Giga project was launched in 2019 by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), with aim to provide connectivity to every school in the world by 2030. As co-chair of the UN Broadband Commission, Rwanda supported the initiative and, in 2020, was chosen to lead the implementation of Giga in Africa.
Speaking on the funding, the Ambassador of Israel in Rwanda, Dr. Ron Adam, commended the strides made in Rwanda’s education sector over the years, and noted that Israel is pleased to support the country’s ground-breaking goal of universal connectivity in schools.
“Education is the foundation of everything, and this goes hand in hand with the quality. In this era, you can’t talk about quality while excluding technology. We believe that this support from Israel will be yet another stepping stone for Rwanda to realize its ambition of universal connectivity in schools and becoming a knowledge-based economy,” he said and added: “ Behind every child there is a scientist”.
According to UNICEF, in the 63 pilot schools of the Giga project, only 29 per cent of required computers and other devices for students and teachers is available, hence the need for more devices.
“We are grateful to the Israel Embassy in Rwanda for this generous support to Giga connect initiative in Rwanda. This support will enable the purchase of laptops for teachers in schools that are being connected to the internet across the country. The funding also comes to reduce the funding gap and bridge digital divide in schools, which is a barrier to quality learning,” said Julianna Lindsey, UNICEF Country Representative to Rwanda.
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