Case Study:Ganeshas Project
Kumma Raj Subedi (Kamal)
tutors@wlink.com.np
www.ganeshas-project.org

20 CPU boxes and 17 monitors plus accessories collected in Germany and shipped to Nepal (ESO computers)

Shipping was supported by GTZ

The actual project started in March 2001 @ SBSS

Computer Lab furnished and 14 computers put in the local network

Red Hat 7 was installed and the lesson started for 47 students (half of them girls) of then Grade 8

Project Goals

To provide computer education to the local students focusing on the ones below poverty line

To promote the use of FOSS in Nepal

To use first generation of trainees as tutors so there would always be skilled manpower available

The challenges

The computer lesson had to be conducted before and after school.

Cultural differences between volunteers and the local community

Too much interference of the school administration

It took six months to teach the basics of Linux and the school found Linux strange

Outcomes

67 students were trained in 17 months

6 out of 67 were selected as tutors

The tutors trained their juniors in 3 months comparatively much faster than the foreign volunteers

Students designed 2 great web-pages on Birds in Royal Chitwan National Park and War and Peace

Students' competency in English improved a lot

What went wrong

Since the school had ownership of the computers volunteers were dependent on them to make decisions

The NGO wasn't able to provide enough support for the project due to personality clashes within the team

The teachers favored Windows; volunteers weren't willing to make any compromise in what they taught

Proposal to form project management committee ignored by the school administration

What went right

The project brought awareness in the community about computers and their use

The school environment changed; the gap between the boys and girls bridged

Ss were given opportunity to explore on their own rather than being reliant on teachers for information

News on Free and Open Source Software spread in the country through the press.

After the handover
July 2003

When interviewed the head master said he was over-burdened; couldn't say any plans about the continuation of the project

Volunteers declared the project a failure

Brett Hartshorn, one of the donors of GP, ran the lab for 1 month.

He suggested to form computer club given to school administration if not the project management committee but was ignored

Conclusion

Giving ownership of the computers to school was a bad idea

School ignored the MOU

Students are too young to speak against the school administration

Lesson were completely free of cost; income had to be generated to motivate the school

Youths in the community had no access to PCs at all.

Local investment/contribution was ignored

What do they say now?

On 13th August 2003 they opened the lab breaking the keys!!!

The school is running the lab and going to offer basic Linux course to its grade 8 students like before.

Kumma Raj Subedi

2005-08-07T22:47:26