The chip maker is working to advocate for policy reform, curriculum standards and assessment, sustained teacher professional development, information and communications technology, and support of research and evaluation as we saw in the previous post. Specific to Africa, Intel has been involved with a number of transformative projects, key of which are:
Teacher Training
Since 1999, the Intel Teach Programme has helped teachers in Africa integrate technology into classrooms and give students the critical skills needed for success in the global economy. To date, the programme has trained more than 400,000 teachers in 16 countries and territories (Cape Verde, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Gabon, Mozambique, Seychelles, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa, Kenya), reaching more than 20 million learners in the process. In Kenya, more than 100 senior trainers and 15,000 teachers have been trained, impacting the lives of some 150,000 students.
Nigeria School Access Program
Intel’s innovative School Access Program (SAP) is supporting Nigeria in its transition to the digital world. SAP uses the Intel Education Solution to deliver Internet connectivity, teacher training, improved learning methods, and a digital curriculum to nearly 3,000 schools across Nigeria. In just six years, the program has already achieved its ambitious goal of “creating an effective and sustainable ICT usage model in education,” as shown by improved student test scores, higher class attendance, increased teacher effectiveness, and more. Over 300,000 Intel Classmate PCs, purpose built education laptops, have been deployed in these schools.
Kenya’s Accelerating 21st Century Skills (ACE) with USAID
Intel was a key partner in ACE, a public–private partnership that included Intel, Microsoft, CISCO, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Government of Kenya. ACE provided Intel Classmate laptops- purpose built education laptops, digital cameras, scanners, printers, wireless access points and other equipment to 23 schools and three colleges. In additions, the partners provided continuous teacher professional development, training, e-content and follow-up technical advice and assistance to the schools and colleges. The program had a positive effect on performance in Maths and Science in the schools that benefited from the technology.
Intel Explore and Learn
In November 2013, Intel launched the Intel Explore & Learn Marketplace (IELM) in Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria. The IELM is a platform that connects publishers and content providers with users, delivering free and commercial educational content targeting learners of all ages. The IELM platform will initially go live in selected countries in Africa and it is envisaged that it may subsequently be made available in other regions worldwide. The content available on Intel® Explore and Learn ranges from officially approved text books and multimedia content to supplementary multimedia and interactive content from Kenyan and International providers all designed to make your learning experience that much more fun and engaging. People in Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria can access it from www.intel.com\exploreandlearn
Supporting STEM
Since 1997, Intel has sponsored this global competition, the world’s largest pre-college science fair. South Africa has been participating in Intel Student Engineering Fair (ISEF) since 1999. In 2013, 9 South African students travelled to ISEF in the US, where two won awards for subjects as diverse as innovations in rocket fuel propulsion and new ways of solving maths theorems. This year (2014) students from Egypt, Nigeria, Tunisia, Kenya and South Africa were sponsored by Intel to compete in the global ISEF. In Kenya, Intel has supported the Kenya Science Congress since 2011. It has reached more than 15,000 students nationally, with 372 teams reaching the national finals. Intel took a Kenyan team to the Eskom Expo in 2012, and two teams to ISEF in the US in 2013. Intel supports the girls’ STEM competition throughout East Africa through a partnership with the Forum for African Women Educationists (FAWE). FAWE is a Pan-African non-government organization working to empower girls and women through gender responsive education. Image: Intel East Africa
