WHEN THEY DONT HAVE CHAIRS TO SIT OR NEPA TO POWER THEM !
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved N3.6 billion for the purchase of computers and Internet connectivity in 290 schools across the country.
The project will largely be handled by ZINOX technologies. Minister of information and communications, Dora Akunyili, who said this while briefing State House correspondents after the weekly FEC meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the items were meant “to create a generation of Nigerians with broad base theoretical and practical knowledge of ICT, who can leverage on this when they step into the labour market.”
Mrs. Akunyili said the contract also provides for two laptops for teachers for teaching purposes; one Internet server and broadband Internet connections with two years of guaranteed bandwidth payment.
Others are the provision of solar power, refurbishment and securing of equipment storage room, provision of wireless mesh and charging platforms for each of the schools.
She further explained that each benefiting school would have a wireless mesh that would connect all the computers and make the school a wireless environment, such that the access devices could be used anywhere within the school environment..
Wiring rural areas
Mrs Akunyili said this would facilitate usage of the students’ devices in any classroom within the school, thereby enabling learning with the aid of ICT.
“The initiative was a project aimed at facilitating connectivity in government schools, libraries and institutions in under-served, un-served and rural areas to broadband Internet,” she said.
“Under the programme, each school will receive equipment and facilities that would link them to high speed Internet, and they would be encouraged to share these facilities with their surrounding communities on a commercial basis to support maintenance and ensure sustainability.”
The minister said the project, to be handled by the Ministry of Information and Communications through its Universal Service Provision Fund, would be completed in 36 weeks.
