News / Local
Matabeleland schools to lose donated computers
04 Jun 2012 at 05:28hrs | Views
ABOUT 60 computers that have been lying idle at six secondary schools in Matabeleland North province due to lack of electricity at the institutions will be repossessed and given to schools that are connected to power.
The computers were donated to the schools by President Mugabe under the Presidential Computerisation Scheme that was started nearly eight years ago. Under the programme, a selected school is given a set of 10 computers and accessories.
Speaking during the Matabeleland North provincial development committee meeting in Bulawayo last week, heads of Government departments said President Mugabe was unhappy that some of the computers were lying idle many years after he donated them. They said President Mugabe in his recent visit to Victoria Falls last week instructed them to take the idle computers and give them to schools with electricity.
"When the President came here recently he wanted to give computers to about 20 schools but unfortunately half of the identified schools were not electrified. He is surprised why the identified schools here are not electrified. He was not happy about that and he said we should retrieve all idle computers he donated and give those with power," said a senior official from the President's office.
The heads of Government departments said the issue has to be urgently looked into and appropriate action taken. They said there was a need for concerned departments to work together to ensure that the computerisation programme becomes a success.
An official from the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) said the electrification programme was progressing accordingly and indicated that some schools with power have not benefited from the computerisation scheme.
"In future we need to consult each other as departments. It is not that we are not electrifying Matabeleland North because there are schools with electricity that have not received computers," said the official.
Matabeleland North provincial education director, Mrs Boithatelo Mnguni said some of the schools that received computers did not have power and were using generators as an alternative source of energy.
"We have six secondary schools that benefited from the computer programme without power. Even if power lines are near, tubing is a major problem for schools as they have to do it on their own. Other schools are far away from the electricity grid," said Mrs Mnguni, without giving the names of the schools.
"We thought giving computers to some of these schools was going to be an incentive to connect power. We will revisit the schools and see what efforts are being made to connect power. We also hope that the solar programme by REA would assist the remote schools."
Matabeleland North Provincial Administrator Ms Latiso Dlamini, who is also REA board member, concurred that her province was lagging behind others in rural electrification.
"The problem is that we are slow in electrifying communities in the province compared to provinces in other parts of the country. As a result our communities remain poor and we say we are marginalised," said Ms Dlamini.
"We should support each other as departments and work as committees to identify priority projects."
Contacted for comment Matabeleland North Governor Thokozile Mathuthu urged REA to expedite the electrification of schools in the province to enhance quick adoption of information communication technology training.
"We urge REA to fulfill its mandate to ensure that the Presidential computerisation programme succeeds. We are living in a technologically advancing world and rural pupils should also be exposed to this technology," said Governor Mathuthu.
"We cannot have computers lying idle because they risk being stolen or vandalised. This is not repossession as such, we are saying while these schools work on installing power the computers will be given to those who already have electricity and they will get theirs later. When we selected beneficiaries of the programme we proposed those that were along electricity lines."
Hundreds of schools in all the country's 10 provinces have benefited under the Presidential Computerisation programme, which seeks to ensure that the country's schools are up to date with modern information and communication technologies.
The computers were donated to the schools by President Mugabe under the Presidential Computerisation Scheme that was started nearly eight years ago. Under the programme, a selected school is given a set of 10 computers and accessories.
Speaking during the Matabeleland North provincial development committee meeting in Bulawayo last week, heads of Government departments said President Mugabe was unhappy that some of the computers were lying idle many years after he donated them. They said President Mugabe in his recent visit to Victoria Falls last week instructed them to take the idle computers and give them to schools with electricity.
"When the President came here recently he wanted to give computers to about 20 schools but unfortunately half of the identified schools were not electrified. He is surprised why the identified schools here are not electrified. He was not happy about that and he said we should retrieve all idle computers he donated and give those with power," said a senior official from the President's office.
The heads of Government departments said the issue has to be urgently looked into and appropriate action taken. They said there was a need for concerned departments to work together to ensure that the computerisation programme becomes a success.
An official from the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) said the electrification programme was progressing accordingly and indicated that some schools with power have not benefited from the computerisation scheme.
"In future we need to consult each other as departments. It is not that we are not electrifying Matabeleland North because there are schools with electricity that have not received computers," said the official.
Matabeleland North provincial education director, Mrs Boithatelo Mnguni said some of the schools that received computers did not have power and were using generators as an alternative source of energy.
"We have six secondary schools that benefited from the computer programme without power. Even if power lines are near, tubing is a major problem for schools as they have to do it on their own. Other schools are far away from the electricity grid," said Mrs Mnguni, without giving the names of the schools.
"We thought giving computers to some of these schools was going to be an incentive to connect power. We will revisit the schools and see what efforts are being made to connect power. We also hope that the solar programme by REA would assist the remote schools."
Matabeleland North Provincial Administrator Ms Latiso Dlamini, who is also REA board member, concurred that her province was lagging behind others in rural electrification.
"The problem is that we are slow in electrifying communities in the province compared to provinces in other parts of the country. As a result our communities remain poor and we say we are marginalised," said Ms Dlamini.
"We should support each other as departments and work as committees to identify priority projects."
Contacted for comment Matabeleland North Governor Thokozile Mathuthu urged REA to expedite the electrification of schools in the province to enhance quick adoption of information communication technology training.
"We urge REA to fulfill its mandate to ensure that the Presidential computerisation programme succeeds. We are living in a technologically advancing world and rural pupils should also be exposed to this technology," said Governor Mathuthu.
"We cannot have computers lying idle because they risk being stolen or vandalised. This is not repossession as such, we are saying while these schools work on installing power the computers will be given to those who already have electricity and they will get theirs later. When we selected beneficiaries of the programme we proposed those that were along electricity lines."
Hundreds of schools in all the country's 10 provinces have benefited under the Presidential Computerisation programme, which seeks to ensure that the country's schools are up to date with modern information and communication technologies.
Source - TC
