The project consists of the construction of a local open access wireless network with free spectrum antennas (5.8GHz) and the implementation of an educational content server (called Chamilo -open source-) for the students of the "Eloy Alfaro" Educational Unit of the rural parish of San Blas, located in Imbabura, Ecuador.

The total number of students who do not have fixed connectivity is 80%, and therefore, from the quarantine period, they did not have the possibility to continue studying regularly, considering that many of the teachers do not live locally.

On the other hand, the amount of handed the assignments in by students was reduced by 90%. Then, the platform allowed teachers to generate content guided by the Ministry of Education to submit it to students, without Internet connection.

Finally, considering that the school has 10Mbps of Internet connectivity, when teachers stop using it (approximately from 2:00 p.m.), it is routed to the network so that students can have access to other type of content that can complement their homework.

This first stage has considered reaching 30 families until March 2021, benefiting more than 100 students of the School in order to support the self-provision of connectivity, the members of the network will pay approximately $3 to $5 dollars to finance the purchase of more antennas for the future beneficiary families in order to extend the network.

http://redcomunitaria.umayux-ec.com/

• Rural parish of San Blas, Imbabura, Ecuador, Ecuador

• Youth
• Women
• Indigenous and nomadic peoples
• The unemployed
• The poor
• Remote and rural communities
• Students without connectivity to educate themselves

The project can be replicated in any community or any low-income household that does not have connectivity. The access to the server allows the students to have content guided by their teacher and regulated by the Ministry of Education.

For the deployment of the community network, it is necessary to involve the educational unit of the community to take advantage of the resources such as internet and computers that the school has. From there, teachers can send educational content and communicate with the students through written messages to help in their training process.

Finally, the volunteers who wish to replicate this initiative in their locality will have information on the design of the network and the experiences that we have generated in this work in order to optimize the deployment of the network (in our website http://redcomunitaria.umayux-ec.com). If required, we can join directly with the shipment of donated equipment that has been refurbished to deliver to students.

When teachers leave school after classes, the Internet is routed through the network so that students have access to other types of content. The value that the families will pay from June 2021, will be about $3 to $5 dollars that will be used to cover the cost of more antennas for the new families that join the network. We also are trying to develop a payment mechanism through USSD messages and the recharges that users can make from their mobile phones to reduce the mobility of people who are in places very far from a centralized payment point.

If the school in the community does not have internet to sub-distribute, the parish government, telecentre or other public or private company will be requested the collaboration to route their connection when they no longer use it effectively.
The idea is to extend the network of each community and group the different community networks into a larger one to be able to channel a transport connection with the universities or internet service providers that are closest.

Finally, we hope to train one or two people from the communities so that they can manage the network to correct minor damages that may occur. Thus, part of the payment made by the users of the community network is an income for the local administrators as well.

The Community Network for Education project is focused on digital inclusion and the development of digital skills to give back to students the right to their education who were affected by the irregularity in their school activities due to the pandemic. On the other hand, the purpose of the project is to replicate the experience of this community network in other localities at the national level to be able to interconnect them and thus expand the options for exchanging information and knowledge. In addition, the project seeks gender equity and the reduction of inequality between the countryside and the city through the cooperation of multiple stakeholders that contribute to the social, economic and productive development of rural areas.