I-schools project deliver computer units to schools

In cooperation with partner companies Air21 and Advanced solutions, the second-leg of the I-schools Project was implemented last February 28-29, during which 21 units of computers were distributed to each of the six beneficiary schools in the Lanao region.

Members of the CILC were deployed in the said schools to help with the installment of the units and in providing training to the computer teachers of the new program introduced, which is the open software Ubuntu operating system.

According to Ronald Hupa, one of the IT staff of MSU-IIT, Integrated Developmental School (IDS), one of the beneficiary schools, the open software is free and therefore more convenient for school use as opposed to the conventionally used Microsoft Windows which has to be bought. However, he admits that the shift will be difficult especially for the students because they are not used to the new program.

IDS school Principal Digna Padura, said that they might consider incorporating the teaching of the Ubuntu system into their IT curriculum. Padura adds that they believe that advanced and updated knowledge on IT is vital to students, even if they are still in high school.

Deployment problems

The distribution and installation did not go as smooth as planned.

This was the overall assessment during the evaluation meeting of ICT team last March 24, presided by I-Schools Project coordinator Dr. Emmanuel Lagare.

Feedback from the trainers included time setbacks due to the late delivery of the units, the lack of electricity and internet connection, defective units and failure of reimbursements for travel.

“Our partner Air21 assured us that they had enough manpower to deliver all the units within the timeframe we set but the actual delivery process showed that their manpower was insufficient. Had they been on time, we might have been able to better attend to the problems,” Lagare said.

Some problems with the hardware also cropped up. According to some of the trainers, some units did not work and so they had to reassemble some of the parts. Problems with the software with regard to entering the network also surfaced.

Suggestions for upcoming trainings

The CILC trainer for Suarez National High School said they also had a lot of problems with the training.

“There were brownouts and we lacked manuals. Also there was no coordination between the software and the materials. I think there was too much output demand and we had a hard time keeping up,” she said.

The team made the suggestions during the meeting. They said computers should be troubleshot before the training. The project should stick to the 1 trainer is to 20 participants ratio and the training period should be more designed for beginners.