Dell donation benefits farm school

Dell South Africa has donated a OptiPlex GX 50 desktop to a farm school in the Northern Cape. By providing one more PC to this Douglas school, Dell has ensured that Ikageng Primary is able to introduce its students to the world of technology.

The Ikageng Primary School currently caters for 202 students and employs seven teachers. Principal of the school, Hendrik Weilbach, maintains that his students require assistance to fulfil their dreams. "As a primary school we cater for children from grade one to grade seven. However, given the harsh conditions that most of these children live in, the school has to provide not only an education but often other basic needs, such as food and clothing."

Apart from a standard PC provided by the department of education for the administrative tasks of the school, Weilbach and his staff soon realised that it would be impossible for them to introduce their pupils to the basics of computing without additional hardware.

"The truth is that we simply did not have enough money to acquire another PC for computer education," explains Weilbach.

That did not, however, deter him from his goal, and six months ago Weilbach and his staff enrolled for a computer course. "Upon completion of the course we approached large corporates for donations towards a computer centre. I sent out a 100 letters to companies, of these, Dell was the only one to respond positively by donating a new computer," he says.

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Since opening its doors in SA six years ago, Dell has focused its social responsibility efforts in the area of education and upliftment.

"We believe that the children of this country are the key to our success as a nation, both socially as well as in business," comments Excel Shikwane, Executive, Corporate Affairs at Dell SA.

"By introducing these learners to the science of technology, we, together with the staff of Ikageng Primary, are ensuring that once the learners leave the school they stand a better chance at finding jobs and bettering their own lives."

Weilbach agrees: "Once these children leave our school, most of them never go on to high school either because their parents cannot provide them with all the things they need, or they cannot afford a school uniform, etc. Now we can at least send computer literate children into the world."