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Good practice

Instant Network Schools — Refugee & Host-Community Digital Learning (DRC)

Congo (the Democratic Republic of the) · Lusenda (Fizi Territory, South Kivu) · See the Congo (the Democratic Republic of the) profile

Solar-powered 'Instant Classroom' kits with tablets and localised e-learning content run in 28 Instant Network Schools centres across DR Congo, incl. the Lusenda refugee camp — part of a 164-centre, 6-country Vodafone Foundation/UNHCR programme serving 376,000+ students.

376,000+
Students benefited (programme-wide)
164 (28 in DRC)
Centres in operation (as of Jan 2026)
+61%
Student ICT-literacy increase
+125%
Teacher ICT-literacy increase

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
Vodafone Foundation & UNHCR
Period
2019–present
Keywords
refugee education, digital literacy, connectivity, teacher training

Context

Instant Network Schools, a Vodafone Foundation-UNHCR programme running since 2013, deploys solar-powered 'Instant Classroom' kits - rugged tablets, a local server and connectivity - to refugee and host-community schools. Following its 2019 Global Refugee Forum expansion it operates 164 centres across six countries, including 28 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, one serving the Lusenda refugee camp in Fizi Territory, South Kivu.

Results

Across the programme, more than 376,000 students and 6,800 teachers and coaches have benefited; an early evaluation recorded a 61% increase in students' ICT literacy and 125% among teachers, alongside higher school attendance and, in some cases, refugees' first access to tertiary education from within a camp. Outcome figures are programme-wide across six countries rather than DRC-specific.

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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