The Shuttleworth Foundation (TSF) is expanding its open source schools laboratory advocacy project into the Limpopo and Eastern Cape provinces. However, it says it is still battling scepticism from education departments.
"While there is an appreciation on a national level of just how important open source software can be in teaching administrator and computer literacy skills, there is still a general dearth of open source skills needed in order to teach," says Hilton Theunissen, TSF open source program coordinator.
The TSF`s tuXlab project was started in August 2003 to promote open source software as a viable, cost-effective way to teach computer literacy and administrative skills in schools.
To date, about 90 schools in the Western Cape and 10 in the Eastern Cape have had these laboratories installed at a total cost of R2.1 million to the foundation.
On average, each computer centre caters for about 800 learners and 20 teachers.
Theunissen says 10 Eastern Cape schools were funded by the foundation in 2004 and a further 20 will be co-funded this year with US-based non-governmental organisation Ubuntu Fund and the province`s Department of Education.
Most of the Eastern Cape schools will be located in the Port Elizabeth/Uitenhage area (Nelson Mandela Metropole) and another 10 will be situated in the Bisho/East London area.
In the Limpopo province, 10 schools will be funded directly by TSF and another 20 will be funded with the help of a UK-based aid group, The Cannon Collins Partnership. These will be located in the Giyani area.
Another 10 schools will receive labs to be funded by the HP I-Community project.
Theunissen says he expects that within about two years, resourced and partially under-resourced schools would be training computer literacy and administrative skills learners, while it would take about five years in under-resourced schools located in previously disadvantaged areas.
"The whole process could be fast-tracked if either government or a large organisation helps champion the process. There also needs to be curriculum integration," he says.
Theunissen says most schools are not aware they are entitled to receive the special "e-rate", the 50% discount on Internet access legislated last year by the minister of communications that came into effect from 18 January.
"Many under-resourced schools use their Internet connectivity line for phone calls and faxing and so they do not receive the e-rate, while those with dedicated ISDN line could," he says.
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