August 14, 2003
By Lucky Sindane
FOR the learners at Amsai Primary School in the impoverished settlement of Orange Farm in the south of Johannesburg, the world is indeed a village as they now have global online access through their new R3,5-million computer centre.
The Department of Education's Professor Cas Lubisi, who read a speech on behalf of education minister, Professor Kadar Asmal, officially opened the school's information and resource centre, of 40 computers, this week.
Learners should use the computers "to their full potential", the minister urged. "A computer that is not used properly is just a toy."
Two Amsai learners, 10-year-old Zanele Ndaba, who is in grade 5, and 12-year-old Brenda Molefe, grade 6, were excited about the new IT centre, adding they were planning to learn as much as they could.
The project was made possible due to a grant of R2,4-million from the Swiss-South African Cooperation Initiative (SSACI), a development-funding agency supported by Swiss businesses operating in South Africa and the Swiss government, and a donation from the Swiss Business Council.
SSACI's primary objective was "to open up educational and vocational opportunities for disadvantaged young South Africans", said Swiss ambassador Dr Rudolf Schaller at the opening, adding that one of the requirements for success in the world into which the learners of Amsai Primary School would soon have to earn a living was a good understanding of computers and IT.
