Ziway is a town around 170km South of Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, situated by Lake Ziway. The local economy is comprised mainly of fishing and agricultural jobs given the geography of the area. Schools in the area are under resourced in terms of infrastructure and the majority of students are from economically poor backgrounds.

Computer Aid were initially contacted by the Silesian Sisters, a Christian organisation working in the area to improve educational outcomes among Primary, Secondary and College students. The organisation setup a school Mary Help Catholic School serving Primary and Secondar school students. Around 80% of the Mary Help Catholic school population is economically disadvantaged, and the cohort is roughly 40% male and 60% female.

In addition to the school, there is also Mary Help College targeting students aged 17 and older with practical skills and courses for employment. The student cohort at Mary Help College is roughly 50% male, 50% female, with mostly young men studying ICT and mostly young women studying Fashion design.

The Project

Computer Aid supplied digital technologies including 80 desktop computers and monitors, teacher laptops, projectors, headphones and a printer enabling three fully functioning computer labs at Mary Help Catholic School and Mary Help College.

Two of the labs are at the school, one for primary-level students aged 7-12 and one for secondary-level students aged 13-16. The third lab at Mary Help College is serving students aged 17 and above studying ICT or Fashion Design; each of the three labs has an average of 26 machines.

Before the equipment was received, schoolteachers from primary and secondary level undertook basic ICT training in order to improve their competence and confidence to utilise the equipment during school classes.

The Impact

The supplied equipment has allowed an intranet server to be setup at the school allowing students to access digital educational content during lessons. This content allows classes in the computer labs to have a more structured approach and increase student engagement and interaction.

Primary school students use the lab mainly for learning English, whilst the eldest two grades of primary school also use the lab for ICT basics which is a compulsory part of their curriculum. Secondary school students use their lab for intermediate ICT content including Microsoft Office and understanding Digital Safety.

Students at the college studying Fashion Design use specialised software such as Adobe Illustrator in order to design patterns for textiles printing. ICT students at the college are benefitting from the new hardware provided and are utilising software for database management and network administration.

Our partner from the Salesian Sisters, Sister Nieves stated that:

“The computers we received are better than much of the new ICT equipment being sold in Ethiopia. The projectors and printers have really helped teaching staff amplify engagement through the technology.”