IT project launched in schools

The Information Technology Association of Nigeria (ITAN) has launched a US $4.3 million-project whose goal is to increase the use of computers and other IT equipment in the country's schools.

The Computer-in-School Initiative (CISI), which was launched in the federal capital Abuja, seeks to encourage philanthropists and private-sector companies to "adopt" either a primary or a secondary school by supplying it with a minimum of 10 computers, The Guardian daily reported on Friday. The initiative would also provide training to both teachers and students. The Lagos daily reported ITAN President Chris Uwaje as saying that although they had heard about computers, Nigerian students were computer illiterate because they lacked access to the technology.

"They also hear of Internet technology and e-mail, whose functionality they do not understand or have access to. They feel technologically ex-communicated", The Guardian quoted Uwaje as saying.

ITAN inaugurated the project by donating computers, laser printers, software, and instruction manuals to six secondary schools in Abuja. A group of students and teachers were also selected to receive training, The Guardian said.

Information technology is the theme of the latest annual report of the United Nations Development Programme, in which the agency stresses the impact IT can have on human development.