Scratc²h 2050, a two-year pilot project implemented from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2022, aimed to improve the relevance of secondary STEM education and to strengthen the link with the world of work, by supporting STEM and ICT teachers in Kayonza district to set up after-school coding clubs in their schools.
The challenge
Aspiring to become a high-income country by 2050 (Vision 2050), Rwanda aims to shift from an economy heavily dependent on agriculture towards a digital economy. The digital sector is expected to grow strongly in the coming years. ICT can be used as a tool for self-employment too. However, digital literacy remains low in Rwanda. Adolescents also lack the problem-solving and creative skills crucial to boosting innovation. Moreover, there is still a gender gap in learning outcomes for STEM and relatively few girls choose to pursue higher education in STEM fields.
To unlock youth’s potential in this new economy, Rwanda introduced a new competence-based curriculum, spearheading ICT and 21st century skills, such as creativity and problem-solving skills. To develop these skills, the Rwanda Education Board (REB) integrated Scratch in the upper primary school curriculum of Science and Elementary Technology (SET) and in the lower secondary school curriculum of ICT. Scratch is a free tool that youngsters can use to create stories, games and animations based on coding principles. More recently, the Ministry of ICT and Innovation announced plans to further integrate coding in the secondary school curriculum and to encourage schools to form coding clubs to promote coding skills.
Yet, many teachers lack the required competences and skills to teach coding. Nor do they have digital learning materials or technical and pedagogical support available. Hence, most teachers are reluctant to effectively integrate Scratch in their lessons.
Project summary
VVOB - Education for development, together with the Rwanda Basic Education Board and the Rwanda Coding Academy (under Rwanda TVET Board) implemented the Scratc²h 2050 project, funded by the Belgian Government, through Enabel's Wehubit programme.
During the two years of the project, 164 STEM and ICT teachers from 54 secondary schools in Kayonza district were trained on Scratch through a blended learning trajectory. During the learning trajectory, teachers started to facilitate coding clubs with their learners to provide them with the opportunity to truly develop digital skills in an enjoyable environment, combining fun with learning the language of generation Z: the programming language.
Open educational resources
The project also developed a library of resources aimed at supporting secondary school teachers and learners. A pedagogical guide develops the competences needed to integrate Scratch in STEM and ICT lessons and to initiative after-school coding clubs, a kit of session and lesson plans provides step-by-step guidance, while more detailed instructional videos contain short tutorials on specific topics.
Hackaton competitions
At the end of each coding club cycle, learners competed in a Scratch competition through a hackathon.
The competition started at the school level, continued at the sector level and finished at the district level, through a Scratch Day celebration. During this Scratch Day, each winner at the sector level had the opportunity to present their Scratch project, followed by a Q&A.
Linking coding with the world of work
To demonstrate the potential of coding skills in the world of work, and to trigger students’ curiosity for a career in ICT, exposure visits to leading tech companies were organised for selected students and their teachers.
These exposure visits offered an opportunity for learners and teachers to understand why coding skills are important in professional life and how such skills can be used.
Results: Closing the digital divide with teachers
Digital Literacy
On average, teachers increased their digital literacy scores by 12 points from baseline to endline. While female teachers demonstrated lower levels of digital literacy overall, they also had a greater relative increase in score from baseline to endline. By the end of the intervention, the gap between male and female teachers lessened from a nine-point difference to less than a four-point difference.
Content Creation in Scratch
Teachers saw significant improvement in Scratch knowledge when compared to baseline scores. Most teachers (78%) were completely or moderately confident in at least one skill related to digital content creation.
Leading Coding Clubs
In total, 74% of teachers feel confident in their ability to lead a Scratc²h coding club.
Digital Technology and Scratch in the Classroom
Teachers’ practices around Scratch/coding in the classroom shifted considerably from the baseline to endline responses. In their endline surveys, most teachers (over 80%) agreed or strongly agreed that they transferred concrete skills to students through their practices such as by teaching them how to give credit to the digital work of others and behave safely online. Additionally, most teachers (70% or more) reported leveraging digital technologies to foster student creativity, collaboration, or to engage their students.
Impact on students
86% of learners met high level of proficiency in the digital literacy assessment.
Scratch was something new to me and I see it as an advantage because now, there are schools which can employ me because of my skills in Scratch. I see that the skills I got will help me a lot in my career and also, I can use it to impact the society as we know the government is encouraging to use ICT in teaching and learning. I think these skills have made me more competitive as I have increased my computer skills and even my teaching methods.
- Nzabarankize J. Damascene, teacher
Sustainability
Evidence suggests that teacher and learner motivation, school leader support, and general district support will drive the sustainability of Scratch coding clubs and other outcomes from the Scratc²h 2050 project. Additional support, such as offering more teacher training with a continuous professional development model, and engagement with other Scratch initiatives, like the hackathon and exposure events, would also be helpful for sustaining project outcomes and impacts.
Implementing partners
This project was funded by Belgium through the Wehubit programme, implemented by Enabel
