Digital School in periurban area

The Project Digital School to guarantee access to digital technology for learning – DSDL is an innovative solution to reduce the technological gap of access to virtual education through the development of a culturally relevant and language friendly (Quechua native language) platform.

It will be developed as a solution to increase access to virtual education using digital technology for vulnerable students from poor indigenous families in four communities of District 6 Sucre. While including parents and guardians in training processes to access the platform and be able to support their children at home.

It is inclusive since considers vulnerable families, promotes alliances with the academy sector and aims to advocate the Ministry of Education to take this solution as a model of intervention in the scaling impact process.

According to the State Agency for Electronic Government, Information and Communication Technologies, in the rural area 18% have a computer and 3% have access to internet. This translates into deep infrastructure and access digital gaps that are added to others.

However, having an internet connection does not guarantee access and the quality of education. UNICEF Report platform reveals that 4/10 adolescents or young people indicate that they are not receiving classes through any internet platform and of those who receive virtual classes, 93.2% indicate that they are not learning "nothing", "almost nothing" or "more or less".

Right to education is universal and equitable and despite the exceptional conditions due to the presence of COVID-19, education must continue. All need access to various alternative educational modalities to continue their learning and education.

The pandemic has greatly impacted the access to education for vulnerable students living in periurban areas in Sucre. The government declared the implementation of virtual and distance education, however, students in remote areas lack access to technology and culturally relevant and language friendly platforms.

By developing culturally relevant and language friendly educative platform software, the project will increase access to virtual education and add-value through crosscutting thematic information.

Develop software and a culturally relevant, language friendly platform to increase access to virtual education using digital technology for vulnerable students from poor families in four communities of District 6 Sucre.

Primary and Secondary students from vulnerable indigenous families living in four communities of District 6 in the Municipality of Sucre will gain access to virtual education through a culturally relevant, friendly language platform and through access to equipment which will allow them to exercise their right to education, including add-value through crosscutting thematic information such as violence prevention, gender equity, health and environmental care beyond the formal education curriculum.

450 Primary and Secondary students from vulnerable indigenous families living in four communities of District 6 in the Municipality of Sucre will be able to access virtual education and hardware.  

By developing culturally relevant and language friendly educative platform software, the project will increase access to virtual education and add-value through crosscutting thematic information such as violence prevention, gender equity, health and environmental care beyond the formal education curriculum.

IPTK has been working aimed at reducing vulnerabilities of 450 boys, girls and adolescents and their families living in four communities through activities in the areas in Food Security, Livelihoods, Education, Health and community development. 

Through the development of a culturally relevant, language friendly platform and educative software, students will be able to reduce the gap of access to virtual education and technology.  The Digital school will provide tools and contents that are part of the formal curricula implemented in the country in Spanish and their native language Quechua. The local language facility will allow caregivers to learn with their children and be able to support them at home.

Despite the work IPTK does, the current situation demands new ways of addressing inequalities. 

This solution was selected because it is innovative addresses post COVID issues and considers local priorities and needs specially the use of native language in the platform and contents of the educational software.  

While schools remain closed, provision of tablets to popular after-school programs will give access to virtual education provided by the government.

The empowerment of local teachers in these vulnerable communities to provide virtual education to their students will reduce the gap between those with means and those without.

The solution overcomes the ‘one-size- fits all’ approach to education in the time of COVID that has excluded poor and marginalized communities. The approach builds on successful local after-school programming focused on inclusion and it goes beyond the formal curriculum to add key life skills to help vulnerable learners. It allows parents to become involved in supporting their children at home through use of local language.

During the first stage, the project targets 450 primary and secondary girls and boys attending four after school programs in 4 communities of D6 Sucre.  The scalability may reach 967 primary and secondary students per year attending two Schools in the impact area and provide a model for other disadvantaged communities.

Milestones, creation of the software, the platform; training of teachers and parents; supplying hardware; number of children participating, change in demand for the after-school programs; sharing of the platform with other communities through advocacy with the Ministry of Education.

A team of 12 staff including project coordinator, IT engineer and After School Program teachers 

IPTK will work on a strategic alliance with the public University of the city of Sucre which will be in charge to develop the platform through the computer science degree.

This proposal is aligned with the Whistler principles because it promotes inclusive innovation including vulnerable students from indigenous migrant families, the solution proposed is an investment in local resources including digital technology experts from the public University and teachers with years of experience in providing pedagogical support to primary and secondary students through the implementation of After School comprehensive programs in the project impact area.

We think Solve is great opportunity to close gaps in access to technology and to help vulnerable and poor people.

We believe IPTK work has to scale up to offer technology to rural and periurban area and we want to solve that problem.

It is something new for us, so we must begin with the human capital and to create an own model