Numerous high-tech companies had set up labs and supplied internet access to schools in 16 countries to see which technologies were most suitable for bringing rural pupils up to speed. But the demonstration phase expired in June, and the technologies might literally be switched off unless the authorities made a financial commitment to keep them running, warned Craig Dawson of AMD SA.
“You can only not charge for so long, then you have to get buy-in from the governments to sustain it and push it forward,” he said. Dawson’s warning came as officials from several countries met to discuss their progress at a four-day talk shop in Johannesburg last week.
The computer labs were set up under the Nepad e-Schools initiative, which is theoretically supported by the government in each country. The aim is to use information and communications technologies to raise the quality of education and give children the technical skills they need to find work in an increasingly computer-centric world economy.
The project was launched in June 2003, and the first e-School opened in Uganda in June 2005. Yet very little progress has been made towards the goal of equipping 600000 schools by 2015.
Chip manufacturer AMD is part of a consortium that has supplied technologies to three schools in each of the six countries. Those pilot projects were doing particularly well in Uganda, Gabon and Burkina -Faso, he said, where the governments were keen to invest and expand the initiative to many more schools.
The governments in Cameroon, Mali and Senegal were less pro-active, he said. “Their hearts are in the right place but it needs to be sustained and that’s where the governments must come in.”
Satellite connectivity was expensive, and satellite companies had invested millions of rands in the hope of seeing a return on investment if their services were adopted for schools throughout Africa, Dawson said. “I can’t see them just giving handouts for another year.”
Government support was crucial as private players could not support the labs forever, Dawson said.
By Lesley Stones
From businessday.co.za
