Imfundo research programme

Related pages: Imfundo home | Ghana Imfundo | Ethiopia Imfundo | Kenya Imfundo | South Africa Imfundo
 

Imfundo: Partnership for IT in Education is an initiative in DFID which considers ways in which Information and Communication Technology can be used to support Education in Sub Saharan Africa.

Imfundo has three core areas of work:

• A Resource Bank of pledges from partners to support DFID educational-ICT activities in Africa. 
• A knowledge bank which is used to share and enhance awareness and understanding of the use of ICTs to transform education in Africa
• Educational – ICT Activities, which are identified and implemented as part of DFID’s strategies and programmes in Africa. 

What we mean by ICTs

ICTs not only include modern technologies such as computers and the Internet. In addition to these, Imfundo broadly defines ICTs to include the use of audio equipment, visual equipment and content. 

Imfundo's role

The aim of Imfundo is to create partnerships to contribute to the delivery of universal primary education and gender equality in Africa, through the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT). The technical expertise of our staff and the resources of partners to provide support to the British Government’s ongoing bilateral aid contribution to African governments. 

Imfundo's partnerships

Imfundo’s three categories of partner are:

• Resource Bank partners – who commit resources (such as expertise, hardware, software, research and development, or seconded staff) in principle to the Imfundo Resource Bank. These resources are then incorporated into the activities being developed by DFID 
• Liaison partners – are organisations, which share the objectives of Imfundo, and wish to work closely with Imfundo on particular activities, or in specific countries, but do not wish to contribute resources to the Imfundo Resource Bank.
• Local partners – are essential for helping to ensure that Imfundo’s activities are delivered appropriately, are sustainable and in context. By involving local partners in our activities, we also seek to develop educational ICT skills and capacity on the ground in Africa, and thereby to contribute to enhanced local livelihoods and economic growth.

Imfundo partners include a mix of other British Government Departments, Non-Government Organisations, Civil Society organisations and Private Sector companies (both in the UK and in Africa). 

The Imfundo Knowledgebank documents

The Knowledge Bank was Imfundo’s online information sharing facility. 
During Imfundo’s early stages short briefing papers were commissioned on various aspects of the use of ICT for educational enhancement. We have now supplemented these with a number of significant publications by Imfundo’s partners, papers from Imfundo workshops and Imfundo commissioned research papers. Imfundo Research and information documents papers can be found on online in the Publications section (Publication type = Education Documents - Imfundo). 

Where in Sub-Saharan Africa are we working?

Imfundo is contributing in various ways to the support that DFID is providing for education in the following countries:

• Ethiopia
  Imfundo is working with stakeholders in Ethiopia to identify and disseminate information on how ICTs can best be used to enhance the learning experience of broadly defined street children. In particular, children who are at risk of both living and working on the streets, and giving them skills, which will enable them to gain beneficial employment. 
• Ghana
  Imfundo is assisting the Ghana Education Service/ Teacher Education Divison to look at ways in which ICT can strengthen its teacher education support systems by capacity building and improved communication structures.
• Kenya 
  Imfundo is supporting the Kenyan Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in the design and development of a component of the ‘School Based Teacher Development Programme’ called the School Empowerment Programme. The School Empowerment Programme is a distance learning course designed to develop the capacity of the whole school by training Head teachers and Key Resource teachers to deal with the challenges of free Primary Education in Kenya. The programme will be mainly delivered through print based material and supported by multi-media (audio, video and radio).
• South Africa
  Imfundo assists DFID in South Africa in the development of a seven year programme on education support for the Limpopo province. Through this programme Imfundo is supporting the Limpopo Ministry of Education in the development and implementation of a knowledge and Information strategy. Local and International partners together with Imfundo will also support the development of the cost effective ICT enhanced teacher training approach, building on the experience of existing initiatives such as MASTEC OLSET, SHOMA, ABET/UNISR and SchoolNet.

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