via MoneyGram donates 250 tablets | The Zimbabwean 18 August 2014
MoneyGram has launched a One Laptop Per Child Foundation (OLPC) that will see children in Africa getting access to the latest computer technology.
The MoneyGram Foundation has donated $75,000 to set up the OLPC pilot programme at Masibambane School in South Africa. The project will support and supplement the existing curriculum. This XO tablet-based program is intended to combat social exclusion and to encourage individual empowerment amongst student users.
“The MoneyGram Foundation is a strong advocate for education worldwide and focuses on high-impact initiatives such as this one,” said Anton Luttig, Regional director for South and East Africa at MoneyGram. “We were especially intrigued and excited by the idea that each one of the 250 tablets distributed here today will be used and reused by so many deserving students, maximizing the reach and impact of the donation.”
The XO tablet that the OLPC Masibambane Learning Environment program is centered on was developed by America’s prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and features a 7.5-inch optical multi-touch display screen. It is loaded with an array of e-learning software that both enables and tracks each child’s educational progress.
“The fact that Masibambane itself developed an overarching ICT development plan for learners and teachers is a key reason why we were attracted to this particular school,” said Mark Kaplan, executive chairman of OLPC South Africa Foundation. “As of now, only a little over 6,000 of South Africa’s more than 25,000 schools are ICT-enabled. If we are to conquer South Africa’s growing digital divide, it is vital that more schools and their surrounding communities develop similar ICT educational plans.”
The Foundation was established in 2012 to help children around the world gain access to educational facilities and learning resources. Its mission is firmly rooted in the belief that education is at the heart of better economic opportunities, healthier families and individual freedom and empowerment.
COMMENTS
Good luck with that. You need electricity to run computers and tablets, something that Zimbabwe is not committed to providing for it’s students – let alone schools and teachers!
maybe should have donated candles – but then if you give candles matches are the problem – often in zimbabwe matches are also in short supply !
Right now the programme is in South Africa… could a few years before it gets to Zim.