La Academia de 1803 a 1869

A lack of collaboration between staff has been identified as one of the major issues, the main cause of which is the lack of an organised structure in which teachers, headmasters and the Ministry of Education work together in implementing ICT. Inadequate supervision was also identified as a contributory factor, with a lack of follow up from the Ministry of Education and unclear policies hindering effective collaboration.

In support of everyone working together, H3 _{used a relevant metaphor “As you know, one} hand cannot clap alone”. It is essential that, internally, headmasters, teachers and students work together more effectively, as affirmed by H[2] _{, “We should all work together”. He} continued by describing a real divide between the teachers, and raised a new issue entirely, describing, “The latest generation of teachers as not qualified, lazy and looking for the

easiest option”. Teachers are reported as not taking the teaching profession seriously, as uncooperative, and as a negative influence on others, as reflected in this narration. H[2] described this issue, “The biggest problem, in my view, with the latest generation of teachers is that they are not qualified to be teachers, and they also don't enjoy the teaching profession, so there's no cooperation and no response from them. This is a problem, they don't normally activate ICT tools, and they're lazy and prefer to carry out their work in the easiest and fastest way. They go to class late and they waste time in the classroom by just using their mobile phones and chatting. I warn them by sending those official letters, but to no avail. Such teachers are also a bad influence on others”.

Some students reported a lack of cooperation from the teacher and conflicts over the use or non-use of ICT within the subject area, with students requesting to be given more ICT input. S[1] _{narrated a response to their demand for a higher quality of teaching in the subject of}

ICT, the teacher replying, “I'm just here to do my job, this is the subject (ICT), and I have to

teach it, such as it is”. In addition, most students report delays in repairs, concerns over inadequacies in the headmasters' performance, and poor relationships between head teachers and teachers, S[2] _{saying, “By the way, their relationship isn't good (teachers and} headmasters), and we're the victims”.

170 5. The growing number of students and lack of building infrastructure

Another major issue found to affect the issue of ICT implementation is the growing number of students, which has caused many challenges regarding the capacity and size of classrooms originally designed before the introduction of the ICT programme. This has also lead to some schools not installing ICT tools in the classrooms due to a lack of space or safety concerns.

H[1] _{summed this up clearly, “Sometimes the ICT tools are much better off in the store room,} nothing is more important to me than the safety of my students”. Some classrooms are extremely crowded, with 45 students on average, thus impeding teaching and learning, even without the issue of the installation of ICT tools. T[1] _{reported, “We have classrooms with} 45 students and the distance between the first row and the board is less than a meter; the situation is extremely difficult”.

This lack of space has previously been identified as a serious challenge. Computer labs without the facilities to connect ICT tools, the condition of the classrooms, as well as poor ventilation are continuous internal issues. There is an urgent need to upgrade the infrastructure to meet the needs of new technology and S[3] _{described the situation in his} school, saying he cannot blame the teachers for their lack of engagement because, “the

computer lab's very old and there are very few computers”.

The lack of rooms to store resources means teachers often have to carry equipment wherever they go, and T[4] _{reported, “I wish we had a resources room”. The buildings are also not} equipped to accommodate the electrical requirements, and there are risks of error, so teachers have to take many precautions. Illustrating such challenges, T[1] _{commented, "We're the} only country in the world that uses electricity with 110 and 220 volts, and some devices require 110 volts, so when the teachers mistakenly use 220 volts with a device which needs 110 volts, it's bound to burn”. Issues of infrastructure that should be addressed include plugs, room size, ventilation as well as equipment, desks and chairs.

Due to the large number of students, all the participants acknowledged the lack of space as a major barrier, which makes it difficult to provide enough devices. D[2] _{stated this clearly,} “The problem is that some schools have no suitable space, for example, some schools need computer labs with 30 devices, but there's no space to add this number of devices”. This has affected the student computer ratio and D[2] _{commented, “We've been forced to reduce the} number to, for example, 15 devices, and the result is that 4 or 5 students have to work on one single computer”. All the headmasters report this challenge.

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According to H[1]_{, keeping the ICT tools permanently in the store room is the best option} rather than carrying them to class every day, as there is no space and it is not safe. He stated,

“I cannot provide ICT tools in the classroom, because, of the growing number of students so there’s not enough space for ICT tools, and the classrooms are operating beyond their capacity”. Some schools have, in fact, no secure places, as H[3] _{stressed, “We don't have} anywhere for safekeeping after use”.