In response to the high cost of accessing a quality education in Liberia, a team of 6 Ashesi University students, led by Kpetermeni Siakor '15, have developed a pilot project to deploy an internet-independent educational network in Liberia. The educational network, AshCon, is designed to bring high quality educational resources to schools without the need for an internet connection.
The one-year pilot project, funded by the Natembea Foundation, and supported by Ashesi University, will leverage the use of e-Learning to support a pilot school at Ricks Institute (K-12) in Monrovia, and independent learners in Liberia. Three students from the 5-member AshCon team spent more than 5 weeks on the campus of Ricks this summer installing the state-of-the-art program for Liberian children.
Siakor said the software network project downloads the most recent textbooks and academic materials. Students who previously had limited or unreliable internet access, can now easily download the needed materials for their studies and for public exam preparation through AshCon.
The specific objectives of the project are two-fold: supporting existing learning frameworks and examination preparation. To support learning in schools, this project will provide supplementary learning opportunity for students and teachers by providing tutorial videos, interactive practice problems, grading, and progress evaluation in the areas of mathematics and science. To support examination preparation, this project will provide examination-focused preparation materials for students aspiring to take international college admission examinations.
"Someday, I hope to have a country-bound network that links different universities together," says Kpetermeni. "Education is a problem our continent is still trying to tackle. A tool like AshCon – a pool of knowledge, resources and a community of teachers and learners accessible even without internet access – could be a big step towards helping close that education gap. That would be amazing."
To find out more about AshCon, and to stay up to date with the project's progress, please visit AshCon's blog.