About 200 students of Inkamana High School in the KwaZulu-Natal town of Vryheid have been given the opportunity to access IT at school thanks to IBM`s donation of a computer lab.
The R300 000 investment includes 20 PCs, six of them with Internet access, a server, a printer, curriculum-related software, electricity upgrades and data cabling.
A secure, burglar-proofed classroom has been renovated to ensure the safety of the equipment.
"In addition," says IBM SA`s country GM, Mark Harris, "IBM will pay for a 12-month Internet subscription."
The investment was a way to underscore the company`s corporate-community relations strategy, to uplift the education environment through the use of enabling technology, says Harris.
"We believe that the future of this country`s economy and that of our business is interlinked with investment in the development of communities where we operate, especially in the area of education, which is critical to the country`s global competitiveness," Harris says.
"The centre will equip our learners with the key computer technology skills necessary to better cope at tertiary and also importantly open new possibilities for them in the areas of maths and science," says Inkamana`s principal, Isabel Steenkamp.
Inkamana is one of the few schools in SA that has maths as a compulsory subject. It has achieved a 100% matric pass rate for 26 consecutive years with last year`s matriculants all getting exemptions.
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