One Laptop Per Child

Pita Aatami (President of Makivik Org) with student from Baker Lake, Nunavut, at the launch of the OLPC project at the Canadian Museum of Nature

ITK was pleased to learn that three schools in Inuit Nunangat have been chosen for a pilot project of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project in Canada. Students at Ulluriaq School in Kangiqsualujjuaq, Jenns Haven Memorial School in Nain and Simon Alaittuq School in Rankin Inlet will each receive an adorable green and white XO laptop. It has been designed to provide Aboriginal youth in Canada access to low-cost, versatile, and culturally relevant programs to help improve success in education.

OLPC is a global movement that creates opportunity for advancement in education through technology. While the Aboriginal population of Canada is growing far faster than the non-Aboriginal population education, funding levels are capped and access to technology of this nature in remote communities is limited. In many northern schools, learning tools such as libraries and computer labs are either inadequate or simply not available.

ITK would like to thank the staff of the Belinda Stronach Foundation, and Belinda Stronach personally, for bringing this project to our communities and our regions. It is a valuable contribution to a school system rebuilding itself after the residential schools era. The OLPC addresses some of our key goals by providing tools to help our children succeed at home, and to connect to the world.