SURVEY OF ICT AND EDUCATION IN AFRICA: Central African Republic Country Report 46405 ICT in Education in the Central African Republic by Babacar Fall June 2007 Source: World Fact Book1 Please note: This short Country Report, a result of a larger infoDev-supported Survey of ICT in Education in Africa, provides a general overview of current activities and issues related to ICT use in education in the country. The data presented here should be regarded as illustrative rather than exhaustive. ICT use in education is at a particularly dynamic stage in Africa; new developments and announcements happening on a daily basis somewhere on the continent. Therefore, these reports should be seen as "snapshots" that were current at the time they were taken; it is expected that certain facts and figures presented may become dated very quickly. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein are entirely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of infoDev, the Donors of infoDev, the World Bank and its affiliated organizations, the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank cannot guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply on the part of the World Bank any judgment of the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. It is expected that individual Country Reports from the Survey of ICT and Education in Africa will be updated in an iterative process over time based on additional research and feedback received through the infoDev web site. For more information, and to suggest modifications to individual Country Reports, please see www.infodev.org/ict4edu-Africa. Central African Republic - 1 www.infodev.org SURVEY OF ICT AND EDUCATION IN AFRICA: Central African Republic Country Report Overview The Central African Republic (CAR) faces many challenges to make a greater effort in training, budgeting, and awareness creation concerning the use of ICTs. Introducing ICTs into basic education (especially in secondary education) is increasingly seen by many as a necessity, and the development of teacher skills is necessary to enhance the use of educational technology. The country has only one university and enrolment rates are low for most levels of education. To reverse this situation, the government has made some worthy efforts to promote basic education, such as the building of new schools in the capital and the provinces with assistance from the European Union and the World Bank. Country Profile Occupying a surface area of 623,000 square kilometres, CAR is a landlocked country bordered by Chad on the north, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Congo on the south, Cameroon on the west, and Sudan on the east. Its highest point is Mount Ngaoui, at 1,420 metres. The official and economic capital is Bangui, which has a population of 600,000. The country's climate is mostly tropical, with a wet season from May to October and a dry season from November to April. The climate varies from region to region, with an equatorial climate in the south, inter-tropical from Carnot to Berbérati in the west, and desert towards Birao in the north. The dry season lasts eight to nine months, and there is a cool and stormy season on the highlands. The country is divided into 16 prefectures and 67 sub-prefectures. A predominantly agricultural country, CAR exports timber, coffee, and diamonds. Its mineral resources include uranium, iron, and oil, but these are not exploited yet. Table 1 provides some selected socio-economic indicators for the country.2 Table 1: Socio-economic Indicators: Central Republic of Africa Indicator Area 623,000 km² Population 3.5 million Demographic growth rate 1.7 % Population density 5.7 people/km² GNP (US dollars) $0.97 billion GNP per capita (US dollars) $270 GNP real growth rate +3.3 % The Education System Law 97.014, enacted December 10, 1997, concerning education is the essential element of stopping the drift in the education system. It emphasises that education is a national priority and that every citizen is entitled to education and knowledge. Central African Republic - 2 www.infodev.org SURVEY OF ICT AND EDUCATION IN AFRICA: Central African Republic Country Report The National Education Development Plan (PNDE) sets the general strategy for reaching the objectives of quality, efficiency, accessibility, and equity in education for the next 10 years. Some strategies in the education section of the National Plan for the Fight Against Poverty (PNLCP) are akin to those of PNDE.3 In 2003: · The total illiteracy rate was 57.3% (46.2% men, 68.0% women, and 70.9% in rural zones) · The total schooling rate in the Fundamental 1was 68.7% (58.7% were women and 46% in rural zones) · The net schooling rate in Fundamental 1 was 40.7% (44.3% men, 36.9% women, and 26.7% in rural zones) The change in the net schooling rate in the Fundamental 1 indicates a decline in the rate from year to year: · 1988: 47.8% · 2000: 42.9% · 2003: 40.7% The total schooling rate in the Fundamental II (junior high school) was 10.8% (12.6% men and 9.0 % women). There is only one university, and the enrolment is low. The relative proportion of students in the total population is just as low. To reverse this situation, the government has promoted basic education, especially for primary and secondary institutions. In the past few years, the state has built new establishments in the capital as well as in the provinces, thanks to funding from the European Union and the World Bank. ICT Policies The elaboration of a national strategy began in January 2002. The government decreed a process to set up the National Plan for Information and Communication Infrastructure (NICI). Some consultation workshops were organised for members of the government, university staffs, the private sector, managers, and authorities in telecommunication regulation. Subsequently, an initial study was carried out in June and July 2002. The current government proposed organising a national workshop to validate and activate the NICI plan and to reach a consensus.4 The national policy aims to: · Promote public participation through dialogue · Support initiatives of basic communities through information, knowledge, and technical skill exchanges · Broadcast information and introduce new innovations through availability of social communication instruments · Promote systems of popularisation, supervision, training, and horizontal communication Central African Republic - 3 www.infodev.org SURVEY OF ICT AND EDUCATION IN AFRICA: Central African Republic Country Report The Director of the Development of Technology, a branch of the Ministry of Telecommunications and Technology, created in 1999, is responsible for this policy. Infrastructure Table 2 provides a snapshot of the state of national ICT infrastructure in the country.5 Table 2: ICT in Central African Republic Indicator Literacy rate 49.6 Televisions per 1,000 people 6 Radios per 1,000 people 80 Fixed telephone lines per 1,000 2 people Cell phones per 1,000 people 3 Personal computers per 1,000 1.9 people Internet users (thousands) 2 Total number of main lines 12,000 (10,000 in Bangui, 2,000 in the provinces) Number of mobile phone 60,000 subscribers Telephone density 0.34 (phone lines/100 people) Main lines growth rate 8% Given the underdevelopment of the basic network, access to ICT is for now only possible in the capital, where there are around 1,800 Internet subscribers out of a population of 600,000. Twenty private cyber cafés and two education centres offer Internet access on work days. The insufficiency of the basic network is not due to a lack of political will but to the restricted financial resources. Notably, the advent of ICTs in the country was delayed due to the low telephone density of the network. ICT in Education In Africa, the education sector is the first to benefit from the valuable uses of the Internet. Multimedia-supported instruction, distance education, and distance access to scientific information all constitute significant assets for those seeking to further their knowledge. Still, there is a great need for resources to support and equip schools with computer technology, be it for management or teaching purposes. Several initiatives are in place to address this need, detailed below. Current ICT Initiatives and Projects Central African Republic - 4 www.infodev.org SURVEY OF ICT AND EDUCATION IN AFRICA: Central African Republic Country Report Some pilot projects have been set up to equip urban zones with digital community centres. Three of these projects are in progress and three other centres are expected to be built next year thanks to outside funding. · As part of its mission in Central African Republic, the United Nations Program for Development (PNUD) has developed an ICT plan that concentrates on the social and economic objectives of the Millennium Declaration and has a primary objective of enabling universal access to the information society. Its more specific focus is on policies related to education, health, employment, government efficiency, development of local content, and the social integration and the promotion of science, technology, and innovation. It is adapted to the country's national characteristics, needs, and values and emphasises the state's central role in the formulation and implementation of a policy tied to ICT, in partnership with international organisations, the private sector, and civil society. Its goals are to: · Use new and existing technologies to create universal connectivity by distributing information and communication materials so that everyone can benefit from easy access, including the elderly and handicapped · Develop connectivity, including Internet access, in institutions receiving many people such as digital community centres, schools, universities, libraries, post offices, community and cultural centres, archives, and museums · Find appropriate solutions for promoting ICTs adapted to the environment in remote, impoverished, and particularly rural zones, but also in poorly serviced or marginalised urban zones (e.g., by establishing multipurpose community access centres to guarantee integrated access to information and social services) · Find solutions to make access to ICT affordable in regions with low revenues · Supply information and applications in the language and cultural context that is most familiar to the user, which will encourage further ICT use · Include unwritten languages by using audio-digital tools · The close collaboration between PNUD, the Central African Government, and CISCO Systems has resulted in the creation of the local CISCO Academy of Bangui at the University of Bangui. This institution offers advanced training in conceiving, installing, and maintaining computer networks. This centre has already trained national technicians. · The ADEN project, led by the French Cooperation for Democratising ICT Access, has created a number of centres where students can access computers and the Internet and receive tutorials from teachers. Teachers use the centres to search for information and to develop teaching materials. This has been so successful that the government has approved and authorised total exemption from import tariffs on equipment for ADEN centres all over the country. · The Virtual Francophone Campus offers Trainings in ICT · The Department of Higher Education, with aid from the French Cooperation, initiated a programme that aims to set up a network of all university institutions. This programme has enabled the creation of a multimedia resource centre (CRM) and the CISCO Academy with the support of PNUD/UIT. The CRM has already offered a training programme to attain a post-bachelor's professional degree. Twelve students Central African Republic - 5 www.infodev.org SURVEY OF ICT AND EDUCATION IN AFRICA: Central African Republic Country Report are trained every year in ICT vocations. In the future, the CRM aims to deal with tele- education and produce multimedia in CD-Rom format. A virtual campus will soon be installed by the Francophone Agency. Students are asked, at the end of their training, to carry out Web site creation projects (University, Pasteur Institute of Bangui).6 · The project supporting the fight against digital gap (ADEN) has been set up in 11 French, English, and Portuguese sub-Saharan African-speaking countries from by the International Cooperation of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its goals are to democratise Internet access, train people in the use of new technology, and encourage the African production of content. It responds to the question of how to reduce the digital gap in Africa by setting up a thorough plan for creating public Internet access centres in digitally isolated zones.7 The main ADEN centres are Bambari "Ouaka," Bangassou, Berberati, Bouar, and Mbaiki "Wambangana." · The International Telecommunications Union launched a project aiming to create a network of at least 100 multipurpose community call boxes (TCPs) in 20 African countries, including the Central African Republic. These TCPs will give communities access to ICT to enable them to participate in the information society. The TCPs will be managed by women, who can thus actively participate in the processes of development and decision-making on the African continent. This project is part of the commitment made by 175 countries that adopted an action plan during the first phase of the Information Society World Summit, aiming to make the advantages of ICT within humanity's reach.8 Implementing ICT in Education: What Helps and What Hinders? Table 3 provides a summary of the current stage of ICT development in CAR in terms of enabling or constraining features in the education system. Table 3: Factors Influencing ICT Adoption Factors Enabling Features Constraining Features Policy framework The government decreed a A military-political crisis that took and implementation process to set up the National place March 15, 2003, severely Plan for Information and affected the already-inadequate Communication Infrastructure telecommunication infrastructures, (NICI). and therefore the development of ICT. Gender equity There is a digital divide between the genders. Infrastructure and Access to the Web through local Equipment is costly due to a difficult access telecommunication providers fiscal system offers the population many opportunities to remove themselves from isolation. Collaborating The current government has mechanisms proposed organising a national workshop to validate and activate the NICI plan and to reach a consensus. Central African Republic - 6 www.infodev.org SURVEY OF ICT AND EDUCATION IN AFRICA: Central African Republic Country Report Factors Enabling Features Constraining Features Fiscal resources There are scarce financial resources. General References Essono, L-M. "Central African Republic. The ADEN Project Exempts Internet." Thot/Cursus, 2006. International Telecommunications Union. "ICT Situation in Central African Republic: World Workshop on the Indicators for Community Access to ICT." Mexico, November 16-19, 2004. RCA Agency for Telecommunications Regulation. ICT South-South Trade Promotion. http://www.intracen.org/sstp/doc/uemoa/RCA-NTIC.pdf ICT in Education in Africa. http://www.edusud.org/ UNESCO Secteur de l'Education. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001435/143512F.pdf Infothèque francophone. http://www.infotheque.info Notes 1 The World Factbook 2007. www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/gb.html 2 "Situation of ICT in the Central African Republic." International Telecommunications Union. November 2004. 3 UNESCO, 2006. First Meeting of National Coordinators of the UNESCO Initiative for Training Teachers in Sub-Saharan Africa (TTISSA). A summit on the situation of teachers in Central African Republic BREDA, Dakar, March 7-9, 2006. 4 "Investment opportunities in the ICT sector and in e-business services in Central and West Africa." November 7-9, 2006. Bamako, Mali. 5 ICT Policy in Central African Republic. Association for Progressive Communications (APC). http://afrique.droits.apc.org/index.shtml?apc=s21855e_1 6 "RCA: State Evaluation of Knowledge and the Use of ICT." Mission statement drafted by Mr. Jerome, National Consultant in ICT. February 2004. 7 ADEN. http://www.africaden.net 8 L'UIT lance un projet de télécentres communautaires polyvalents en Afrique. 10 Janvier 2005. L'Union Internationale des Télécommunications (UIT). http://www.itu.int/newsarchive/press_releases/2005/02-fr.html Given the constantly changing nature of the Internet, we suggest that you copy the document or web site title (and author or organization name, as appropriate) of a resource below into your favorite search engine if a link on this page is not working. Central African Republic - 7 www.infodev.org