ISPU:Project Overview

Vision The vision of the First Mile First Inch Technologies to establish online Resource Centres for Building Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Skills in Secondary School Students in Quelimane, and Providing online Education Resource Tools for Instituto Superior Politécnico e Universitário (ISPU Quelimane) project is derived from ISPU’s general mission statement, and the Government of Mozambique’s Strategic development program. With this focus this project has the following vision: “To develop online educational and information resource tools to capacity build students in secondary schools and ISPU Quelimane in Zambezia province by providing a Learning management System that is structured, and adapted to the needs of the Mozambican educational demands and envisaged by ICT- based learning tools.” Mission “Maps are cognitive guides. They locate us, helping us to figure out where we are now in relation to where we’ve been, and to plan where we are going” (Earl, Carden, Smutylo, 2001). In this project the vision has to be accomplished by using some different mission elements:

align="left"| Establishing partnerships with Ministry of Education and Culture (Department of Education Zambezia Province) and others stakeholders, Establishing partnership with the department of health especially the unit that deals with sex Education and HIV/AIDS, Establish partnership with MICTI ( Mozambique Information Technology and Communication Institute, Developing a collaborative online platform that is flexible, reflecting the cognitive, local cultural and social circumstances in Zambezia Province, Responding to the growing need for skilled manpower in Mozambique, Replicating the programs to all schools in the province, Constructing the infrastructure( First Mile, First Inch), Regulatory framework favourable for ICT for development, Availability and accessibility, Durability and sustainability.

Background

Instituto Superior Politécnico e Universitário (ISPU), is a private higher education Institute which came into being through the approval of the Mozambican Council of Cabinet Ministers in 1995 Decreto n 44/95, of 13th of September 1995, and is the property of the group IPS - Instituto Politécnico Superior Limitada ( IPS LDA) which was formed on 1 September 1994, and was published in the Republic of Mozambique’s governmental Bulletin number 31- III Series, 0f July 1996. Escola Superior de Gestão e Tecnólogia – ESGT (Technology and Management School).

All the programs in ISPU have a polytechnic character and students after the sixth semester graduate as bachelors and the seventh and eighth semester constitute the Licentiate level where the students are involved in seminars, attachments and dissertations. ISPU is also associated with Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias – ULHT (Portugal) this gives students to have equivalent qualifications within the Portuguese educational system. ISPU Quelimane extension opened its doors in 1998. The Extension is situated in Quelimane the capital of the Northern Province Zambezia. The different range of services offered in ISPU as a whole varies significantly considering the location of the institution. There is a strong digital divide between the capital Maputo and Quelimane. The ICT infrastructures are very much limited and in some cases not developed at all, it is in the light of this project to collaborate with other project partners in the First Mile First Inch project within the Southern African region to bring innovative solutions in order to uplift the lives of individuals in member countries. Besides the teaching function of the University and being an active participant in the fight against poverty, it is absolutely necessary to expose the students to the fundamentals and the practical use of modern Information and Communication Technology, especially when we take into account the importance that these technologies have today for the dissemination of information and as a means of communication of the population in this vast country and between ISPU’s campuses.

The project seeks to contribute to the secondary school educational sector touching areas such as science and mathematics education including HIV and sex education. Gender is also of primary concern since uplifting the girl child will have a significant impact on development globally. Using the full capacities of Information and communication Technology will open up borders and break through the isolation for students, staff, and the people from Zambezia Province of Mozambique to the world community.