Computer Aid helping to change lives in Africa

When Fannie Sebolela became principal of Khensani Primary School, he found the school, which had just 250 pupils, a depressing place to learn.

The school is based in Soshanguve, a township about 25km outside Pretoria. It is an extremely disadvantaged area, with extensive squatter settlements around the periphery.

Windows were broken and resources were scarce. But with perseverance, and with hard work from the local community, Sebolela has helped to improve the school's environment and increase its numbers to more than 600 pupils.

Walls are painted with bright pictures and gardens are planted with flowers. 'We don't just concentrate on teaching, we've looked at the whole learning experience,' says Sebolela.

The next stage of his plan concentrates on technology provision. Khensani is aiming to use PCs donated by Computer Aid International, a specialist charity that reconditions old computer equipment for reuse in the developing world, to help children acquire technology skills.

The school is twinned with Tithe Barn Primary School in Stockport, whose £200,000 Global Citizenship Centre (GCC) allows children to communicate with youngsters around the world.

Sebolela opened Tithe Barn's centre on a British Council-funded trip to Stockport. And after learning about the benefits of IT, Sebolela - with the assistance of Tithe Barn and Computer Aid - hopes to build a similar facility in Soshanguve.

'I've learned that through interaction we can do things better,' he says. 'The GCC is one of our dreams. It will help make Khensani a model school in a township.'

Computer Aid is working alongside the schools and specialist community development organisation Link, to decide how reconditioned UK PCs will be rolled out to the GCC.

'Introducing computers will help because most children aren't exposed to technology. IT will allow them to broaden their minds,' says Sebolela.

'We will make it a community-based centre so that the kids' parents are also exposed to the benefits of technology.'

Adrian Williams, a volunteer supporter of Tithe Barn, submitted a request for computers after hearing about Computer Aid's work.

'It's not just about computers, it's about global citizenship. Children in the UK and South Africa can work collaboratively to learn more about the effects people have on environment, education and learning,' he says.

'Giving children in this township a global citizenship centre would start to provide these kids with the same opportunities as those in the UK.'

Carol Cross, citizenship co-ordinator at Tithe Barn, says the school already allows local groups - including trade unions, students and pensioners - to make use of its facility.

'We're a total community and partnership. Most importantly, our kids are aware of children in other cultures,' she says.

Community and Individual Development Association
A week before Computing arrived in South Africa, the Community and Individual Development Association (CIDA) City Campus university, in the heart of downtown Johannesburg, received another batch of 200 reconditioned computers.

These Computer Aid PCs, which take the charity's total donations to the 1,000 mark, are essential to the incredible work of CIDA, the only university in South Africa to provide higher education that is affordable to gifted students from all sections of society.

With higher education costs prohibitive to the vast majority of students in South Africa, CIDA's innovative model uses students in the day-to-day running of the campus, and involves the private sector and charity organisations in sponsorship and support.

Established in 1999, CIDA offers degrees in marketing, accountancy, finance and IT. And the non-profit higher education institution, which has about 1,600 students and offers the largest IT lab in Africa, has won international recognition as a provider of affordable higher education.

Executives of UK higher education institutions have a lot to learn, it would seem: while UK university chiefs were queueing up to offer support to the £50m online learning flop UKeU, Taddy Blecher, chief executive of CIDA, was working alongside Computer Aid to offer cheap IT training to South Africa's young people.

'A Western-style education system has relevance in a Western country - but we don't have billions of dollars to train and educate millions of people,' he says.

'We're looking to educate in an open-access way that won't put people off. It's a model that is traditionally African, but that is combined with first-world technology.'

To help keep costs to a minimum, everything in the university, including cooking, gardening and IT systems, is run by students.

'Our whole model - and it's very exciting - relies on students to help run the campus,' says Blecher. 'We couldn't afford anything, and it's been a huge success. We're the first university to be run on no money. Our model is that everyone helps everyone else.'

Students learn to appreciate their education by contributing a nominal amount: 350 rand (£30) in their first year, followed by 100 rand (£9) a month in years two, three and four.

The real cost of a CIDA education, about 2,500 rand (£216) a year per student, is still just 10 per cent of any other tertiary education institution in South Africa.

As well as the help from students, CIDA is assisted and funded by a range of partners, including KPMG, Dimension Data and Investec.

And Computer Aid's 1,000-plus PCs help power the IT academy that was recently opened at City Campus. The facility was created in response to South Africa's national IT skills shortage.

'All students complete a course in information and communication technology: understanding business systems, how you use data,' says Blecher.

'Over and above this, students can enrol in CIDA's IT academy to see if they have an aptitude for programming.'

While studying for their degree courses, students also spend two hours a week and all day Saturday working in the academy.

In their first year, study is focused on the internet and email. They begin to specialise in the second year, looking at either Java or SAP programming, or Cisco networking. Finally, in the third year, students can look at higher-level skills and certification.

Holiday time is spent working in a placement with a relevant company. More than 300 students are fulfilling the requirements of the programme.

Blecher has big plans to roll out his City Campus model across South Africa. He has just opened what he describes as a very small campus in Cape Town, catering for about 80 students.

He also wants to open similar universities in Durban and, over the longer term, on the Eastern Cape.

Blecher hopes students will continue to use the skills they learn to train other individuals.

'We want people to be able to reach their own communities after they've finished at CIDA,' he says.

So far, Blecher estimates that CIDA students have reached 500,000 people through this type of training. Moreover, he's keen to see CIDA develop as a breeding ground for the next generation of skilled IT workers in South Africa.

'We want to be an African university and an interface between academia and the corporate sector,' he says.

SchoolNet Mozambique
Training African teachers to use technology is just as important as educating children.

Some 50km outside Mozambique's capital Maputo, children are drinking water so high in acidity it is potentially poisonous. Education through technology could help solve this problem, says Kauxique Manganlal, head of IT at Mozambique's Ministry of Education and co-ordinator of SchoolNet Mozambique.

'If I can deliver knowledge through information and communication technology, we can reduce cholera and disseminate knowledge about health,' he says.

It's this kind of information that is helping Manganlal to convince the cynics. 'Some people say we need food, not computers,' he says. 'But I say computers will tell you how to grow food, how the weather will change, and how people can communicate with other markets. Then they understand.'

A joint initiative by SchoolNet Mozambique and the country's Ministry of Education is using Computer Aid PCs to help educate Mozambique?s population. The first phase includes the supply of 450 computers, which will be used to provide training across Mozambique's 11 provinces.

A post-secondary education technology college, the Instituto Industrial de Maputo (IIM), will be used to refurbish and redistribute the PCs in each province.

The centre, which launched while Computing was in Mozambique, will act as SchoolNet Mozambique's starting point. The organisation aims to build a range of auxiliary offices around the country.

Manganlal says assistance from Computer Aid is vital. 'We're a very poor country and teachers and students are just starting to use information and communication technologies,' he says.

'For the materials and tools we want to use, refurbished computers can be just as good as new systems once we have a sustainable model.'

A host training college in each province will receive about 40 PCs, and computers will be distributed from this central resource to surrounding colleges.

As well as the IIM, two additional technical support colleges will be set up in southern and northern Mozambique later this year. Manganlal says finding the people needed for such centres can sometimes be problematic.

An additional concern is software. 'We need content for a system that can train the teachers,' he says.

With cost a big issue, SchoolNet Mozambique is keeping its options open when it comes to operating systems. Manganlal says the initiative he is creating does not rely on proprietary or open source applications.

SchoolNet Mozambique is offering training in Microsoft and open source alternatives.

Connectivity, too, remains a major problem for education institutions in Mozambique.

Unlike in the West, network costs are beyond the means of most workers, at about $3 (£1.60) an hour to use an internet cafe in Maputo.

But thanks to Computer Aid, the project is up and running, and Manganlal is keen for it to be the start of a much larger scheme. 'I won't stop here,' he says. 'We want students to have more chances in the labour market.'

Areas of education are likely to include wireless and networking. 'I'm very glad Computer Aid is here, because they're looking after our needs,' he says.

v SchoolNet Africa
Wider access to IT in developing countries requires effective collaboration. And Computer Aid is always keen to seek out and work with partners in Africa that can help the charity distribute reconditioned PCs.

While in South Africa last month, Computer Aid founder Tony Roberts signed a memorandum of understanding with SchoolNet Africa, a non-government organisation that aims to use IT to improve education access, quality and efficiency in African schools.

SchoolNet Africa's executive director, Shafika Isaacs, says Computer Aid has formed an integral part of SchoolNet's discussions since its inception in 2001.

And she says the memorandum formalises a relationship for stronger links between the two bodies.

'Computer Aid will help us access as many PCs as possible, and we'll bring in other parties to add extra value,' she says.

'Besides large volumes of PCs, we'll be looking towards training and increased access to computers for women.'

SchoolNet Africa's mission is to support other SchoolNets across Africa, such as SchoolNet Mozambique.

The Johannesburg-headquartered organisation works with learners, teachers, policy-makers and practitioners in 35 countries, and will be looking for large numbers of PCs. Isaacs says SchoolNet will be aiming to 'move to scale quickly'.

The organisation employs staff from different African countries to manage its programmes.