From November 2023 to May 2024, within the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Pontifical Gregorian University (Rome), an international team of ten people - plus various collaborators on site - worked on the sociological investigation entitled ' New Media Education strategies: an action research between Burundi and Rwanda'.
The research – coordinated by the undersigned together with Professor Concilie Nduwimana – was born with the aim of raising awareness among teachers of Burundian/Rwandan post-fundamental schools (without forgetting the other institutions and the multiple stakeholders involved) so that they understood and implemented the strategic role of new means of communication in educational processes.
All this starting from the following research questions: although the two countries have similar characteristics (demographic, territorial, economic), why does Burundi – where the Internet is present in only 19% of schools in Gitega – struggle to recognize the importance of new media as effective teaching tools, while in Rwanda (where all schools in Kigali have both computers and internet connections) this awareness is much more widespread? What are the practical strategies to adopt to ensure that things change on the one hand and are further implemented on the other?
In addition to the theoretical-conceptual results - presented by us in the Gregoriana and in various international forums starting from the spring of 2024 - the work team decided to also give a human and humanitarian face to the investigation. With this in mind, from March to May 2025, thanks to the funds raised, a media education/internet literacy laboratory will be activated for the teachers and students of the Sainte Bernadette High School in Gitega.
Prof. Antonio Iannaccone