Information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as mobile phones, computers and the internet are often seen as accelerators of development processes. In certain circumstances they can play a critical role in achieving results for the most marginalised communities and the most vulnerable children, mothers, and families…
Good education is the right of every child. Unfortunately rural Tanzanian communities are laden with under-resourced schools that limit the potential of children, making them unable to attain higher education or succeed in the competitive world beyond. These children lack the knowledge, skills and resources available to their counterparts all over the world and as a consequence, develop poor self-esteem and a high level of inadequacy which exposes them to further disadvantage and vulnerability.
Rural children most of them have no access to computers and other modern learning aids, outstanding volunteer-tutors, mentoring and a balanced curriculum to develop a strong culture of achievement to help them compete globally.
So its time for the government, stakeholders and Non-Government Organisations (NGO’s) to wake up and join efforts and start investing in Children and ICT for the future development of the nation.
In a bid to curb this problem, Tigo Tanzania and Reach for Change Organisation pioneers to ensure that children especially those from rural areas acquires ICT knowledge, every year establishes various competition to collect innovative ideas from different entrepreneurs countrywide for funding and develop them.
Operating on a principle that knowledge is the differentiator, Tanzania rural empowerment organisation (TAREO) programme help educationally under-served rural children develop knowledge, skills, and character through hands-on education in ICT, leadership and vocational skills training at no expense to their parents.
Thadei Msumanje is a leader of TAREO, who came with his innovative idea of helping children develop with ICT skills where he competed with various entrepreneurs under the competition of Tigo Reach for change competition on September 2012.
Through combine the non-profit sector’s visionary approach with business professionalism and the public sector’s agreement on the need for social responsibility TAREO under Tanzania Change leader Thadei Msumanje was selected to be one of the Reach for Change individuals with unique ideas for social change
TAREO through its new Rural Technology School –”Majengo Kids & Youth Technology School” aimed to improve the life of rural children in rural –Tanzania through its new idea of Kids learning through ICT.
“We integrate the ICT learning with other learning structures such as kindergartens to make sure that the benefits of ICT for learning processes are available to these children up to those under 18,”he said
“The idea of children with ICT development came when we found that numbers of children are not in schools, parents are not aware of it while there is an open opportunity for ICT demand in rural areas. Hence i decided to help the children with free education with affordable ict education in rural area”. Said Msumanje
In April 18th 2013 the change leader film crew under the communication Office Miriam visited the site project, interviewed the change leader, stayed with the kids for more than 6 hours and talked with parents and villages management.
It was the interesting day and events as the villagers had never seen visitors who are interested with their kids and any issue concern with their live.
He says then it was where they started putting into practice to the children of Majengo to acquire ICT knowledge.
Msumanje says few children in rural Tanzania have access to ICT which increases the rural-urban divides within the country. Through their project they wanted to address this problem by bringing ICT to children in the rural communities.
“We integrated the ICT learning with other learning structures to kindergartens and school children to make sure that the application and benefits of ICT for learning processes for the rural children of Tanzania, “he said
“Our focus was to get children started on the computer at an early age, so that they can position themselves to take advantage of the vast knowledge base of educational information that is available on the Internet and, in doing so, derive tremendous benefits.
He says this project have helped combat the high rate of school-drop out, child labour and youth violence in rural communities (Moshi rural) by providing expanded learning opportunities to school-age children living in poverty and disadvantage.
They imparted ICT knowledge to children from age eight and above for free. Children worked with adult mentors to sharpen their IT skills from introduction to computers to general graphic designing, software development, mobile application development, website designing, hardware and networking. Below is an inspirational story of a child who has been impacted by their work.
He says it is beneficial in making efforts to support children acquiring skills in using ICT gadgets and by doing so build a foundation for future pro-tech citizens to develop the Tanzanian economy.
He however says the main challenge was inadequate awareness among people and institutions of the importance of investing in early years.
Most of the villages do not appreciate the importance of the children learning ICT.
Tigo Tanzania General Manager Diego Gutierrez said, “Statistics show that children less than 18 years of age constitute almost half of Tanzania’s population.
But to date the investment in addressing their needs is not proportionate with their share of the population or their role as tomorrow’s leaders and human capital. Investing in children is the single most important investment in national development”.
Gutierrez added that “Tigo has for many years been deeply involved in addressing challenges concerning children and youth in Tanzania. We witness ourselves the most effective way to bring about sustainable change is to empower motivated individuals with the right tools to bring to life innovative ideas changes their society. Tigo Reach for Change initiative allows us to do just that.”
According to research report by UNICEF shows that ICTs are not a technical sphere detached from the complex realities of children’s lives. They are increasingly woven into the very fabric of life, in income-rich and increasingly in income-poor countries. It is clear that if there is no targeted engagement with these socio-technical innovations, they are likely to reinforce existing inequalities.
It follows that a focus on children and on greater equity leads to an active and reflective engagement with the potential and challenges of ICT for development, targeting in particular marginalised children. This report serves as a key contribution on which to build informed dialogue and decision making, developed jointly between research, policy and practice
In the wake, foreign companies as well as local ones are been urged to fulfill their social cooperate responsibilities to their surrounding local communities to complement government efforts in combating poverty and other socio-economic issues.
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