In collaboration with various partners, the College of Information and Communication Technology (CoICT) of the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) is implementing a project through which 300 secondary schools in Tanzania will be connected to the internet to help students access learning materials online.

The school connectivity project is in its third phase and was inaugurated at Joel Bendera Secondary school, Tanga, in March this year.

Recently, the Head of the Department of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering (ETE) at CoICT, Dr. Baraka Maiseli, said through the project, students will participate in network design, installation, maintenance, and creation of digital content and applications.

Dr. Maiseli said the project aims to provide internet infrastructure to schools in Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar and offer digital skills to teachers to enable them to incorporate ICT in their teaching and learning for students.

Furthermore, he said, the project, through which students would access learning materials through the E-fahamu portal, UDSM is partnering with the Basic Internet Foundation from Norway, University of Oslo, Norway, African Child Projects, Vodacom Tanzania Foundation, Universal Communication Service Access Funds (UCSAF), Arusha Technical College (ATC) and Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT).

Regarding the contribution of the project partners, Dr. Maiseli said the Basic Internet Foundation would donate Microtik antennas and routers. In contrast, Vodacom Tanzania Foundation would donate ICT devices for schools’ E-fahamu portal and data bundle every month.

On its part, UCSAF would provide ICT devices and data bundles while African Child Projects would be the lead project implementors.

Meanwhile, the UDSM project coordinator, Dr. Moses Mchome, said the main activities in the program are an outcome of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between UDSM, African Child Projects, and the Basic Internet Foundation, which aims at creating solutions.

Dr. Mchome said mentorship of university students through innovation and projects was an effective way to create solutions and a workforce for the industry.

Moreover, he said, through collaboration with various stakeholders, the UDSM developed programs to impart skills to students to enable them to become employable and create jobs.