We are excited to be taking part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge 2020 for the third consecutive year. In just under one month the Big Give Christmas Challenge launches on #GivingTuesday (midday 1st Dec) 
​Could you support us?
Please save the date 1st December 2020 –  8th December 2020. 

For one week only, online donations raised for our teacher training project in Zambia, will be DOUBLED as part of a match funding campaign. For example, an online donation of £100 would be doubled to £200. If Gift Aid is claimed, the donation could be worth £225.
(Donations are doubled whilst matching funds last.) 

​Project Overview - The aim of the project is to train teachers in Zambia in ICT and digital skills to help improve the quality of digital education. ​
Only 6.8 percent of individuals over 10 years old in Zambia know how to use a computer (Ministry of General Education, Republic of Zambia). Schools lack the resources to provide digital training, leaving teachers unskilled and often unable to provide a positive digital learning experience for students.

Covid-19 has presented a unique opportunity, forcing schools to start looking at their e-learning capabilities. We want to provide digital training for teachers to improve digital education for students. 

We believe the impact of the project will enable teachers to integrate ICT into all subject areas improving students digital skills so they can utilise them to improve their studies.  Consequently students will leave school confident and digitally focused to improve their future education, and livelihoods.

We are excited to share a series of three blog posts, written by one of our fantastic new student volunteers, exploring how our country programmes in Africa have adapted their services in the light of the pandemic.

Maya, our first virtual student volunteer, has over the past few months researched (with lots of Zoom meetings) how our Africa programmes in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, are coping with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. 

​Maya commented "I hope these articles shine a light on the reality that schools and their students are facing right now. I’ve learnt so much about the challenges these people are facing, but I’ve really been struck by their resilience and positivity."

Thank you to Maya for her valuable contribution. 
Please read more 

We are proud and delighted to say that we have now reached the monumental milestone of receiving 100,000 donated computers and laptops. It is a truly magnificent achievement. We are grateful to all our donors be they Schools, Businesses, Rotary Clubs, Universities and Individuals who have enabled us to reach this remarkable number.
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These donations of computers and laptops which potentially could have gone to landfill have meant that we have been able to give access to IT to millions of schoolchildren in Africa as well as supporting many local UK community organisations, primarily in Gloucestershire, who have helped many thousands of individuals improve their IT skills and bridge the digital divide. Thank you to all our donors for their support, we couldn't have achieved this without you!

“With citizens of the UK staying at home to stay safe, technology has become a necessity for keeping connected, working remotely and accessing vital information.”
(Lloyds Bank Consumer Digital Index, May 2020).​

The objective of our local TECH Connect Community Programme is to bring technology, digital participation and digital skills to those who need it most. We have integrated Digital Unite's Champion Network into our successful IT outreach programme that provides refurbished IT equipment and digital support for vulnerable and disengaged communities. 

Our Digital Champions Network is made up of digital champions who assist people with their digital skills. Many people don’t feel comfortable learning on their own and need personal, one to one support to help them overcome the barriers to being online. 

Our objective is to train, support and manage a cohort of digital champions to help people gain digital skills in a friendly peer-to-peer method of learning. We are working in partnership with local grassroots community groups, who identify vulnerable families and individuals, so together we can cascade digital skills knowledge whilst encouraging digital participation for those who need it most.
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​Contact jenny@itschoolsafrica.org for more information

​In December 2019 we took part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge and with your support we were delighted to raise enough funds to install a fully equipped IT lab for Njamba Secondary School in Malawi. Njamba School is a government secondary school with the capacity for 400 pupils. By providing IT facilities for the school it will enable most of the students to gain a digital education for the first time, as previously they had just four computers. It is likely that it will also increase school enrolment as parents will want their children to go to a school that has computers that they can benefit from. The lab was extremely well received by the school, and will really transform the education they can offer to both existing and future students.

During #volunteersweek we would like to thank all our wonderful volunteers for their hard work and huge contribution to our charity. 
"We could not do our work without volunteers – they are the heart of everything.” Monis Khalifa – IT workshop manager 
What our volunteers say: 
“Volunteering at ITSA has benefited me greatly. I have new confidence in my own ability and do not rush things anymore.” Lewis Spring, Independent volunteer in the IT workshop.
“Thanks to volunteering at IT Schools Africa I feel like I can move on with my life with new confidence and hope." ITSA volunteer 

“Volunteering gave me a new found understanding on how computers work and an understanding of a real life working environment. It has allowed me to see the dedication that the people at ITSA have for their jobs. Which has made me want to bring that dedication to every aspect of my life.” Jamie Zara Basckin, Bournside School – Independent volunteer in the IT workshop.

“I’ve come such a long way and even surprised myself with new motivation to find a job." ITSA volunteer

Please continue to support our programmes by donating working IT equipment. In the light of the pandemic technology for education and participation is now more important than ever. 
Feedback from our African Programmes:
Schools in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe have been closed for the last few weeks due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  Sadly for most schools they do not have the resources to provide online schooling for students.  
We remain committed to providing computers, e-Learning materials, teacher training and our digital labs, to the schools most in need.  Our teams in Africa are working hard to provide support during these difficult times.  We are working with our partners and the Ministries of Education to develop new initiatives to improve digital education for children, which is now more essential than ever.

Feedback from our UK Community Programme:
At a time when our usual routines have been completely disrupted, the Covid-19 outbreak has highlighted the importance of digital access to information and services. We want to continue supporting our community partners in Gloucestershire to provide our support and service to those most vulnerable, as well as reopening our training and placement programmes at our Cheltenham site.

Our teacher training programme in Zambia was established, in partnership with Camara Education,  to help improve the delivery of digital education in schools. The objective is to improve teachers’ digital skills proficiency, and ultimately the students’ experience and education using computers. The programme works to build capacity of teachers and school leaders on the use of ICT in education, to help ensure the effective use of the computers that ITSA supplies.

​The certification is approved by the Zambian Ministry of Education and will enhance the teachers’ learning portfolios. We are delighted with the success of the Programme and  we will continue fundraising to support more teachers to improve their digital skills. 

We partner with schools and businesses who share our vision of transforming education through improved digital literacy. Improving life opportunities for ​school students and local communities through sustainable reuse of IT equipment. 

We are very proud of our longstanding 14 year partnership with Cheltenham Ladies College. Since 2006 over 1100 computers, laptops and monitors have been donated for educational and social projects in ​Africa and the UK. 

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We are very proud to announce that we have installed our 30th school
e-Learning lab. In total 23,600 students have been impacted across our 30 lab projects.         
Transforming lives by enabling education through digital technology and making a difference to the opportunities of the students. We support SDG 4 quality education, improving digital literacy where we work.

​ITSA's 30th e-Learning project is a 40-seat IT lab at Joel Sylvain High School in Ambalavao, Madagascar. This project has been a huge success and is the first of its type in this area of Madagascar. ​Each student now benefits from at least 2 hours of IT classes per week, with the IT lab being open from Monday to Saturday every week. Both students and teachers will benefit hugely from it.