“Uganda's new curriculum emphasizes the increased use of ICT in education. Therefore, knowing how to use digital tools and understanding media is becoming crucial for everyone to participate responsibly in society and community activities.”

These were part of the remarks made by Mr. Paulin Djomo, Director, Regional Service Centre Entebbe (RSCE) as he handed over 20 Lenovo ThinkPad laptops and a LaserJet enterprise all-in-one printer to Jinja College on Thursday, 9 April.

This donation is under the RSCE’s goal to promote inclusion, respect and equal opportunities by providing ICT equipment to schools to enhance digital literacy among learners.

For Jinja College, the donation came in a timely fashion as the school’s chosen theme for the academic year is “Embracing ICT innovations in the 21^st century education.”

The Head Teacher, Mr. Michael Dhikusooka said “These are essential tools that will empower students to gain the relevant knowledge and develop marketable skills that our mission demands.  They will open doors to vast online resources, facilitate modern teaching methods, enable collaboration and ensure our learners are better prepared for higher education and the demands of this dynamic world.”

Mr. Djomo hailed the school on their current ICT infrastructure and policy that allows students to bring their own laptops to school.

He emphasized the importance of allowing the students to actively participate and provide them with all the support they need to use ICT to enhance their education and research and urged the learners to use the tools responsively.

Later in the day, Mr. Djomo travelled to Busede Seed Secondary School where he donated another 20 Lenovo ThinkPad laptops and a LaserJet enterprise all-in-one printer.

At this school, the challenges are different as they do not have access to internet or to reliable electricity.

Mr. Djomo urged the learners to embrace ICT for their future and encouraged them to collaborate and teach each other on how to use the equipment.

“Digital literacy is crucial in today's world as we increasingly embrace technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI). We understand that you currently do not have internet access, but we believe you can use this equipment to teach learners how to type, print, create presentations, and learn basic coding. These skills will significantly enhance their digital literacy.” he said.

The RSCE partnered with Unicef to load a learning platform called Kolibri onto the laptops which is an offline-first learning platform and ecosystem that provides educational content and tools in areas with limited or no internet access. It focuses on making high-quality education available to learners and educators in low-resource communities.

RSCE has donated 200 computers to various schools in Wakiso and Jinja. RSCE is devoted to providing access to digital literacy to the youth in order to empower and prepare them for the future.