L4L, FLOUR MILLS DONATE 50 LAPTOPS TO KURAMO PRY SCH'L

By Emeka Aginam
A Lagos-based organization, Laptops4Learning in partnership with Flour Mills of Nigeria has empowered Kuramo Primary School with 50 Laptops for technology based learning.

L4L is a Non-For-Profit organisation with the aim of providing laptops to Nigeria teachers and children as a learning tool. L4L's goal is to provide primary school teachers and children in Nigeria with laptop computers, software, training and a conducive environment that will empower them to learn, explore, experiment and express themselves in creative and productive ways that will ultimately bring about transformative change in Nigeria.

Already, with permission of the local government area education authority, Kuramo Primary School has made available a dedicated classroom for exclusive use of L4L for initial period of three years.

The project, it was learnt was targeted at children between primary 5 and 6 only as these are the preparatory years ahead of secondary school as they prepare to become responsible, independent and cognizant of the bigger world around them.

Like the one Laptop per child, the program, it was gathered, was targeted at the underprivileged children in the society especially those from poor parents who may not normally have access to screen-based technologies such as laptops.

The programme, the initiators said has been designed using that experience to accommodate the specific challenges we face in Nigeria which include funding, power, teacher literacy, school infrastructure and parental poverty. The objective of the pilot project is to develop a replicable programme for primary schools across Nigeria.

Individuals behind the L4L initaitive include Mr.Tunde Arogunmati, Carolyn Hall, Phil Hall, Mr. Tomi Davies, Abimbola Okoya-Urey, Funmi Onabolu, Diana Johnson, Ayo Kusamotu and Ria Mastoroudes came together to form Laptops4Learning (L4L).

While lauding the capacity building program, the Chief Executive Officer of TechnoVision Communications, Mr. Tomi Davies with optimism said that by the time any child leaves primary school, they would have been exposed to using a laptop and the internet so that they are not left behind in this new age of information and communications technologies.

He said that the program is not about teaching IT. 'It is about exposing the children to screen based technologies in a journey of safe self help discovery , supported by the teachers who act as club leaders.'