I've been teaching at a small private middle school in a West African developing country for about two years. I originally studied software engineering, and although I'm still learning—especially networking—I've recently become interested in homelabbing and self-hosting.
I'm currently the most technically experienced person at the school. I started by helping staff with computer problems, then took on Computer and Technology classes. The school now has a computer lab with 10 desktop PCs, but the lab has no proper network equipment and the Wi-Fi is unreliable. I've been doing basic maintenance and manually backing up files each week, even though these duties aren't part of my contract.
This year the school purchased a small 3D printer, and I asked them to obtain a 24-port switch and other networking accessories. The equipment is still being shipped. The school also wants a basic website.
I'm considering proposing a separate school IT or systems administrator contract alongside my teaching contract. I'd like advice on what duties and limits to include, how to price or negotiate the role in a country where salaries are generally low, and whether the website should be part of the ongoing IT contract or treated as a separate one-time project. Taking on this work would also reduce the time I have for after-school tutoring, which I currently rely on financially.
From a technical perspective, I'm trying to decide how much infrastructure the school actually needs. Should the lab remain on Windows, and is a traditional domain or Active Directory worthwhile for only 10 computers? Could an old desktop or laptop serve as a basic local server? Because power outages are common, what should we buy first—UPS units, surge protection, better networking equipment, or something else? Should I also be responsible for staff computers, document backups, and archiving? I'd appreciate practical advice that keeps costs, reliability, and my limited experience in mind.
3 Answers
Start by defining the job before proposing technology. Make a written inventory of the current equipment, the problems you’re solving, and the time each responsibility will take. Separate teaching, help-desk support, lab maintenance, network administration, backups, website work, and after-hours availability. Put limits in writing, including who approves purchases, how emergencies are handled, and what happens when equipment fails.
The website should probably be a separate project with its own scope, price, hosting costs, maintenance terms, and renewal date. Ongoing IT support is a different service. Also compare the proposed compensation with the tutoring income you would lose; valuable experience is useful, but it should not become an excuse for unlimited unpaid work.
Power protection and backups should come before a powerful server. Get a properly sized UPS for the network equipment and any important server, plus surge protection for the PCs and especially the 3D printer. A laptop with a healthy battery can keep running during short outages, but it is not automatically a good server: it usually has limited drive expansion, and one disk is a serious failure risk.
An inexpensive refurbished workstation or small server with multiple drives can host basic services, perhaps in virtual machines, but use mirrored storage only as protection from a disk failure—not as a backup. Keep important documents in at least two separate locations or types of media, with one copy disconnected or stored elsewhere. Test that files can actually be restored.
If you add staff computers and school records to your responsibilities, treat that as a major expansion of the role. Establish who owns the data, who is allowed to access it, how long records are retained, and how often backups are checked. Begin with an asset list, standard PC setup, update schedule, backup procedure, and a small network diagram. Expand gradually instead of promising Active Directory, filtering, servers, and full support all at once.
Keep the first infrastructure version simple. A managed switch, a decent router or firewall, organized cabling, and reliable Wi-Fi will provide more value than immediately building a complicated domain environment. For ten shared lab PCs, local accounts or a simple consistent setup may be enough. A domain can help with centralized accounts and policies, but it also creates another system you have to maintain.
Use a supported operating system rather than Windows 10. Check whether the school qualifies for educational licensing or donated Microsoft services, but do not design the whole school around a subscription that may become unaffordable later. Cloud identity and storage can be convenient, while local services remain useful when internet access or funding is unreliable.
Whatever platform you choose, make sure the school can operate it without depending entirely on you. Document passwords, configurations, renewal dates, and recovery procedures, and use separate administrative accounts rather than sharing one password.