POLICY PAPER

The role of Headmasters in the successful implementation of OLPC in Rwanda

Author: Ceri Whatley Research Conducted in Rwanda, February-May 2011

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CURRENT HEADMASTER OLPC POLICY RESEARCH FINDINGS

HM Understanding of the Programs Goals and Policies Access to Appropriate Support High Importance, Motivation, and Creativity

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STRATEGIES FOR ACHIEVING RECOMMENDATIONS

Development of a policy Headmaster-Specific Support Documentation HM Community Meeting Support from OLPC Rwanda

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ANNEX
Recommended Items in HM Tool Kits:

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This paper's aim is to assist Rwandas Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) in the successful implementation of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) Rwanda Program. The paper was written in response to recent research findings on the role of Headmasters/Mistresses (HMs) in the program1. HMs were selected as the target of the research as it was recently determined that their role will be key to the project as laptops from the most recent 2010-2011 deployment were delivered directly to HMs. This is in addition to other global research and findings from education and technology programs that also pinpoint HMs as pivotal components for success. This paper provides insights and suggested actions that MINEDUC can integrate and adopt into the more broad OLPC plan and policy, thus strengthening the program. This paper begins with an examination of the current policy for HMs; then presents key research findings, recommendations, and strategies for achieving them2.

CURRENT HEADMASTER OLPC POLICY

There is no clear policy on headmasters. Jean Paul HITIMANA (MINEDUC OLPC Head of Community Awareness) said that the current policy for HMs is to provide them with "basic OLPC trainings", as well as including them in the ongoing teacher training. HMs have also been told (at trainings and in the community awareness booklet) that they are responsible for the security of laptops. Apart from these things, the HMs role is unclear in terms of policy. When visiting schools, it was found that HMs, in reality, are dealing with huge responsibilities that are different to those of the teachers. HMs are in charge with all specifics of the project at the school-level including the distribution of laptops to students, organization of inventory, decision of child ownership; they are the ones responsible for encouraging teachers to integrate XOs in their lessons; they are also the ones who have the potential to persuade communities, and especially parents, to value the program and care for the XOs security.

This means that HMs play a key role in the program and should be treated differently to teachers...

Create a policy for HMs (it will also be important to have policy for all the roles in the project).

11 HMs were interviewed from a selection of schools across the country, all of which had received XO laptops between the years 20072011. Public schools in rural areas were the main focus, since OLPC aims to reach the poorest children in the world. In addition, 1 private school and schools from urban and semi-urban areas were also included.
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It would be useful for MINEDUC to conduct follow up research on the 11 selected schools as many HMs were in the initial stages of the program when interviewed.

RESEARCH FINDINGS
When visiting schools, the following inter-connected factors were found to be the most important in ensuring the success of HMs, and in turn the program: HM Understanding of the Programs Goals and Policies The fact that a clear HM understanding of policies and objectives are crucial for the success of OLPC-Rwanda, we put forth substantial field work effort to discover the major obstacles for HMs towards achieving this understanding. - Misinformation: Some schools are not using their laptops, or are using them in less meaningful ways, because of initial misinformation. An early case of this comes from schools of the 2008-2009 deployment that were originally promised full saturation. When this changed to P4-P6 students it was never fully communicated to a majority of HMs. One example is an HM who refused to use the laptops because the school did not receive one laptop per child as they were originally "promised." They are currently waiting for their "full shipment" before use. - Misunderstanding of the programs goals: Despite attending a national training, many HMs differ in their understanding and prioritization of the programs goals: some view the program solely as an ICT project; others see laptops as a research tool; some perceive the program as a means of improving and modernizing education, while others perceive the goals as being a mixture of these. HMs' understandings of the program affect the way that they engage with the program, for example one HM who views the program as an ICT project consequently wants their students to learn laptops as they learn other subjects--rather than allowing students to use laptops in all lessons. This limits students use of, and time with laptops. - Unclear policies and the role of HMs: HMs were unclear about whether students should take their laptops home and, if so, how to deal with that logistically including, security issues and encouraging and advising teachers and communities on the project. This is resulting in a lack of action from many HMs, and consequently teachers, who are waiting for more information and instruction before proceeding with the program.

Access to Appropriate Support - HM Development: This program asks HMs for significant additional responsibilities many of which they do not have much experience. For example, monitoring and assessing the effectiveness and outcomes of the project at their school. One HM says that he is not sure if teachers are doing a good or bad job because he does not have or know how to create proper assessment tools. HMs are additionally asked to: develop and sustain a security system; approach and address parent and neighboring communities; be creative to develop much-needed local initiatives--knowing how to carry out these visions or find the appropriate people to do so.

- Lack of access to technical support from MINEDUC: HMs expressed frustration as they do not have access to spare parts or technical support when required. This reduces the motivation of public school HMs and affects the program at the school-level since the school does not have any spare parts and the exact number of laptops for students. It is also widely known that the laptops experience easily addressed and ongoing bugs that need ongoing support even though there is no guidance for neither HMs, teacher, students of the community on how to address these issues or to create local capacity.

High Importance, Motivation, and Creativity The recent research of HMs looking at both OLPC pilot schools and newly deployed schools has revealed a desired development path for HMs in Rwanda. First HMs must fully understand the program and view it with a high importance, this will then motivate them to carry out the goals of the program and, if possible, to employ creativity to solve issues at the local school level. One such example of a HM following this development path is one who is working with an organization of local prisoners to design and construct cheap and reliable power bars after recognizing that others had been failing at a high rate. In contrast, HMs who view the program with less importance display little motivation and, therefore, will not create or promote the creation of localized initiatives that are paramount for the success of the program. Examples of these HMs include one who thinks the program should not be a priority (better to feed the hungry) and, therefore, has not yet removed the laptops from their boxes, and another HM who views the program with importance, but, after dealing with the burden of 13 stolen laptops, has returned the laptops to storage.

STRATEGIES FOR ACHIEVING RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the research findings, it is advised to work towards achieving the following action items. These are highly related with the findings and are a consistent response to the needs presented among this paper.

Development of a policy A concise policy that outlines the role of the HM in the project is needed for the HMs to clearly understand what is expected from them in order to lead the project to success. This policy would include a reference document that each HM can consult in order to easily update their knowledge and responsibilities. Some of the key roles that might be included in this policy are: To decide if students will take home their laptops and coordinate the related logistics To devise a plan to maintain the security of the laptops both inside and outside of school

 To create an organizational chart related to the project inside the school and encourage and motivate the roles of the chart participants To create or provide ideas around the evaluation and assessment of the teachers and project, more generally, and report these findings to MINEDUC Create the conditions to approach the community to generate innovative and effective strategies to support and take full advantage of the project.

Headmaster-Specific Support As part of the general planning coming from MINEDUC is important to work with and plan specifically for the needs of HMs; they have different needs and concerns than the teachers and need to be supported accordingly. This kind of planning could include simple ways of support such as the establishment of an effective communication channel with HMs (and schools in general). Also, HMs need to be encouraged and supported from the government side trough strategies such as simple recognizing to HMs that engage in positive initiatives creating useful examples for other OLPC schools.

Documentation When asking HMs about their initial training from June 2010 in Kigali, the only thing that was consistently mentioned was the training booklet, which they said they are following. As documents and instructions are important to Rwandese HMs it makes sense for their training to be focused around the right use and navigation trough specific and effective documents. These documents can be presented to HMs together as a tool kit which can be referred to at any time (see Annex 1).

HM Community Meeting It is advisable that MINEDUC hold a general 1-day meeting for all HMs to attend. Headmaster support workers can present all HMs with the same important information at the same time and can help them to understand their tool kits if available. A creativity workshop would also be a valuable addition to the days agenda. Helping the HMs to work in a creative way with their teams and also to understand how to encourage, motivate and follow them is a valuable set of skills almost a requisite for HMs as leaders on their communities. In future deployments, this strategy will benefit MINEDUC financially as a 1 day meeting, if run according to this plan, is a cheaper and more efficient alternative to 1 week training.

Support from OLPC Rwanda OLPC Rwanda recognises the importance of working with HMs and would like to support MINEDUC by working with a counter-part from the MINEDUC team in developing and carrying out the above recommended course of action. This team can also write follow up reports to measure the effects of the above action which, by providing Rwanda as a model, will be helpful not only for Rwanda but OLPC and 1:1 computing programs globally.

ANNEX
Recommended Items in HM Tool Kits: An explanation of the program, including its goals prioritized, and a clear policy for HMs: what are HMs responsible for? Where and when should laptops be used? (Once HMs have clear knowledge about the program and its policies, they will have a better understanding of how to implement the program) An advice document for child ownership. (HMs need advice and examples about how to logistically organize the distribution and taking home of laptops in a secure way3) A document explaining future plans, but not promises, for the program. (Some HMs are under the impression that they will shortly receive servers and internet connectivity and are waiting for these things to happen before fully implementing the program) Example lesson plans. (This will help HMs to support their teachers in integrating laptops in the classroom 4) The format for a compulsory monthly, or bi monthly, progress report which can be handed in to district offices and then forwarded to MINEDUC. (This will create a sense of accountability and act as an incentive for HMs to implement the program) As soon as there is a process for dealing with spare parts and technical problems, HMs should receive advice to assign 1 member of staff the responsibility of recording the serial numbers of lost, stolen, or damaged laptops. The progress report should include a space where this information can be communicated to MINEDUC. (This will reduce confusion and frustration; increase morale for the program, and make HMs feel that they are being closely supported by MINEDUC5) A document that exemplifies and celebrates initiatives in Rwandese schools. (It is important for localized initiatives to spread to other HMs in Rwanda6 ) This idea could eventually be expanded to fit into other media and community awareness plans and in general trainings. Furthermore, MINEDUC could run a best OLPC school competition where they award schools that demonstrate excellent initiative.

Despite thinking that students should take their laptops home, half of the public school HMs interviewed (5/10) are not yet allowing this due to concerns that the laptops will get damaged or stolen. )
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This is important as all of the HMs said that their teachers do not feel comfortable using the laptops in lessons due to limited training and instructions. They will also serve as important aids to new teachers.
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All HMs interviewed said they want MINEDUC to be closer to them; they want a better support system and improved communications.)
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Perhaps, with permission, the contact details of featured HMs could be included so that further advice can be given.

 A document that gives information about other OLPC countries. (In addition to local initiatives, it is also important to spread global ideas that can be contextualized for Rwanda. This will inspire and encourage HMs)