Computer learning: The key to wisdom

Grant project name: E-school project (Wisdom Key Laboratory)
Funded by: MCS Electronics LLC
Time frame: June 2013

Purpose and objectives: The 20 new computers were donated by MCS electronics and "E-school" software was installed to develop modern management of secondary schools.  The software aimed to improve school information system in the following ways:                

• Improve the parents participation on school and children learning through tracking their children's grades posted online                        
• Improve the school information technology course quality and effectiveness and enabling students to be literate in computers and tech

MEET A YOUNG MAN BENEFITTING FROM THIS PROJECT:

With their computer labs more often spare storage rooms than high-tech hothouses, Mongolia’s rural schools frequently fail to provide proper Information Technology (IT) lessons. But at one school in Bayankhongor province all that has changed thanks to World Vision and one of the country’s leading technology companies.

Photo: Gombodorj sits in the new computer lab in his rural school. 

Computer literacy is crucial for students in the modern world. Knowledge of word processing, spreadsheets and presentation software creates many opportunities for a student who has completed school, and skilled programmers have a wealth of opportunities.

Yet the school computer labs in rural regions of Mongolia often face a severe shortage of necessary equipment, meaning their pupils’ IT skills fall far behind those of their urban-based peers.

Nomgon Complex is a secondary school in Bayankhongor province, some 630 km from the capital city Ulaanbaatar. Sparse computing resources once hobbled the school’s IT lessons and when its students left for university, they struggled to catch up with their computer literate city cousins.

To solve this problem, World Vision teamed up with IT Zone, one of Mongolia’s leading technology companies, to build a modern computer laboratory at the school for future generations of tech-savvy students.

The company’s donation ensures all students receive an IT education, with 300 pupils enjoying weekly access to high-speed, internet-connected computers.

The computer lab is opening doors for many young people who now have opportunities they could only have dreamed of in the past.

Some of the pupils are taking full advantage of the newly kitted out lab, dubbed the ‘Wisdom Key’. Moving from a remote village to Bayankhongor last year, 17-year-old Gombodorj is one of them.

With a flair for mathematics obvious from a young age, the provincial chess champion is a regular at the facility. This keen pupil spends his time diving into a world of computer algorithms and solving problems via an online database.

“I’m preparing for a local IT competition this March, and hopefully the state championship if I can qualify,” the teenager says.

“Our computer lab has many advantages,” he adds. “Children can get information from the internet, making it easier to do assignments, and it hosts clubs, like the chess and computer skills clubs.”

The Wisdom Key is opening doors for many young rural residents like Gombodorj, who now have opportunities they could only have dreamed of in the past. “I want to be an economist in the future,” he says, and surely it’s only a matter of time until the outstanding student contributes to his country’s development.