If you ever venture into Uruguay (meaning exiting Punta del Este) you will no doubt come into at least visual contact with a) kids in public school uniform -- the white overalls and the blue ribbon tied in a large bow, which I found quaint until my foreign husband shared his views -- and b) their now ubiquitous accessory, a green and white notebook computer. Children from the less prosperous sectors of the population in Uruguay clutch these machines with much greater passion than a middle class child will show for whatever Wii or Xbox he or she happened to add to the toy collection.
Welcome to Plan Ceibal, the One Laptop per Child initiative pioneered in Uruguay, which has caused much controversy and opposition. An article in The Economist this week explains the basics of the plan, and talks about its "checkered start" and at best appears to describe the project in faintly positive terms, based on educational considerations.
Mauricio attends the rural school on KM105 of the Interbalnearia, and once nearly fractured a finger when his brother tripped him and he fell, ready to protect the computer with his life while screaming "The computer!!! The computer!!!! He´s had Internet connection at school since August.
It misses the point. Plan Ceibal requires Internet connectivity in order to work, and thus has made wiring every school in the country -- and by extension, every corner of the country -- an urgent matter. The Economist points out that two out of five rural schools have no connectivity. What I see is the miracle that those 3 out of 5 rural schools with connectivity represent, and the fact that the rest have a good chance of being connected in the near future.
Also noteworthy is the fact that the Ceibal notebooks bring hundreds of thousands of kids into contact with computing and the Internet in a manner other than gaming at a cyber cafe, the de facto introduction for poor, third world children. No matter what the percentages, the effects of this revolution will be for the better.
I can attest to the positive impact these "Fisher-Price" computers have had! Our dairy forman, living on our property 5 km from downtown San Jose de Mayo, has 7 children, 3 of whom were in primary school and eligible to receive computers, which they did. The city of San Jose de Mayo installed Wi-Fi for the city center, and on a good day, the kids on our farm can access it....but they can also access it from our own wireless connection. In their family the TV is on 24/7, usually tuned in to teledramas of one sort or another. The internet, their facility in navigating it, their exposure to the intellectual stimulation resulting from their exploration....priceless.
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