The One
Laptop Per Child (OLPC) foundation is to distribute 120,000
laptops to children in Rwanda by the end of 2009. OLPC team leader, Juliano Bittencourt, stated his hope that the
notebook PCs would help to develop children’s critical thinking and research skills, as well as their maths and their language. The organisation’s core four person organisation team is in Rwanda at present to monitor the progress being made after the project’s launch in mid-2008. The project was launched by President Paul Kagame as a long term project with the aim of equipping every child in primary school education with a laptop. By educating a computer proficient generation, the Rwandan government hope to use these technological developments to kickstart a number of sectors.
The portable
computers have been designed for ease of use and minimum maintenance as the foundation looks to assist educational development in Rwanda. The notebooks operate on
Linux software which isn’t susceptible to viruses, whilst the
keyboard and other key features have been made of rubber to reduce the risk of damage. The laptop is also waterproof and easy to carry around.
OLPC hope that other African countries, which have visited Rwanda to assess the success of the project, may place similar orders.