Uganda Project 2025 -2030

Teacher In A Box

Empowering people and changing lives

What is Teacher in a Box?

Teacher in a Box is a comprehensive, interactive offline library of community and academic resources. It can be accessed entirely without the internet – making it a vital educational tool in places where connectivity is unreliable, unavailable, or unaffordable.

Why is it Needed?

In many rural and developing communities, reliable internet access is either limited or prohibitively expensive. This restricts access to quality teaching materials and hampers both student learning and teacher development.

Teacher in a Box addresses this gap by:

Providing thousands of preloaded educational resources.
Supporting self-paced learning for students.
Assisting teachers who may have limited training or access to resources.
Enhancing classroom teaching with structured, ready-to-use content.

How it is Made Possible

Thanks to the generosity of:

Not-for-profit educational software developers,
Donors of computer equipment, and
Dedicated volunteers,

we are able to deliver Teacher in a Box units preloaded with a vast collection of quality educational and training materials at minimal cost.

In summary: Teacher in a Box is a powerful tool that overcomes the barriers of internet dependency, delivering knowledge, skills, and opportunity directly to learners and educators in underserved communities. (Partners, from Rotary)

Concept Note

Teacher in a Box – Enhancing Education Access in Refugee and Host Communities

Submitted by:
United Nationals Countryless Children (UNCC) Uganda
In Partnership with:
Rotary Club Cleveland, Brisbane, Australia

Date: September 2025

1. Background

Access to quality education in Uganda’s refugee settlements and rural host communities remains severely constrained by:

Limited internet connectivity or unaffordable data costs
Shortages of teaching materials
Undertrained teachers and overstretched classrooms

Teacher in a Box (TIB) is an innovative offline solution developed in Australia that provides a comprehensive digital library of academic and community resources without requiring internet access. TIB has already been successfully piloted in remote and under-resourced environments and is now being proposed for adaptation in Uganda.

2. Objectives of the Project

The main objectives of the Teacher in a Box Uganda pilot are to:

Provide equitable access to education resources for refugees and host communities, regardless of internet availability.
Support teacher development through ready-to-use digital lessons and training materials.
Facilitate community learning by including vocational and life skills content.
Build sustainable partnerships between UNCC, Ugandan authorities, and Rotary Club Australia for long-term scale-up.

3. Proposed Approach

UNCC Uganda will coordinate with local leaders, government ministries, and community stakeholders to ensure successful introduction and acceptance of the project.

Steps include:

Engagement with National Authorities: Meetings with the Ministry of Education and Sports, Ministry of ICT, and Refugee Department to present TIB as an education innovation.
District-Level Advocacy: UNCC leaders and community partners will introduce the project to Arua and Terego district authorities, where large refugee populations are hosted.
Community Rollout: Pilot showcase at refugee settlements and nearby host schools, coordinated from UNCC’s office at Driver’s Corner, Arua (opposite the mosque).
Partnership Development: Collaboration with Rotary Club Cleveland (Brisbane) to align with Australian support, training, and funding opportunities.

4. Coordination & Leadership

The Uganda pilot will be led by UNCC’s coordination team:

Ms. Kevin Nabbowa – UNCC Director, Kampala
Mr. Vicko Paula – Community Development Lead, Arua / Terego District
Ms. Joy Ali – Logistics Coordinator

International collaboration will be guided by Rotary Club Cleveland, Brisbane and Teacher in a Box founding partners.

5. Expected Outcomes

Refugee and host community students gain access to hundreds of gigabytes of academic and vocational resources.
Teachers improve lesson delivery through structured offline content.
Community learning centres established for both refugees and nationals.
Strengthened partnership between Ugandan ministries, Rotary International, and grassroots organisations like UNCC.

6. Budget and Resources

Each Teacher in a Box server can be delivered at minimal cost thanks to donated equipment and volunteer development.
Costs will focus on transport, training, local deployment, and maintenance.
Initial pilot costs will be co-supported by UNCC Uganda and Rotary Club Cleveland (Brisbane).

7. Conclusion

Teacher in a Box represents a transformative opportunity for Uganda to bridge education gaps in refugee camps and rural host districts. With government support, UNCC and its partners stand ready to showcase the first pilot and work towards national scale-up.

Features of Teacher in a Box

🌐 No Internet Required

The Teacher in a Box (TIB) server is built to function completely offline. Instead of relying on internet access, it creates a Local Area Network (LAN), allowing nearby devices to connect via Wi-Fi and access all the educational content.

💻 Portable & Repurposed Servers

TIB servers are often built from repurposed laptops generously donated by industry. They are compact and portable, making them easy to move between schools, community hubs, or villages, ensuring maximum benefit for each community served.

🎙️ Lessons by English-Speaking Teachers

English remains the language of business in many developing countries. TIB content is delivered primarily by English-speaking teachers, reducing issues with syntax, pronunciation, or misinterpretation that sometimes occur when lessons are taught by non-native speakers.

📚 Extensive Educational Content

Each server comes preloaded with hundreds of gigabytes of resources covering:

Community development training
Academic content from primary to university level
Vocational skills and self-paced learning modules

While most materials are in English, TIB can be customised to include resources in local languages where required.

🎥 Adaptable for Any Learning Environment

Adaptability is central to TIB’s design. It can be used with:

A projector or television for classroom teaching
Individual learner devices connected via Wi-Fi for interactive, self-paced study

Meeting Report – Teacher in a Box Collaboration

Date: 30 August 2025
Venue: Rotary Club – Penington, Cleveland
Yesterday, I (Peter Lino) had the opportunity to meet with one of the founding partners of Teacher in a Box at the Rotary Club in Penington, Cleveland. During this meeting, the partner outlined the vision and potential of the Teacher in a Box initiative and expressed strong interest in collaborating with our organisation.
After constructive discussions, it was agreed that Peter Lino will engage with local leaders and the Government of Uganda to showcase this project as a pilot initiative to be implemented under the United Nationals Countryless Children (UNCC) framework. Once the Ugandan government reviews and approves the proposal, UNCC will be the first implementing partner of Teacher in a Box in the region.
To move forward with enquiries and coordination, Peter Lino is now liaising with UNCC volunteers on the ground:
Ms. Kevin Nabbowa, Managing Director, UNCC Uganda (Kampala)
Ms. Rhoda Musyimi, UNCC Volunteer (Kenya)
This collaboration has the potential to create significant impact by providing offline, high-quality educational resources to underserved communities in Uganda and Kenya.