India: Computers for 18 rural schools

["Irfan Khan" <KhanIA@super.net.pk>]

The Times of India
Sunday 23 May 1999 

Computers for 18 rural schools 
Staff Reporter 
BANGALORE: The idea was born almost two years ago, when the Rotaract Club of Marburg, 
Germany and the Rotaract Club of Bangalore Cantonment, South put their heads together. The idea 
was to be able to provide computers to 18 rural schools in and around Bangalore. 
Though it seemed unfeasible at first, a few months later, after much effort put in by both clubs, grants 
from the Rotaract International, sponsors like the Deutsche Vermoegensberatung in Germany, and 
Lufthansa, which sponsored two flights for the shipment of the computers, 105 machines were on 
their their way from Germany. 
Four members from the Rotaract Club of Marburg -- Konstantin, Matthias, Annette and Astrid -- 
are presently in Bangalore visiting the schools that will be gifted these computers. ``The purpose of 
this endeavour is to help people help themselves, because once they are familiar with computers, 
they will be in a position to educate others,'' says Konstantin. 
However, will these rural schools be in a position to provide their students with computer education? 
The Rotaract Club of Bangalore has a solution for that as well. ``We are looking at the possibility of 
training teachers to educate these students. It must be the students that benefit from our efforts, and 
on no account will the machines be used for administrative purposes. That has been made clear,'' 
says Madhu of Rotaract Bangalore Cantonment. 
The 18 schools that have been short-listed were chosen from a pool of hundreds of applicants. The 
schools that have been selected are those that desperately need the machines: the ratio of the number 
of students to the number of computers has also been taken into account.

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