NIGERIA: NO CHILD LEFT OFFLINE
I was always for the albeit a few reservations. All my reservations were erased last Friday. I had a very important visitor in my office last Friday. Once he arrived he took over with a commanding tone and an attitude. He gave rather plausible explanations for his actions. At one point he got so animated that he stood on my chair. I left him by himself in the office for a few minutes. When I returned to the office. My computer was out of sleep mode, my browser was open, and he was running a google search for images. All the search terms were correctly spelt and the computer screen had 100% of his attention. All this was a big deal to me because my visitor is only four years old.
The most common place criticism for the OLPC has been that there are more pertinent issues affecting children in developing economies so that the acquisition of computer skills should not be a top priority. I think Negroponte says it much better than I can.
Why spend so much time and effort on laptops instead of basic human necessities like food, shelter, and peace?
Substitute the word "education" for the word "laptop" above and you will not ask again. (via FastCompany)
I think it is near sighted to consider the issues and therefore the solution tot he problems plaguing a country like Nigeria as a zero sum game. If not this certainly this. This is not immediately obvious to some of us. We see the wastage in the Nigerian government. The Nigerian government is not short of cash and if at all they are Yardie and crew are definitely not showing it. As cheesy as this may sound, I do not see how spending on laptops will influence spending on health care in Nigeria. In developed economies where accountability is tighter this may be the case, but in an economy that can afford to throw at providing electricity with no results to show for it. Tthere has to be room for experimentation.
I did not have a computer as a child and I did pretty well.
This is another common fallacy, and my repsonse to this is that I am pretty sure you wont be looking for a job in 2028, would you. Oh forget it, I am not going to hide this, this statment is a direct shot at my good buddy .
I am convinced that education can never be considered too expensive, in some cases it can be wasteful, but never too expensive. In the case of the OLPC in a country like Nigeria, the long term effect of the OLPC on a child more than pay for the cost of procuring this gadgets. I will stretch that further by saying that there would be even more gain if these gadgets are assembled on the continents in which it will beused. Should the OLPC ever need an evangelist for Nigeia, I offer my services for free.
18Comment(s):
Last we discussed this I think the number we came up with was $35 billions or something. That is huge. Those ressources are not unlimited.
And if the goal is to give access to education and computer litteracy, it's still not obvious why an OLPC laptop would be the best choice. Have computer labs in schools AND try to get every nigerian children in the school (which is far from achieved) and you'll get the same results by paying much less.
but i'm hater, though
We have tried the computer lad thing before...I remember that clearly. It dint work. The idea behind OLPC is to circumvent the whole establishment feel of the computer lab model. I think it does this pretty well. I am up for a good debate on this one. Please do clarify the 35 billion.
the title of this post is superb!!!....dunno what olpc is...actually, i must admit to being at much of a loss here...going to do some research and hopefully be back...
...curious about the post sitting in your draft folder, inspired by mine about carlinhos brown..post it!...post it!!...*runs to do some research because omodudu has stumped her again*...
@Random...I barely finished typing that out and this shows up in the news...http://allafrica.com/stories/200802110816.html
okay...didn't realize that olpc was the acronym for the nonprofit/project...
...i agree that education is a high priority and of much importance...no question about that...but, as a public health professional who studied physiological sciences and worked amply with youth, i can also see the argument for those basic things like proper nutrition, water and housing which enable a child to have the energy (physically and mentally) to engage in learning....
...does that mean that we ignore those that are capable of 'learning' but just lack access?...no...but i too wonder like random african if it has to be the olpc laptop...didn't i read somewhere that they had started some laptop program somewhere in naija only to remove the laptops for repair and they had yet to return the laptops?...and the government would be paying for this?...what about repairs?...who designs the 'curriculum' and reference upon which the education is based?...okay, the cynicism is starting to really flow...i'll stop here...
...if the government doesn't have to pay, i'm all for it...if the government needs to pay, we might as well look into random african's idea of computer labs in school and work from there...curious to me especially as even in 'developed' nations, not all children have a personal laptop yet they want to provide that to all children in less 'developed' nations?...i'm a lightweight conspiracy theorists, so i don't really trust these so-called 'good intentions' from outsiders...
But the article says Lagos state isn't paying !
"The Atlantic City will be at no cost to the Lagos State government as Enagix BV will provide the $3.5 billion for the project and recoup its money and interest over a period of 70 years."
And as far as I know OLPC still requires governments to buy them (i know they changed some stuff so that could be outdated info).
I checked the last post and it wasn't 35 billions, it was 5 or 6 billions. That's based on a vague estimate of the number of school-age children (60 millions or something).
Another thing that should make any nigerian (or african actually) nervous is the distribution issue. Yes you cut out corruption in a lot of ways by not having school-labs or whatever but how will the laptops be given to children ? Which criteria will be used ? Assuming it won't be 60 millions laptop on the same day, who is getting them first ? How do we know they won't give some to upper and middle class kids and just stop (as they did with a lot of other things) ?
I also think that trying to get a 100% litteracy rate is a better investment or rather a more urgent one but that's me.
And Guerreiranigeriana, what do you think of the idea that investments in public health are really usefull after investments in education (since it creates a demand for vaccination, maternal care and all that) ? I think it's at the root of the success stories of Cuba or Kerala and a few less spectacular ones.
Let me ask a question: precocious computer literacy vs. good, solid pen, pencil and paper primary education - which is better?
I go with the latter. Spend the dough on free primary education, free meals in primary schools and free transportation to elementary schools.
My grandmothers (God bless their souls) didn't finish primary school, but they could read the Yoruba bible and understood few English words. My grandfather didn't go beyond elementary school as well, but his spoken English was articulate and better that most secondary school students today.
My point: Technology shouldn't be seen as a silver bullet; it is a means to an end. We need to build the foundation first, and it must be rock solid for stuff like OPLC to be relevant. Did you know many of the kids were watching porn on the machines?
Is there even electricity to even get to run the computers?
@ aworan: great question!!...begs the question of emphasis on basic education or advanced technological education, like imnakoya brought up...and sustainability...
@ random african: good question too...but in that case, i guess it begs the education of who?...if the parents are educated, they are more likely to make use of public health investments...but at the same time, if the parents are just worried about their child making it to age 5, relying on polluted water, education falls to the wayside...i think the two have to be addressed simultaneously...with public health, its the basics like access to potable water, sanitation, those very basic things that allow children to see their fifth birthday and not be too malnourished to even go get education...
...but i agree with the statement you posted...i had a medical anthropologist who works in public health once tell me that if i really wanted to improve health, i should help people get jobs and improve the working conditions...when folks are concerned about a stable flow of income, they push health off the table...i honestly think the best is the basics...cuba is my model for providing the basics to a population, with limited resources...
...which is why i think imnayoka's question of electricity is great...it does no good to provide this tool that can't be consistently used because there is a lack of basic infrastructure...you know how many hospitals/laboratories/etc [see wasted money/resources] built by foreigners sit abandoned because there wasn't enough electricity/water [see infrastructure] to keep the place open and functioning?...unless these laptops are solar-powered, it may really only make sense to give to those in families of the upper echelons of society...and herein lies another problem...
The parents mostly. In fact that's an issue as most education policies are about the children but what about those who got left behind in the past ? Adult litteracy drives should be a priority.
i think the idea is that if you build an hospital in an illiterate village, no one will show up or people won't follow the prescriptions or the un-educated adults won't pay attention to environemental factors (clean water) or you can't distributes leafets explaining how to protect yourself against aids etc.. Plus litterate people will WANT health care and will demand it.
http://www.popline.org/docs/0034/091221.html
You should read on Kerala, its success in providing basics is even more spectacular than Cuba's as it started from very very low (it's a little known fact that pre-Castro Cuba was not as poor as its neighbourg) and got there without the violence and troubles of the revolution.
Since we are in the question and answer mode. Imnakoya I have one for you.
Would you nudge your five year old kid towards using a computer or not.
If not, then you have a strong case, but if you will. I would like you to state the reason why your kid deserves that shot and the kid in Garki does not?
Lets start with that.
Personally though, I am tired of folks that point out challenges each time a well meaning effort is put in place...That one is for @gueri..and @aworan.
Also who says the OLPC can not complement computer labs. I think we ought to ask our government to provide the pencils and paper and the OLPC will complement that. I still do not see why its a zero sum game.
Last question, if the OLPC came at zero cost, would it still be a bad idea. That one is for Random and Imnakoya, and all that disqualify the project on fiscal grounds?
@guer...just read your comment...do these people without electritcity have tv's in their homes or not. Do they save a sizeable chunk of their earnings to purchase a tv which they can only watch a few hours a day, PHCN permitting. Give my people some credit.
Also about repairs, the OLPC was built with that in mind. The simplicity of the machine is its strong point. If cell phones can be fixed in Nigeria as quick and cheaper than Jamaica market NY. The OLPC is no sweat.
@Random many of this kids have parents with college education things are just hard in Nigeria...Hello secondary school teachers and primary school teachers have kids in Nigeria, civil servants have kids. The OLPC looks like a good place to start. OLPC for some. pencil for others and we keep going. I am uncomfortable with lumping this into one of those "Aid is bad" arguments. Thanks guys for being great sport.
@ Aworan:
OLPC designers took the electricity problem into consideration. I think they started with the idea of a solar-powered or a crank-powered comp but I think they discarded it. Yet, the whole thing is designed to use as less electricity as possible.
@Omodud:
yes fiscal concerns are crucial and if it was free or if somehow OLPC or someone else took over the distribution, it would be fine.
I'm not lumping it in an aid is bad argument. Or rather I am lumping it with the people who talk about the effectiveness of aid and who is getting help. I know things are though for the nigerian middle class, yet, things are TOUGHER for the rest. And the "rest" is the majority of the country. My concern is that this thing will help those who got help (i'm not talking about aid either) already and leaving the real poor behind even further.
Related story demonstrating that complainig wont work and solutions are feasible. Africa: (self-powered) light at the end of the tunnel
http://psdblog.worldbank.org/psdblog/2008/02/actor-tom-hanks.html
I have copied it below.
Actor Tom Hanks is better known for his role in Forrest Gump than for his work with self-powered energy. But that might soon change, at least for some people in sub-Saharan Africa, where Hanks is funding a project that will create assorted lights and lanterns to serve an area where less than 15 percent of the population has proper lighting.
These devices work by transforming winding-up motion into electricity and in some cases one minute of winding can generate two hours of lighting. The company making the products cites several applications for its devices including enabling businesses to stay open later and increasing night-time studying hours. They can also power radios, and other devices such as the "One Laptop per Child" laptops.
Maybe with oil prices breaking $100/barrel and having much of our electricity generated from oil, these devices will become commercially viable in the west as well.
@omodudu: good points...but, i guess i am one of those 'foundation first' type folks...i don't think it is a bad idea per se, especially if free...and i think every little thing helps...[and, yes, i am a bit of a critical bastard;)]...but i just wonder, if we focused on infrastructural things first, wouldn't these other things fall into place?...i am somewhat skeptical of aid sometimes because in many cases, it seems to usually be the kind of aid that benefits the one giving the aid moreso...yes, now naija kids and others in developing countries will have 'access' to the outside world with their computers...but, god forbid mommy is pregnant and needs to get to the hospital, the roads are still poor...if mommy makes it to the hospital, nepa or whatever it is called has taken light, so they can't operate...or better yet, there is still not 'enough money' to pay teachers so they go on strike for a year, setting the child's studies back a year...
...it just bothers me that we want to transform these 'developing' countries into 'developed' countries overnight without laying down the foundation needed...these countries with all this technology didn't just wake up and start with technology...i feel like that's what we are expecting of these countries that have been underdeveloped...furthermore, it creates a demand for laptops, made outside these countries, thus, not really doing much for the country itself...how does this further foster brain drain?...those are the things i look at...and again, i can't help but wonder why they are soooooo concerned with the kids in developing countries when there are more than enough poor children in many of these 'developed' countries worse off than some of the kids of middle class status in these 'developing' countries...
...i don't think its a zero sum game...but...
Omodudu you are one of the few people that answers a question with another!
You asked:
Would you nudge your five year old kid towards using a computer or not. If not, then you have a strong case, but if you will. I would like you to state the reason why your kid deserves that shot and the kid in Garki does not?"
This is not a "yes" or "no" answer, you know that right? And there are several angles to your question, and all are appropriate.
Let's start with a clarification: we can’t compare apples to oranges; life in the US is different from Nigeria.
My supposed kid in the US (or any average 5yr old for that matter) will be well-stocked, well nourished, properly-dressed, and most likely have access to a school bus. He gets to school, where he will be taught in a befitting and stimulating environment with the more than adequate study aids, which may or may not include a computer.
The average 5 year old in Nigeria is most probably under nourished; most probably have one or two sets of school uniforms; have no access to school bus or reliable transportation to school; most probably lack one or two materials required for his studies; and most likely studies in over-crowded, dusty classroom and taught by a poorly motivated, intolerant teacher whose mind in half occupied with how she will raise money to pay her daughters school’s fees.
Should our priority for the Nigerian kid be computers when there are other more pressing needs? Now, I’ll have no qualms if OPLC is free. But it’s not!
NOTE: The logic behind the OPLC is flawed; and Nigeria is rich enough to afford the OPLC. But we need to put our money to better use. The issue is not about cost, tech-leapfrogging, and certainly not about failing to recognize the importance of early computer literacy. The issue is more of prioritizing, knowing the needs of the various Nigerian constituencies, and making the best use of resources. We must know how to crawl before we jump so that when we fall, we will know how to crawl back up.
I wrote in http://www.olpcnews.com/countries/nigeria/olpc_in_nigeria_budget.html
"UNICEF puts the school-age population (6-18) in Nigeria at 45 million. One-year age cohorts (children born in a year, less deaths before reaching school age) are currently 4 million."
The cost of an OLPC XO for each of 4 million students, at $189 each, comes to $756 million annually. The total cost would be rather more than that, including teacher training, other hardware, electricity, Internet access, and so on, but the program would save on the cost of printed textbooks. Also, the laptops would have to be replaced at some point. If we assume a six-year lifetime, the purchase cost for first through twelfth grades is doubled. With a four-year lifetime, purchases in grades 1 5 9 would come to triple that, or about $3 billion annually.
Now for the profit side. Let us assume that the graduates of this program are able to get real jobs, or start their own businesses, and pay taxes. How long would it take each worker or entrepreneur to repay $189 per computer? Even allowing for the cost of interest on the money? What the finance people call Net Present Value.
After that, the benefits are all, as one says in America, gravy.
Now let us not merely assume that the graduates will get jobs or start businesses. Let us get together to make sure that those jobs and businesses appear, by linking schools around the world and teaching the students how to go into business together. The program of my NGO, Earth Treasury. http://earthtreasury.org/
In short, the question is this: Would you rather teach children to make candles, or would you rather curse the darkness?
I feel like I have learnt something.