Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB) has announced new measures to improve the maintenance of school laptops to address theft and equipment breakdowns. The measures include partnering with a private company for computer maintenance and enhancing security in schools. Nelson Mbarushimana, the Director General of REB, explained these plans on Thursday, June 27, while appearing before the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC). ALSO READ: Rwanda rolls out over 18,000 laptops to schools in new push for smarter classroom He was responding to concerns raised in the Auditor General’s report for the financial year ending June 30, 2024. “We are in the process of identifying a company that can coordinate and repair all computers within less than a month in the next fiscal year,” Mbarushimana said. To tackle theft, he revealed that REB plans to install alarm systems in smart classrooms. ALSO READ: Over 25,000 teachers benefit from innovative project to enhance ICT utilisation in schools “Discussions are also underway with private security firms to ensure that each smart classroom is assigned a security officer,” he added. Speaking to The New Times, Diane Sengati, the Acting Head of the ICT in Education Department at REB, pointed out the plans to improve laptop maintenance in schools. “We are planning to work with a company, and it may take about a month to begin this partnership,” she said, adding that REB was reviewing procedures to avoid incurring unnecessary costs for faulty devices. Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture (RICA) has so far recommended a company for the purpose, she explained. ALSO READ: 25,000 primary school teachers to get laptops Sengati noted that having a dedicated maintenance company will allow for regular and timely repairs, rather than the previous system where maintenance was carried out by the board only once a year due to the shortage of workers, often resulting in prolonged downtime for schools. The Auditor General could find non-operational computers in schools due to this infrequent maintenance. “To improve efficiency, REB is considering establishing two maintenance centres in each district so that faulty devices can be repaired more quickly. Other equipment, such as projectors, will also benefit from this maintenance arrangement, as some issues are minor and can be easily fixed,” Sengati said. A total of 86 computers were reported stolen from schools, with 14 of these either recovered or compensated for in collaboration with security authorities, according to REB. Since the introduction of smart classrooms in 2016, at least 120,009 laptops have been distributed to schools. Of these, 3,000 were stolen, while 746 were compensated. As of April, this year, REB had identified 639 laptops with issues.
