1. Presented by Sylvie SIYAM Cameroon
THE CONTRIBUTION OF FIVE “TÉLÉCENTRES COMMUNAUTAIRES POLYVALENTS (TCPS)” TO CAMEROON’S RURAL SECONDARY EDUCATION
Presented by Sylvie SIYAM
Cameroon
Research realized within the AMY MAHAN PROJECT sponsored by IDRC

2. PRESENTATION’S PLAN I CONTEXT II OBJECTIVES II RESEARCH IV FINDINGS
V RECOMMENDATIONS

3. ICTs are viewed by Cameroonian authorities as a vital tool to address its education system’s shortcomings:
poor apprenticeship and working conditions,
lack and poor teachers distribution,
teachers and students lacking textbooks
and other critical didactic material’s possession.
CONTEXT
Cameroon:
heart of Guinea Gulf
Pop: 22 millions hbts
1/2 rural areas (2015)
A major thrust of the education sector strategy (2006) is to improve " the quality and relevance of education provided, including the introduction of modern technology and communication into the system”

4. Can the education system’s shortcomings be addressed through the enhancement of population access to telecommunications services, Internet? In other words: Can the multipurpose community telecentres (TCPs) expansion help to solve education system problems in Cameroon rural area?
OBJECTIVE
Identify the effects of
TCPs on students performance in secondary shools in rural area
To ensure equitable access to the telecommunications network, Cameroonian government initiated an ambitious program aiming at creating and equipping Multipurpose Community Telecentres (TCPs) in rural areas.
an ambitious program of 2000 TCP in rural areas in announced by the Minister in charge of telecom in 2008
Realisation: 34 TCPs in 2010 (research start), more than 200 now

5. Located in the urban core of the locality, TCPs are equipped with:
enough hardware to meet the needs of users
Installed software, mainly word processing, spreadsheets and to a lesser extent translation software.
SERVICES OFFERED BY TCPs
Training in the use of computers and the Internet,
Telephony, faxing, photocopying
Office stationery,
Postal services (money transfer included)
Space rental for meetings
Some with community radio

6. METHODOLOGY: Case study
05 TCPs selected based on criteria:
reliable Internet access; reliable equipment and energy supply;
been in operation for at least 3 years;
significant number of students and teachers as customers;
initiatives in place to support education.
THE RESEARCH
1015 students interviewed
Data collection, Duration one month, purposeful sampling
Questionnaire to students :
basic demographic information,
student’s school performance,
level of computer and Internet literacy,
frequency of visits and activities engaged in while visiting the TCP, perceived impact of TCP.

7. About 30% of students who know how to use the Internet, go to the TCP to view or download school related materials.
Internet access is the TCP service used by the largest proportion of rising performers (63%)
The TCP has also helped a greater proportion of rising performers become more confident and better informed
FINDINGS
Fig,1: School related activities in TCPs
Fig 2: Most popular TCPs activities

8. FINDINGS
TCPs seem to help students overcome the scarcity of textbooks that is common in Cameroon’s rural communities.
Better-Performing Hard-Working Students Use the Internet for School Purposes
Since TCPs are the only place of Internet connection in the localities concerned, they play a critical role training students how to use the Internet (68%)
Spending more than 3 hours/visit in TCP is counterproductive

9. FINDINGS TCPs has enabled
46.8% students-users :
to improve their educational outcomes,
to avoid repeating the grade,
to enhance their computer or their Internet knowledge,
to build self-reliance and
to be better informed
For the majority of respondents, the TCPs (generally situated in the urban core of the locality) were considered distant both from the school and the home, a barrier to their degree of attendance.

10. RECOMMENDATIONS TO GOVERNMENT
A balanced and regular deployment of new TCP with quality equipment to enhance access to the ICTs;
As concerning new TCP, the chosen location must be close to school premises;
A central-level partnership among the Ministries in charge of Education and Telecommunications to enable the use of TCP at local level within the school education scheme;
The equipment of TCP with an independent energy producing unit;
Clarification of the business model of TCPs

11. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING
TO LOCAL COUNCILS
Building local capacities to respond to emergencies in the TCPs
Use of TCPs for a better governance
Appropriation to be able to use TCP for local development (decentra-lisation)
RECOMMENDATIONS
TO TCP MANAGERS
Be more creative in proposing specific services
Introduction of FOSS
Reinforce their capacities
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING