The 13th intake started on the 31 / 08 / 2009 and will end on the 25 / 09 / 2009. This intake had a few number of female students compared to previous ones. The repatriation exercise is going on and we experience a number of students’ dropouts. In addition, when we register students, a small number of candidates do not even attend. The reason may probably be that they repatriate soon after applying or that they have urgent matters that they prioritize. Well, the true reason might not be known! Recently the secondary school reopened. This also contributed to the dropouts as some students started missing classes in order to go to school. Due to these current financial constraints, most children contribute to the livelihood of their families. When they are not at school, they are doing some income generating activities.
The other major problem we might be facing is that of rains. These might disrupt classes by preventing people from attending classes as well as preventing the solar panels from charging batteries. In this part of the country, it is very dangerous to walk in the rain due to lightening and thunders that are often deadly. Most families opt being together when it is raining.
One major problem we will experience in the near future is that most people in the age of looking for money will be more concerned about money and items with which they will repatriate. Computer studies will not really be in their priorities. What will be experienced then is the number of young children, about 12-13, increasing in the application for studies. The new intake, 14th, will start on a Monday 28 / 09 / 2009 to end on Friday of the fourth week. The registration of that new intake is starting on the 17 / 09 / 2009, followed by a one-week application and two-day selection.
By Francis N.Summary of project status and achievements:
During October, another month-long intake of the LISa basic computer skills class began and concluded. The intake followed the established curriculum, but deviated from the usual schedule due to low enrollment and attendance. LISa typically offers three sessions of computer classes per intake; two in the morning and one in the afternoon. During this intake, two sessions were offered instead, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, because a lack of students. This schedule change proved to be helpful in dealing with power shortages at the computer lab caused by the onset of rainy season as well as the removal of one of the solar panels earlier this year.
Partway through the intake, the LISa coordinator and the computer class instructor, Francis, went to Lubumbashi for a family medical emergency. His assistant, Toy, assumed responsibility for teaching the current computer class intake as well as for managing operations in the computer lab, including practice hours and recruitment. The PM and the assistant met together to discuss recruitment, and over 200 applications were received for the final intake of computer classes, over a 400% increase over the number of applications received the previous month. Toy received an increase in his October salary for the increased workload that he assumed during this month.
The computer class, under Toy’s instruction, concluded on 23 October. On October 24th, the PM and the COC met with all FORGE staff and announced that the computer lab would close early, and that the final intake of classes would not be held. Computer lab staff members worked to finish all of their reports and projects and to gather data that they wished to preserve from the computers on 24th and 25th October. By the end of the day on 25th October, the computer staff members, carpenter Eryx and additional skilled workers had dismantled the solar systems and computer lab equipment for transport to Kala Camp on 26th October. All computer staff members who qualified received severance pay as compensation for the early termination of their contracts. Francis, the coordinator, will receive his severance pay when he returns to Mwange from Lubumbashi.
Community members were surprised by the early closure of the computer lab, and expressed their unhappiness that this camp institution had to leave. However, they also expressed their gratitude and appreciation for the positive contributions that the computer lab had made to the Mwange community and for the many students that were educated through its 14 intakes of computer classes.
Indicators and Statistics:
Unfortunately, due to the short turnaround time between the end of the intake and the closure of the computer lab, the information that was gathered is incomplete and incorrect. This issue was complicated by the absence of the LISa coordinator at the time that all available data needed to be collected; the data submitted by the replacement is confusing and inaccurate, and numbers are reported differently in different places. For this reason, no information is currently available for the final intake.
Future goals:
None.
Substantial problems or issues:
None.
Wishes or request:
None.
Budget status:
Included in the expense monitor.
By Laura MessengerSummary of project status and achievements:
During September, another month long intake of the LISa basic computer skills class began and concluded. The intake followed the established curriculum and was generally successful, although attendance reduced dramatically toward the end of the intake due to changes made to the Mwange secondary school schedule. This change, which occurred during the last week of the computer class, made it difficult for secondary school students also enrolled in the computer class to attend computer classes.
During the end of September, recruitment was also conducted for the next intake of computer classes, which began on 28 September. Application numbers were low; the computer lab typically enrolls 55 students per intake, but for this intake only 47 students were enrolled in three classes, as only 47 students applied. Of those 47 students, many turned out to be younger than those students that LISa usually accepts. Some of these 10 or 11 year old students had falsified their applications, claiming to be in grade 8 or 9 when in reality they are in grade 5. The youth of some of the students has caused some difficulties with the curriculum, as some of them struggle with reading and writing, particularly in French. Many of the notes for the computer class are written in French because either the Swahili words for the topics under consideration are extremely rare or because these words simply do not exist in Swahili. The computer teacher has been attempting to make small modifications to the curriculum as necessary to ensure that students will still be able to learn the covered material.
Additionally, while the students were originally enrolled in three classes, because of school schedules and other issues, students are only attending two of the classes, with no one choosing to attend during the third time slot.
The PM and the LISa coordinator sought feedback from the community regarding the computer lab in hopes that this feedback would help to create a plan for how to best use the empty computer class time slot, as well as how to organize the computer lab’s activities through November. The feedback was varies, with some respondents requesting more practice time and some requesting additional classes on topics aside from Microsoft Word and Excel. A great number of respondents also indicated that the recruitment system for classes needs improvement, as they are never informed as to when they should come to apply for classes.
The PM and the LISa coordinator are hoping to change the recruitment system for the next intake. As this intake continues, the PM would like to see the empty time slot be used to meet other peoples’ requests. Personally, she does not think that it should just be used for unstructured practice time each day, as there is a fair amount of practice time at the computer lab each day, which visitors often use for activities such as playing games or watching videos. Instead, she would like to see the computer teacher offer short, 2-hour drop-in workshops on topics other than Word and Excel that could interest students. However, this idea is complicated by the fact that the computer teacher is currently planning to go on leave, and also by the power situation at the computer lab. It has begun to rain in Mwange and classes have already been canceled once due to a lack of power. The PM and LISa staff continue to communicate about these issues and to plan for the upcoming time.
Indicators and Statistics:
Included in the indicators spreadsheet.
Future goals:
Based on feedback from the community, the PM and the LISa coordinator will plan to adopt a different strategy for student recruitment during October in order to ensure that all community members have the information they need to apply to the last intake of computer classes.
Substantial problems or issues:
None.
Wishes or request:
None.
Budget status:
Included in the expense monitor.
By Laura MessengerSummary of project status and achievements:
During August, the LISa coordinator began and concluded Promotion 12 of computer classes. The classes began on 3 August and ended on 28 August, having offered students 20 days of instruction in computer use. More male students than female students were enrolled in intake 12, due to a lack of female applications. Advertisement for intake 13 was conducted as intake 12 was concluding, and intake 13 began on 31 August.
Classes continued to be held for 2 hours, with 30 minutes of practice time incorporated into the class schedule. As a result, student performance continued to be strong. The coordinator and the LISa instructor met to evaluate pre and post test results and to look for areas of weakness in the curriculum, but these were difficult to find. There were no clear patterns regarding questions that students failed to answer, and many of the lower percentages on knowledge gain on the post-test are actually caused by students who receive high scores on the pre-test, either through guessing or as a result of pre-existing computer knowledge.
Computer classes were relatively well-attended during August, aided in part by school vacation. Some students were lost to repatriation, but this number was low.
Indicators and Statistics:
Included in the indicators spreadsheet.
Future goals:
The PM and the LISa coordinator will work together to see if changes can be made to improve attendance due to the resumption of secondary school instruction and high repatriation expected in October and November.
Substantial problems or issues:
None.
Wishes or request:
None.
Budget status:
Included in the expense monitor.
By Laura MessengerSummary of project status and achievements:
During July, the LISa coordinator concluded Promotion 10 of computer classes at the beginning of the month, on 3 July. The next intake of computer classes, Promotion 11, began on 6 July and concluded on 31 July, having offered 51 students 20 days of instruction in computer use.
For this intake, class duration was extended from 1.5 hours to 2 hours per class. With three class sessions operating simultaneously, this meant that during July, computer lessons were offered for 6 hours a day, 5 days a week. Class duration was extended in order to allow students additional practice time incorporated into the lesson itself. The instructor provided 1.5 hour-long lessons, and then granted students 30 minutes to practice material covered during the lesson as well as during other lessons, circulating to answer questions and to provide support. The decision was made to incorporate practice into the lesson in response to feedback from female students, who explained that it could be difficult for them to come to class in the morning and then to leave home and their work there again in the afternoon in order to wait for practice hours. Students were of course still welcome to return to the computer lab for additional practice later in the day if they chose.
Additionally, the extended lesson time may be a factor in improved student performance on post-tests. Both median student knowledge increase and median student skill increase improved from intake 10 to intake 11. In general, students from this intake seemed satisfied with their instruction. Many females dropped out, but this may have been due in part to issues with distribution this month, as it occurred several times. There was also a chitenge distribution program for the women in the camp that may have caused absence from class.
The PM had a meeting with the LISa coordinator and LISa Assistant to discuss computer lab rules and policies during July. All LISa staff were reminded of the importance of adhering to and enforcing these policies.
Indicators and Statistics:
Included in the indicators spreadsheet.
Future goals:
The PM would like to work with the LISa coordinator to evaluate post-test results. Few students are completing the post-test without errors. The PM would like to see if there are any patterns as to which questions students fail to answer correctly, and to see if the curriculum can be adjusted in order to make sure that students are learning as much as possible.
Substantial problems or issues:
None.
Wishes or request:
None.
Budget status:
Included in the expense monitor.
By Laura MessengerSummary of project status and achievements:
During June, the LISa coordinator continued to teach students in Promotion 10 of the six-week computer classes, as well as to teach, together with his assistant, weeklong basic computer introduction classes. These classes all followed their established curriculums and schedules.
The PM and the LISa coordinator met together at the end of June, when the LISa project was chosen by the community to continue through the end of November, to plan for the project’s remaining months in Mwange. Together, they agreed to try to offer four more intakes of the longer computer classes to the Mwange community. In order to focus resources, including power, on this effort, they decided to discontinue the weeklong computer classes at the end of May, and to shorten the curriculum somewhat. Previously, LISa students were receiving 24 days of instruction in computer use (4 days a week for six days). Under the new program, students will attend class five days a week for four weeks, receiving in total 20 days of computer instruction. In order to reduce the class length, the LISa coordinator plans to spent fewer days on the introduction to the computer and the Microsoft Paint program, which was included in the curriculum to familiarize students with the mouse.
The PM also emphasized the importance of recruiting for future intakes during while prior intakes are ongoing, in order to maximize efficiency and to reduce downtime between intakes. Thus, LISa staff and volunteers began recruitment for the 11th Promotion of classes at the end of June, and the 11th Promotion was scheduled to begin on 6 July, the Monday following the Friday 3 July completion of Promotion 10.
Indicators and Statistics:
Included in the indicators spreadsheet.
Future goals:
Things seem to be progressing smoothly and plans for the remaining months have been established. The PM is drawing a blank. Any suggestions?
Substantial problems or issues:
The generator will not function again within the current budget and conditions in Mwange. The two individuals in the camp who were most capable of doing extensive generator repair have both fled the camp to avoid being arrested for theft. (One stole a computer and some other items from the Zambian government as the latest in a string of events that have sent him from Mwange to Congo to Tanzania back to Mwange and now back to Congo, and the other stole 6 or 7 million kwacha he was supposed to pick up and bring to a woman in the camp sent by her resettled children, leading to the arrest of his wife and his younger son and the confiscation of all of his belongings by the Mwange police). However, the generator has not worked during the entire time that the current PM has been in Zambia. The problem seems to be internal damage caused by transport of the generator to and from Lusaka in order to conduct previous repairs. Therefore the PM does not think that its absence will be a major problem. There may be slight power shortages in November if rainy season starts early, in which case necessary adjustments will be made to the schedule. The current schedule already hopes to conclude all computer classes by 20 November in order to avoid problems with power supply as well as to allow for time to go through all of the equipment with the coordinator before his contract ends at the end of November.
Wishes or request:
None.
Budget status:
Included in the expense monitor.
By Laura Messenger
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