National ICT Programme for the Education Sector - Bolivia

In this programme, the Bolivian Ministry of Education sets up telecentres in schools throughout the country. The programme is based on an ICT policy plan that the Ministry created between 2003 and 2005 in collaboration with IICD. In 2006, Irish organisation GESCI has assisted the Ministry in the final formulation of the national ICT program for primary education 2006-2010

Key components of the programme are:

• Enhanced access to ICT by means of the set up of telecentres in primary/secondary schools;
• Establishment of administrative committees to manage telecentres;
• Training of teachers in basic ICT and technical and pedagogic integration of ICT in the regular school teaching programme;
• The provision of digital educational content through the education portal www.educabolivia.bo;

The total programme is funded through basket funding by the Government of Bolivia, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark and agreements with IDRC, IICD and Spain.

IICD provides strategic advice, training of Ministerial staff, advice on capacity development and monitoring and evaluation. This is done by staff of IICD, external experts and project partners in Bolivia.

The ICT programme is a key pillar of the governments education policy next to a national alphabetisation programme. The Bolivian ministry of education is highly active in finding new ways to incorporate information and communication technologies. The ministry is a member of the IICD-supported national ICT network ‘TIC Bolivia’, a network that brings together people in various sectors (livelihoods, governance and education) who work with ICT.

Read more about IICD's Bolivia Country Programme.

The programme has produced the following activities:

• The implementation of 250 educational community telecentres with computers using open source applications;
• The training of 500 telecentre administrative committee members;
• The training of 2,500 teachers in basic ICT (digital literacy);
• The setting up of the education portal www.educabolivia.bo

IICD has provided:

• Regular strategic advice by staff of IICD and input from project partners in Bolivia;
• Advice on the capacity development curriculum and connectivity solutions for the program by IICD and local partner organisations organised in TiCBolivia;
• Provision of localised education content for intercultural education through partner APCOB;
• Provision of training and support to 25 educational telecentres through partner Educatic in the department of Oruro and partner CEPAC in the department of Santa Cruz;
• Training of 20 members of the ICT team in connectivity issues, telecentre management, group facilitation skills;
• Training of 120 staff members of the Ministry in basic ICT skills;
• Joint evaluation of the satisfaction of the capacity development programme for 500 telecentre committees and 2,500 teachers and educational impact of 122 telecentres on the basis of questionnaires and focus group meeting.

The national ICT programme for education is focused on assisting and improving the quality of primary and secondary education in Bolivia through ICT. Key activities are:

• Enhancing access to ICT for teaching and learning. This is done by setting up of education community telecentres linked to primary and secondary schools in all nine departments of Bolivia
• Providing digital educational content through the education portal www.educabolivia.bo

The programme addresses access and quality of primary and secondary education. ICT is expected to increase access to on-line education materials and to promote the development of local content . The government considers the programme as a chance to combine advanced ICTs with recuperating local indigenous knowledge. Furthermore, the programme enhances capacities of teachers and prepare students for their professional future.

Teachers and students of 1,000 primary and secondary schools are the main focus of the programme. Parents and the wider community also benefit from ICT facilities outside school hours. Hitherto 121 educational community telecentres are implemented and an education portal is operational. The satisfaction and impact of the programme is assessed by the IICD monitoring and evaluation approach. An evaluation is made of ICT training for staff members of the Ministry, members of the telecentre committees and teachers. Some of the lessons include:

• In agreement with planned focus, a strong participation of rural schools in low-income areas (80%)
• High overall satisfaction levels with training courses (90%)
• A need to improve coordination between the Ministry, local governments and participating schools
• The necessity to offer training only to schools where ICT facilities - computers and Internet- are present and functional
• A need to train teachers in the use and development of teaching materials and integration of ICT in the class room

Read more in the annual evaluation report 2008-2009

• It is very important to dedicate sufficient time to explain IICD's methodologies to ensure buy in by government agencies;
• It is very important to find a clear niche area of assistance, avoiding duplication and competition with other supporting agencies. This all the more when other agencies have permanent staff working locally, wth more access to the partner organisation. It is better to select a one or two areas in which IICD provides advice on an exclusive basis (strategic advice, training, M&E, networking, etc.);
• It is important to realize short-term and concrete support activities to government agencies. This creates goodwill and interest to work on a more longer term basis. It will also create more interest in co-funding of activities by the government;
• To secure support and continuity in the support activities it is key to interact directly with decision makers and project team members, combining a bottum-up with top-down approach to partnering. 

Initially the national ICT for education programme has been implemented as a seprate program of the Ministry of Education. In 2010, a new ICT directorate has been cretaed under the Vice Ministry of Science and Technology.