Computer Literacy and Increasing Innovation

We are reaching our three week mark in Ibanda. The progress of the Computer Literacy Program has already become apparent.  Jess and I have completed the computer workshops with the teachers at Ankole Secondary School – with a total of 7 teachers and 6 hours, we are very proud of the teachers ability to use a computer, Microsoft word, and Microsoft Excel. We are now moving into the next phase of our program, which involves working with the Ankole secondary students. They trickled into school as term two resumed this past week, and we began the workshops. 

The Ugandan educational system operates differently than the Canadian. Students entering a new level (grade) must write an exam at the end of the school year that will determine whether they move onto the next level. If they pass, they enter into the next level when school resumes. If the student fails, they must repeat that level. The students are organized into levels by their recall of the year’s knowledge rather than their age. Due to a variety of reasons (financial, personal, or other obligations) some students are unable to finish a term and may end up repeating a level.  We therefore see students of a variety of ages in each level. 

On Tuesday, Jess and I had the immense pleasure of starting the Computer Literacy Program with the Ankole Secondary School students. The school consists of 50 students, all in Senior Five and Six (the equivalent of Grades Eleven and Twelve), many of which are between 16 -22 years old. It usually takes a couple of days after the term starts for all the students to arrive. We therefore only taught 21 students, mainly Senior 5, on Tuesday, and had more complete attendance during our second workshop on Thursday. 

I was very curious as to how many students had used a computer before. When the workshop began, the first question I asked was who had used a computer? In both workshops, a total of two individuals had previous experience on computers prior to a CASA workshop (this being out of a total of 24 participants). This contrasts sharply with the overwhelming presence of computer literacy in Canada. Most children growing up in Canada over the past 10 years, most likely longer, are exposed to and taught how to use a computer. They are a vital part of our educational system and social life (a shout out to Facebook and Twitter). I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know how to use a computer, a common experience of most children in Canada. I was therefore surprised at the lack of computer literacy at Ankole – not surprised in a condemning, judgmental way, for if we unpack some of the reasons as to why this is (lack of access to computers, no previous incentive, unable to afford the internet café, never being taught how to use them) the lack of computer literacy makes sense in this particular context. I was surprised by how many fell under these unfortunate circumstances, and the resulting implications. 

I am currently reading The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs, a prominent and insightful economist that has worked with restructuring developing economies for the past 20 years. His book contains a holistic diagnosis and multifaceted treatment of poverty in developing nations, mainly extreme poverty that afflicts 1/6^th of the world’s population (as determined by the World Bank). 

Sachs presents innovation and invention as being main contributors to a countries economic growth in rich countries. Conversely, the lack of such innovation in developing countries prevents, and in some cases causes decline, in economic growth. This is not due to reduced innovative capacity on the citizen’s part within developing states, but rather the size and scale of the market. Currently, 98% of all patents worldwide are held by 20 countries, all high income and mostly residing in North America and Western Europe. These countries have environments conducive to support innovation. They all contain larger markets that can both invest in new developments and support products new to the market. In turn, this encourages innovators to create new products, for they will gain their invested capital back, plus some. A culture of creating and inventing develops if there are individuals or companies that can fund and purchase technological and medical advancements. To sum this up, the size and scale of the market greatly determines the level of innovation within a country.

Citizens of developing nations do not have access to the same capital as those living in high income nations – there is less money to conduct research, develop, and market innovations. More importantly, many developing nations do not have the same market size as high income countries. The market in many developing nations is compromised and unable to support new developments due to poverty and lack of financial surplus. We therefore see a stunting of innovative growth in some developing nations, which acts to further inhibit economic growth. 

So what does this have to do with computer literacy? It is unrealistic and egotistical to assume that by teaching students to use computers the innovative capacity of the nation will be increased – there are too many other factors that influence this type of growth. But reading Sachs’ book has encouraged me that we are moving in the right direction. The students and teachers have learned the basic necessities for operating within the world of technology, a small step towards increasing innovation. Increasing the market size in Uganda will also greatly contribute to increasing innovation and development of new technologies. Such is true development – a multifaceted approach that brings together different forces to contribute to economic growth. 

Working with Ankole students has been such a rewarding experience. The students are curious and enthusiastic about learning how to use a computer. Their intelligence and speed at picking up the computer basics has us moving far faster than expected! With three weeks left, they will probably be teaching me a few things about computers by the end!