In a bid to boost information and communication technology at the grassroots level, ActionAid-The Gambia is on the verge of setting up a community radio station. This was revealed by the institution's coordinator of Information and Communication Technology, Marie Mendy while addressing students from the University of The Gambia at the BPMRU complex in Kanifing.
Her company has been supporting existing community radio stations in various forms to enable them disseminate accurate and timely information to the communities they are serving. ActionAid is poised to revitalize multi-media video halls for rural communities to enhance their learning. The increasing importance of the use of ICT in the country is very visible, especially in the education sector. ICT plays a vital role in the research, teaching and administration of learning institutions. It also helps them to acquire marketable skills. The justification for using ICT to benefit education has focused on ICT's potential for bringing about changes in the teaching and learning practice. ICTs are most often used in education to support existing teaching and learning practices with new and often expensive tools. The company is trying to institute an international Wide Area Network project to provide an integrated network across ActionAid's country offices in The Gambia, Senegal and Guinea Bissau. This aims to address the connectivity needs of each country and every remote location. The benefits are numerous. They include faster access to applications, voice over Internet Protocol or IP based telephone, video conferencing and it will improve e-Mail and Internet services.
