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Robert Ndlovu
USE the ICT club platform to disseminate ICT knowledge and skills. Integrating student training enterprise in the ICT clubs is an excellent idea that allows students to practise their skills.

Schools have the best set up. Start developing the mindset of being an entrepreneur. The idea is to leverage on the existing infrastructure, organisation, teaching staff, students and the location of the school. This supplements the connect a school connect a community initiative. There is no one stop shop for solutions to bridge the digital divide.

Access to information has a direct link to the development and well being of a school, a community, a city and indeed a nation.  Below is a very rough guideline that your school can follow to set up their own ICT Club.

This guide can be used by students, teachers, service providers or parents.

1. Set up a competent committee. Clubs cannot be run by one person. Create a club with positions that will be filled with responsible students, defined as loyal, smart, and hardworking. These members will plan, build, organise and run your ICT club.

2. Get good club members. A chain is as strong as its weakest link. Here you want students who are serious and hardworking and not students who want to join the club so as to watch Youtube movies or Whatsapp calling.

3. Find a club patron. A club patron’s role is to guide your ICT club to realise your set goals and direction. Naturally you must look for a person who has a natural liking for ICT.

You want someone with an interest in the club activities. Someone who will enjoy spending time listening to your plans and someone who will devote sometime helping you get the information you want as you set up and run your club.

4. Request for written permission from the schools administration otherwise you will be in trouble. In some instance you might have to rope in your SDA.

They carry the bag. Clearly communicate your club’s activity, objectives, mission and vision.

5. Convince others to join. Once the club is running, all of the work rests in the officials of the club hands. Keep convincing other students to join, since clubs are dynamics (others come and others go).

If you lose members you will not have a club. Use FB and Whatsapp to get people to join if they have a motive to join your club.

6. Capacity building: Organise various training sessions to empower members. Training such as communication skills, presentation skills, computer usage skills, interview and CV writing skills, video editing skills, web design, blog, creating of business documents, software installation, basic computer troubleshooting skills are vital for ICT club members.

Invite skilled professionals from various sectors via your facilitator or patron to access critical information about ICT area and opportunities.

7. Active participation: Students quit clubs that are boring and have no meaningful activities that are interactive and stimulating. Keep the club active, have scheduled club meeting days with defined agendas.

Assign roles and duties to club members. Use such forum to educate non-club members about your activities and encourage them to join. Conduct competitions and offer prizes such as air time and calculators.

Last but not least you will need to have the ICT hardware, software and in some instances an internet connection. If your school is not availing this to you as a staff member or student then your future is pretty much at risk.

There are dozens of volunteers who can help you get started in this. Just send a text or e-mail free consultancy.

Next week we will look into how primary schools can use a FREE but very powerful program called SCRATCH to let pupils code their own interactive stories, animations, and games. In the process, they learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively.

I have a target school in mind. Mzilikazi Primary School! wozatel @ gmail.com 077 600 2605