South African President Thabo Mbeki today launched the first of the country's six new e-Schools - schools equipped with a HP computer lab stocked with servers, PCs, printers, faxes, scanners and copiers combined with wireless connectivity.
The launch took place at Maripe secondary school in eastern South Africa as part of the pan-African NEPAD e-Schools demo project. HP is a leading partner of the e-Schools project, teaming up with the South African government, development agencies, civil society organisations and local and international companies.
"HP aims to apply the potential of technology in education," said Thoko Mokgosi-Mwantembe, HP South Africa CEO. "HP's commitment to the project goes beyond the donation of equipment. Through our workshops, teachers and the local community will be able to learn the ICT skills that are needed to participate as equals in the global knowledge economy."
Less than 20% of the global population has access to IT while in Africa only 1 in every 130 people has a computer. The NEPAD project aims to use ICT to improve education and help young Africans develop ICT skills. HP is firmly committed to NEPAD's goal, sponsoring 21 e-Schools in seven countries in the demonstration phase of the project. HP and NEPAD opened the first African e-School in Uganda in June 2005, and launched Egypt's first e-School earlier this year.
"By effectively addressing the challenges of imparting modern ICT skills and knowledge in African schoolchildren, partnerships between governments and companies can define the future of African youth," said Dr Henry Chasia, the Executive Deputy Chairperson of the NEPAD e-Africa Commission.
NEPAD belongs to one of the three 'E's of HP's social investment strategy - economic development, education and environment. In Africa, HP's partnerships use technology to improve teaching, for example its Digital Community Centres (DCCs) and the HP-UNESCO "brain drain" initiative. (www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/)
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The NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa's Development) e-Schools initiative, formally launched during the African Summit of the World Economic Forum in June 2003, aims to transform 600, 000 African schools into e-Schools by 2015. 18 African countries will participate in the demonstration project, with six e-Schools launched in each one.(4) For more information please visit: www.eafricacommission.org
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HP focuses on simplifying technology experiences for all of its customers - from individual consumers to the largest businesses. With a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure, HP is among the world's largest IT companies, with revenue totalling $94.1 billion for the four fiscal quarters ended Jan. 31, 2007. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at www.hp.com.
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