• Home
• GOVERNMENT CXO
• E-GOVERNMENT
• CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT
• TAX AND REVENUE MANAGEMENT
• GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
• GREEN GOVERNMENT
• GOVERNMENT DATA MANAGEMENT
• GOVERNMENT SECURITY
• GOVERNMENT CLOUD
• GOVERNMENT ANALYTICS
• GOVERNMENT GIS
• CONNECTED GOVERNMENT
• DIGITAL INCLUSION
• EDUCATION IT
• HEALTHCARE IT

Digital Inclusion, Education IT

Uganda's education needs internet subsidy

By Alice Kok | 22 October 2008

High internet connectivity costs remain a major handicap to the widespread integration of IT in teaching and research at Ugandan educational institutions.

For example, Makerere University is levying a US$63 technology fee on private students to pay for internet bandwidth.

Despite having donors like SIDA, NORAD and the USAID to finance technical and administrative components of the IT infrastructure, these funds go to discrete components such as the campus backbone network, email, intranets, staffing and software for finance, academic records and human resources. Donor agreements require the university to pay for actual external internet connection.

The university has since struggled with the cost of purchasing bandwidth at commercial rates. The Uganda Telecom has recently disconnected its internet access for the third time in less than two years over a US$103,000 bill accumulated in three months. Makerere had also been disconnected in July and October of last year.

Staggering from one disconnection to another has made it difficult to integrate IT into the university’s functions as hoped for under donor agreements. Other educational institutes in Uganda have not bothered to provide widespread internet access.

Meanwhile, internet access has been outlined by the government of Uganda to be the vital to economic and social development.

---