Journey of Hope 2017 journey-of-hope-2017 | Page 21

in education. Janagha believes that these
rural schools should have the same teaching
standards as other more populated areas,
even though they are far more isolated.
The courses taught at BLC are based
on the needs of the local people and the
opportunity each course will create. Janagha
witnessed the teachers and administers
struggling to evaluate attendance and
track the progress of their students. Each
term teachers spent hours copying grades
and adding them up by hand to submit
to administrators who had to copy those
grades into their own files and add them up
to determine the success of the school. He
knew the addition of computers would save
them time and improve the tracking and
accuracy of attendance and student success,
but they needed lessons to teach them how
to use the technology.
This past winter BLC hosted the first six-
month computer training program aimed at
principals and administrators. During the
first portion of the training students learned
computer basics. They practiced turning
the machines on and off and learned general
care as well as how to navigate through files
and applications to find the information
they need.
FALL 2017
Once they were comfortable with the
machines, they delved into programs like
Microsoft Word and Excel, where they can
create databases and lessons. Instructors
also taught them how to use the internet
for research and how to communicate with
email services like Gmail and applications
like Skype.
In just six months these principals and
administrators graduated from complete
isolation to having the world at their
fingertips. They know how to create and
manage databases to better evaluate their
students and programs, and they know how
to show their coworkers and teachers how to
use the programs.
LEARNING THE TOOLS TO
GET AHEAD
The class graduated this spring with more
than 30 students. Each of the graduate’s
schools received a computer and a printer
so they would have no trouble putting their
new skills to use.
“After this they will be able to use
computers in their offices and change
the old administration to a modern and
computerized administration,” says Janagha.
“In my opinion this will help to increase the
administrative capacity of the schools as well
as the quality of their services to students.”
The next class of principals and
administrators are nearly through their
training, and another set of schools is poised
to receive the first computers they can use.
The next step is to watch and evaluate the
graduates to see if further training and
support is needed to guarantee success.
MSSRO hopes to reach every school in
Badakhshan and the surrounding districts
in the coming years. As reliable power and
internet continue to reach out to remote
locations, Janagha hopes that computer
literacy will follow.
Computers can help connect this remote
region to the rest of the world. Teachers
can spend more time working on lessons
and helping students than tracking their
grades, and administrators can focus
on running the schools. When teachers
become literate in computers, they can
pass this knowledge on to their students.
This in turn can better prepare students
for new careers and classes in bigger cities.
This type of capacity building is just as
important as reading, writing, and math.
Computer literacy will help this region rise
above poverty and illiteracy. n
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