Rwanda Joins OLPC Program

The government of Rwanda has committed to provide one laptop per child to all primary school children within five years.

This commitment was confirmed as Rwandan President Paul Kagame met with Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairperson of One Laptop per Child (OLPC) at Urugwiro village.

OLPC, a non-profit organization with the goal of providing children in developing nations with laptop computers, will provide test laptops plus support to test the concept fully and at no cost in Rwanda — as well as coordinate a knowledge exchange with other participating nations.

This initiative will strengthen the quality of already existing free and compulsory primary education, by adopting new tools for learning and engaging children more directly, both inside and outside of school.

Furthermore, by moving to an electronic format, a much wider body of knowledge will be made available to children than was previously possible or economically feasible with printed text books.

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As part of its stated vision of transforming Rwanda into a knowledge-based economy by the year 2020, the government of Rwanda through the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Ministry of Education, and the Minister of Science and Technology and Research in the President’s Office will collaborate with the One Laptop Per Child non-profit association to realize the project.