Airtel and British Council Launch Digital Hubs For Students
Airtel and the British Council have in an event held at Nakasero Primary School launched a digital hub to serve as ICT centres for teachers, students and wider communities. Digital Hubs have already been set up through partnerships with Microsoft in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Ghana and Nigeria. High speed broadband access from Bharti Airtel for these hubs guarantees teachers and students limitless new educational opportunities.
Over the last three years, thousands of schools across Sub-Saharan Africa have benefitted from British Council’s work supporting educators to improve their teaching and learning process through ICT. British Council supports ICT initiatives in African schools that are sustainable and teacher-centered. In Uganda, British council worked with various partners such as UPDF, UNICEF and World Vision to set up the hubs in different regions countrywide. In Kampala, (KCCA) Kampala Capital City Authority partnered with us by setting up digital hubs in two of their schools; Nsambya Primary School and Nakasero Primary School.
The partnership with Bharti Airtel builds on the Badiliko partnership between the British Council and Microsoft that supports ICT integration in schools across the region. Bharti Airtel aims to improve the quality of life of communities through their Corporate Social Responsibility work in education.
The Managing Director Airtel Uganda, Mr. V.G. Somashekar was also very excited about this innovation and was very thankful to British Council and all the other partners for turning this dream into reality.
“In line with Airtel’s Corporate Social Responsibilities, we are very excited to be a part of this initiative and we hope, through our partnership with the British Council, that this initiative will be able to connect thousands of students and teachers and will also empower the local community with IT skills that will enable them to be more digitally enlightened and ultimately become more competitive in today’s fast changing economy.
British Council has invested in digital interventions that enable African schools to participate in the global exchange of knowledge and ideas. Improved ICT skills enable teachers to link their classrooms to others globally, adding an international dimension to their educational experience and fostering mutual understanding.
In order to support governments to consider good practice in this area, the British Council has organised policy dialogue workshops in several countries highlighting key aspects in ICT intervention. This involves professional development for teachers and school leaders, infrastructure, curriculum, policy engagement and robust monitoring and evaluation.
British Council operates a number of similar educational programmes including Connection Classrooms, International inspiration and Badiliko to support schools across Africa. Over 400 schools in Uganda are currently benefiting from these British Council programmes.
