30,000 Nicaraguan Students Receive Free Laptops
Thanks to the One Laptop Per Child program, 30,000 Nicaraguan students from low-income neighborhoods are starting school this fall with their own laptops. A representative of the Zamora Terán Foundation, distributor of the laptops, says that eventually the organization plans to give all 600,000 of the country’s grade school students their own computer.
The program’s XO laptops are designed for learning and come equipped with 52 educational activities, Wi-Fi connectivity, and a camera. Schools that participate in the program are set up with a free Wi-Fi connection.
Despite he controversies that have surrounded free laptop programs in other countries, teachers in Nicaragua say the program helps increase student enrollment.
“Enrollment is up 15% since we started providing the computers because the children get excited about receiving a device like this,” says Martha Patricia Hernández, director of the San Francisco de Asís School in Diriamba, which has participated in the program since 2010. Hernández notes that without One Laptop Per Child, computers would be unaffordable for her students and their families.
Teachers and school directors also receive a laptop as part of the program. According to Hernández, this allows educators to conduct research and stay updated with the latest educational practices.
Félix Garrido, Zamora Terán’s director of education and operations, says that the goal of One Laptop Per Child is to transform Nicaragua’s educational landscape. Currently only 56% of Nicaraguan students finish grade school. In 2013, according to the Global Information Technology Report, Nicaragua ranked 125th out of 144 countries in the capacity to use information technology.
Worldwide, over 2.4 million children use laptops provided by the One Laptop Per Child program.
Creative Commons Love: FullbridgeProgram on Flickr.com
Written by Carla Drumhiller Smith
