions per week purely for their students. We can offer a total of twenty sessions in a week excluding transport and set up time between schools. On a rotational basis, we will also be able to include two of the AMSAI schools in the locality (AMSAI Cabantian and AMSAI Buhangin).

Every fortnight, we would bring the laptops to the orphanages to offer classes there. In the evenings, the laptops could be used by volunteers to prepare for lessons and classes, or by teaching staff wishing to further their professional development.

The internet connection would be purely for teacher and staff use and limited to one or two PCs in order to avoid risk of virus contamination. Each laptop would have educational software installed to support the teaching of classes. If schools wished to provide internet access, this would be a service that they would pay for.