The Context
The East African nation of Burundi is a tiny landlocked country with a population of about 12 million. Primary school, secondary, technical, vocational, and higher education make up Burundi’s four educational levels.
Burundi’s educational system faced many difficulties, such as a shortage of qualified teachers, a lack of funding, and a high dropout rate. The civil conflict, which raged in the nation from 1993 to 2005, also seriously disrupted its educational system.
The Burundian government has implemented several policies to improve the educational system, including raising educational spending, enhancing teacher preparation, and teaming up with foreign organizations and donors to support education nationwide.
Overall, education is considered essential to Burundi’s growth, and efforts are being made to increase all children’s access to high-quality education. However, much must be done to guarantee that all children have access to education and that the educational system is of a good level.
ST Foundation’s Presence
In 2009, the Foundation chose to include Burundi among its active countries. The DU Program was established to aid underprivileged groups that lacked access to information and communication technologies. The Foundation’s presence has been solidified and strengthened over the years with the main aim of contributing to the resolution of the country’s educational challenges. With this intention, schools and students were supported in familiarizing themselves with technology.
COVID-19 disrupted the Foundation’s work in the area, but throughout 2022, everything returned to normal, and the organization had 13 centers up and running in various institutions (mostly public organizations) to provide chances to enhance the educational system.
Moreover, it was also decided to bring the Tablet for Kids program to the heart of CUBWENGE because of the consistently positive outcomes of the activities. For further information, please see the corresponding sub-section.
Over 127,000 students have participated in the DU Program since its inception, many of whom were introduced to computers and other technologies for the first time.
