By Helen Sea, EMTV News – Port Moresby
As part of their contribution to community development in the country, Boroko Rotary Club in partnership with Brisbane based Rotarians are introducing Teacher in a box, a non-profit organisation that aims to digitize learning materials for under privileged people in areas around the world through just one laptop computer.
In many rural villages and communities, there is no internet. Even in parts of the main cities, the internet is often slow or unreliable. Teacher in a box is a laptop that provides offline access to a wide range of educational materials. It is equipped with thousands of books, both fictional and non-fictional. Also included are text books and syllabi based on a certain country’s curriculum and can be accessed without the internet. The kit comes with a mini router that makes it easy to access by any Wi-Fi enabled device like a smartphone.
At the launch of Gordon International School’s 50th Anniversary logo, former principle, Lionel Melville, a member of the Rotary club, made a commitment to donate to the school, one of these. Melville also added that NCD has come on board this initiative, and paid for teacher in a box to be delivered to all schools in the nation’s capital.
Teacher in a box can be updated to keep up with changing times. “If something goes wrong, you can throw it in a bin and get a new one. Why? Because we’re producing it for the schools at $250 dollars, which is like K500,” says Melville.
Currently, Kitava, one of the four main Islands in the Trobriand Archipelago of the Milne Bay province is already using teacher in a box donated to them by a Rotarian from Brisbane. Melville says, the box on Kitava Island is powered by solar and the community there can even access television services so the people have entertainment.
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