Uruguay is first country to give every primary school child a laptop

Yes that’s right — as of last week, every single child in primary school in Uruguay came into possession of his or her very own laptop, no mean feat for any country.

One might imagine this cost them a fortune.

Think again: apparently the whole project used up less than 5 percent of the country’s entire education budget.

ap laptop 070716 ms Uruguay is first country to give every primary school child a laptop

The government did it under the One Laptop Per Child organization (Plan Ceibal), of which Uruguay is a member. The group was set up by Nicholas Negroponte, who originally wanted to provide laptops for less than $100.

In the end, the scheme cost Uruguay more than double that once all the training, Internet connections and maintenance costs were taken into account. Still $200 for all that isn’t too bad, hmm?

Most of the children who received a laptop courtesy of the Uruguayan government didn’t even have a computer at home — about 70 percent in fact — meaning the vast majority of these families now have access to the Internet for the very first time.

“This is not simply the handing out of laptops or an education program. It is a program which seeks to reduce the gap between the digital world and the world of knowledge,” said Miguel Brechner, director of the Technological Laboratory of Uruguay and in charge of Plan Ceibal.

There’s no doubt it will enhance the learning experience of children in a way that was previously impossible..

“It’s been a revolution, which has helped us enormously, but it hasn’t been easy,” said Lourdes Bardino, a head teacher of a school in Las Piedras.

It seems hard to believe, though perhaps understandable, that some people were not keen on the scheme to start with. Let’s face it, there are learning curves — not to mention the culture shock.

“We have a lady who’s been teaching for 30 years and when they gave us the computers and the training, she asked for leave because she didn’t want to have anything to do with the program. Later she changed her mind and now computers have changed the way she teaches,” said Ms Bardino.

Uruguay also has plans to extend the scheme to cover pre-school and secondary school students next year and would be keen to help other countries interested in learning from their experience to do the same.

“Many countries are simply too scared to put it into practice,” Brechner said.

Most Uruguyans have this message for them: Don’t be.

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