WOUGNET organized a panel on Gender and ICTs at the eLearning Africa Conference that took place at Speke Resort Hotel Munyonyo on 29th May 2014. The theme of the session was called “Managing Diversity and Equal Opportunities”.
The main objective of the panel was to share experiences on how WOUGNET has enhanced learning among women and girls through use of ICTs, raise awareness on the need to implement gender responsive e-learning interventions and map out opportunities for women to access and utilize ICTs in education.
The panel session comprised of speakers and presenters, shared experiences on how to enhance learning among women and girls through use of ICTs, raised awareness on the need to implement gender responsive learning interventions.
The Speakers included:
Gilbert Egwel from Kubere Information Centre (KIC), Uganda who made a presentation on Enhancing Learning in the Education Sector in Northern Uganda: A Case of WOUGNET Experience in Using ICTs in Education of Women and Men
Mr. Ayub Kalema Golooba from the Ministry of Education/Uganda Communication Commission (UCC), Uganda who made presentation on Promoting Learning in Schools in Uganda Through ICTs: Benefits, Opportunities and Challenges
Ms. Martha Masibo Otim, Reach Out Wives of Soldiers´ Association (ROWOSA), Uganda, who presented on Reaching Out to Wives of Soldiers Through Use of ICTs in Uganda: Case Study ROWOSA Experience
Ms. Goretti Zavuga Amuriat, Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET), Gender and ICTs Youth Forums in Uganda: A Case of WOUGNET Experience in Reaching Out to Educate Boys´ and Girls´ Secondary Schools Through Use of ICTs.
Mr. Gilbert Egwel discussed how ICTs have been used to equip women and men with knowledge and skills drawing from the WOUGNET projects experiences in Northern Uganda using ICTs to obtain information and knowledge on best practices in agriculture, agricultural inputs, and markets, using ICTs to report poor service delivery and Rural Information Centres (Kubere Information Centre and Ribe-ber Rural Information Centre in Amuru district) to acquire knowledge and skills to apply in their activities.
Ms. Martha Masibo from ROWOSA a member of WOUGNET discussed how they have reached the wives of soldiers and their children though use ICTs, in a center that was established at Bombo town. The centre teaches CISCO in partnership with Makerere University School of Women and Gender Studies. ROWOSA appreciated WOUGNET to equip them with skills in ICTs that led to the set up of the ICT centre to teach others.
Mr. Ayub Kalema, from Mengo Senior School and active on the Ministry of Education/UCC school computers project, and who has been supporting WOUGNET to build skills in ICTs among the boys and girls in secondary schools, explained the importance of ICT in education. He noted that ICT brings live examples within classrooms, supports research, does online teaching, enables networking and communication.
WOUGNET gave an example of the Gender and ICTs Youth Forums, which were being conducted to sensitize boys and girls on the need to include gender in ICTs and equipped the youth with practical sessions of ICTs. All presenters noted the need for gender sensitive e-learning intervention to support learning for boys and girls, men and women.
Compiled by Goretti Z. Amuriat
Program Manager, Gender and ICT Policy Advocacy