In 2021, UNICEF began turning discarded shipping containers into solar-powered digital classrooms in Cameroon; the pilot later reached nearly 20,000 students and 284 teachers

Starting in 2021, UNICEF Cameroon began converting discarded shipping containers into solar-powered digital classrooms as part of an initiative called Connect My School, aiming to bring internet access and modern learning tools to schools that had never had either. Made mostly out of used materials, the modified containers, which are referred to in the area as "e-containers," opened doors for almost 20,000 children and 284 teachers in underprivileged areas in the country during the pilot phase of the project, according to a press release by UNICEF Cameroon.The Connect My School initiative launched in April 2021 at a school in MelenThe program was launched in April 2021 at a public school in Melen, Yaoundé, led by Cameroon's Ministry of Basic Education together with UNICEF, according to an official account published by UNICEF Cameroon. The initiative's pilot phase was set to extend digital hubs to 17 schools across urban, peri-urban and rural areas, using an "e-container" built from recycled shipping materials and powered by solar energy, a design chosen for both cost and practicality in regions without a reliable electricity grid. UNICEF said the broader goal was to reach nearly 70,000 primary pupils and 4,000 out-of-school adolescents and children with disabilities in five municipalities ahead of the 2021/22 school year. In several locations, the solar setup also supplied electricity to surrounding school buildings, giving entire school compounds power they had not previously had.The pilot phase reached schools across three regions of CameroonOver the years following launch, the pilot phase expanded the e-container model into 17 schools in Cameroon's Eastern region, along with one school group each in the Central and Littoral regions, according to a UNICEF Cameroon press release marking the inauguration of an e-container at Mokolo Primary School in Bertoua in March 2024. In total, the pilot phase gave around 20,000 primary students and 284 teachers their first classroom exposure to information and communications technology. These boxes usually contain laptops or tablets, software that enables offline learning, and an internet connection if possible, in order to ensure that lessons can continue irrespective of poor broadband connection. Training of teachers who were involved in this project was conducted to familiarize them with the use of this technology, a process which UNICEF has continued in further phases of the project.The hubs gave students and teachers their first structured access to digital toolsFor many of the children involved, the e-containers marked their first hands-on experience with computers or tablets in an educational setting. At the Mokolo site in Bertoua, the local e-container served 1,116 pupils between the ages of 6 and 12, with 34 teachers trained in basic ICT instruction. As mentioned in the above release, the broader Eastern region rollout alone accounted for the bulk of the nearly 20,000 pupils reached during the pilot phase. The initiative's design also reflected a practical response to Cameroon's uneven school infrastructure. Traditional classrooms in many of the targeted communities faced overcrowding, aging equipment, and limited access to reliable power, conditions that made a self-contained, solar-powered unit a more realistic near-term solution than a full renovation of existing school buildings, though the units brought their own capacity limits once demand outpaced the number of containers available, as later sections describe.By 2024 and 2025, the pilot phase had reached its planned regions, short of its original 2021 targetBy 2024 and 2025, the model that started at Melen had grown into the wider regional rollout described above, with UNICEF continuing to document its reach through releases such as the Mokolo Primary School inauguration. In Melong, reports in 2024 showed that the local digital center was used by more than 2,900 children from ten different schools in the area, according to a UNICEF Cameroon story on the e‑container’s impact. This growth has also brought about several problems. As the number of containers increased, the number of pupils to the number of centers in some places was relatively large, to the extent that even teachers had to divide their classes into smaller groups in order to use the facilities.The solution provides the benefits of electricity and connectivity without having to invest in the construction of entire classrooms from scratch. It remains unclear whether the solution can be expanded to all schools in Cameroon, given financial constraints and the challenge of connecting more remote schools to solar power and internet access. At the same time, the pilot's first years show that a solar-powered, self-contained classroom can extend digital access to schools that previously had none, even as questions remain about funding the model's expansion.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.