Dr Ismail Mulindwa, the Director of Basic Education, said the move is intended to improve the standard of teaching and help the country's children get to speed with modern trends of learning in the digital age.
“We are going to come up with a policy so all our learners are provided for, regardless of where they are. We are in the process of putting up the necessary infrastructure which will enable especially rural schools to be able to learn by ICT,” he said.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world, including Uganda, ordered the closure of schools in quick succession to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Because of this, more than 60 per cent of the world’s learners, or around 1.6 billion students were unable to go to school in over 107 countries, according to UNESCO.
While some countries adopted ICT to ensure continuity of learning, in Uganda, Mulindwa says only a tiny fraction of learners were able to keep learning while the rest waited for nearly two years to return to school due to the low penetration of ICT in the country.
“We struggled to guide because a majority of schools could not be brought on board. Going forward we wish to see these gaps narrow or are removed completely,” he said.
