Particularly affected by the reorganizations to which the Covid-19 crisis has forced governments, the education system has been able to put in place solutions for educational continuity thanks to ICT and digitalisation.

Gabon plans to connect 90% of schools to the Internet by 2026 in order to allow young people to have access to information and to benefit from the possibilities offered by digital technology. The information was given on Tuesday, November 22, by the general coordinator for the digitization of primary education, Joachim Ondjila Ongnélé during a preparatory workshop for the implementation of the Giga initiative.

“  This program should enable 90% of public and private denominational schools in Gabon to use digital tools in their learning process by 2026. The goal is to connect pre-primary and secondary schools to the internet  ,” said Joachim Ondjila Ongnélé.

This initiative is the result of a partnership between the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Telecommunications Union (IUT), which aims to connect every school to the Internet. “  UNICEF is once again committed to strengthening its collaboration with your department in order to contribute to the response to the learning crisis which is affecting the performance of our education systems  ”, indicated Dr Jean René Guikoumbi, child development specialist at UNICEF.

According to the Minister of National Education, Camelia Ntoutoume Leclercq, this program is in line with the vision of the authorities, that of modernizing the education system. “  In order to hope to meet the major challenges of the moment, the use of digital solutions is no longer a possibility, but an obligation , in particular to guarantee the performance and resilience of our education system  ”, specified Camelia Ntoutoume Leclercq. According to her, the long-term objective is to extend this action to all teaching cycles in the Gabonese education system.

For more than a decade, the Gabonese authorities have been gradually inserting the digital tool in the various administrations and in certain activities, recalls Le Nouveau Gabon . Also, the Covid-19 which has shaken the country since 2020 has highlighted the importance of digitization without which educational continuity could not have been ensured. Gabon is trying to solve this problem with the implementation of digitalization in the education system. This program, we learn, which is in its pilot phase will be done with the primary and it will extend thereafter to all levels. Especially secondary and higher education.

Source: Agency Ecofin