WILD GEESE: EMIGRANT BUSINESS LEADERS ON OPPORTUNITIES ABROAD: BACK IN the 1980s, the most sophisticated piece of computer you found in an Irish classroom was one-third the power of a mobile phone, used cassette tapes and took about 15 minutes to get going.

“It was daft to think that schools would use them,” says Jerome Morrissey, former principal of Ballyfermot College of Further Education and recently retired director of the National Centre for Technology in Education at Dublin City University.

“But it was because of some pioneers in the classroom – teachers who believed in the future of technology and its relevance to learning and teaching – that we have taken such strides in becoming an information economy in Ireland. The ICT-related skills acquired as part of our education provision was a significant contributor to Ireland becoming a world hub for the ICT industry – practically all the world-class ICT companies have significant presences in Ireland.”

Morrissey can probably claim some of the praise for that himself, given that many of the luminaries of the Irish animation and video game industries are products of Ballyfermot, with Oscar nominations to boot.

Now he is trying to do the same in the developing world. As the chief executive of the Kenyan-based Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative, an NGO co-founded by the Irish Department of Education and Science, he is looking to contribute to the development of knowledge societies across Africa and in other developing countries.

However, working in Africa means dealing with different challenges than those he faced in Ireland. For example, class sizes can routinely approach the 50 mark or more. The classes are often managed by teachers who face innumerable challenges, ranging from a shortage of professional development opportunities to a shortage of tables and chairs for students and learning resources.

In Kenya for example, where the Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative is advising the government on how to integrate ICT in the classroom, there are 48 students for every teacher at primary school level, according to the World Bank.

The government will this year spend nearly $10 million boosting exposure to ICTs in schools and far-flung villages, with $7.5 million used to purchase computers for schools across the country.

“If communities must wait for sufficient schools to be built, every student to be seated at a desk and truck-loads of books to arrive, the 21st century will have passed the African education system by,” says Morrissey.

The types of innovative and creative solutions required to address many of these problems are now available through the use of ICTs, he says. Utilising internet–provided tools and services can fundamentally change learning environments, turning them into more inclusive, enriching experiences.

Internet broadband is being rolled out across east Africa, with wireless internet now available in many countries for as little as €30 a month. Mobile money programmes, whereby people can pay their bills with their phone, have also made technology and the internet more available to people.

“It is exciting to consider the unlimited possibilities for inclusion and for the enrichment of the learning experience that the internet currently offers,” he says, despite the challenges.

But echoing the views of many teachers, including Irish missionary orders who come to teach in Africa, he says, “There is, as there is everywhere in the world, a real hunger for learning here.

“The entrepreneurial spirit in the Africa I have seen is unyielding. The image of Africa as another hungry mouth to feed presents a biased perspective of a continent that is actually bursting with energy, and with a majority youth population requiring only the relevant skills to push their economies into the 21st century.

“It’s those skills, through education, (formal and non-formal, institutional or community-based) science, technology and innovation systems that we are here to assist African governments to provide.

“It’s a unique and very exciting opportunity to contribute in this way and one that I’m highly energised by.”

Jerome Morrissey

chief executive, Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative, Kenya

WILDGEESE

EMIGRANT BUSINESS LEADERS

ON OPPORTUNITIES ABROAD