Government aims to connect all primary school pupils to lap tops by 2012: Murenzi

Government aims to connect all primary school pupils by 2012: Murenzi

BY GEORGE KAGAME


The launch of the 'One Lap Top Per Child' scheme in Rwanda by President Paul Kagame earlier in the month is a big step in the government's objective of creating a knowledge based economy by 2020, this was revealed by Professor Romain Murenzi the Minister in Charge of Science and Technology while meeting Japanese design and textile experts at Village Urugwiro over the weekend.

The experts from Tama Art University in Tokyo were in Rwanda promoting a new technique whereby banana leaves-after the edible part is taken-the remains can be turned into textile material, the discovery was made from the design university. Murenzi said the discovery would be very helpful if the experts opened a processing plant in the country, he added that Rwanda was committed to innovative technology as already the government was involved in using the banana wastes for its bio-diversity programmes, these Murenzi said include the Bio-mass projects which are producing energy that supplements the requirements of institutions like prison facilities scattered across the country.

Recently President Kagame launched the highly publicized One Lap Top per child in the country, Rwanda being only the third country in Africa adopt it after Libya and Nigeria.
In this scheme, which was initiated by US academician Professor Nicholas Negroponte and was adopted by the UN is promoted as one measure in establishing or and bridging the wide information gap among developing countries and developed ones.

Murenzi said that government needed 2.5 million lap tops to serve "all primary school going children" in the country that qualify to access to them, he said the project needed the support of parents, local government, civil society and donors to be a success. Kagame said government had already bought 5000 computers which have already been supplied in three districts.

The laptops ,according to Rwanda Information and Technology Authority director Nkubito Bakuramutsa will soon be translated into Kinyarwanda.


"My ministry is working with that of education in ensuring that the transfer, promotion of knowledge among school going children, it is our goal to have all primary school children have these laptops by 2012," Murenzi emphasized.
The 10 man delegation from Japan through their leader Koichi Hagiwara said in the spirit of promoting the use of this new technology in Rwanda-which has capacity to produce 6 tonnes of bananas annually-would send 40 banana growers to the Japanese to learn about the process of turning banana wastes into textile materials.