PRESS RELEASE - February 2008
SkillsTrain, of Collingdon Street, Luton, offered underprivileged school children in up to a dozen schools in South Africa the chance to have virtual access, via a live internet link, to tools such as Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint to present their classroom projects, part of SkillsTrain's charitable IT training scheme, 'Project Africa'.
The first live internet link-up from Luton to Mount Currie in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa enabled two classes of 13 - 15 year olds in St. Patrick's College in Kokstad to be taught IT techniques totally remotely, from an office in Collingdon Street, Luton.
Over thirty children aged 13 - 16 benefited from the morning's remote IT training, taking their diary project 'A Week in the Life Of' and presenting it using Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
During session the South African students were set a new project, based around the Rugby Tri Nations, in which they will be taught how to use internet research and presentation methods to discover the history of the event and information about the teams taking part.
Myra Smallman continued "The children were very excited. They were a little shy at first, but it was amazing how quickly they took to the microphones to communicate with me back in the UK. They also loved using the Whiteboard, a common site in a UK classroom but quite rare in South African schools.
I'm very hopeful that the inspiration we're giving these school children will filter down to other schools to encourage them to raise funds to invest in computer equipment. If we can get more of these children trained in IT technologies, we're giving them a huge advantage in their lives, to go out and use IT in their future careers. It's a vital lifeline for many of them".
SkillsTrain will continue the Project Africa live internet training in 2008 when schools return in January after their summer recess. The company will be pleased to hear from other schools in South Africa who have the basic computing equipment to host the live link up and to benefit from the virtual IT training.
SkillsTrain are also looking for schools in the Bedfordshire area to come forward and take part in two-way training sessions, enabling British school children to communicate with South African pupils during live link-ups. Any school wishing to participate should complete the form on the How to Join page.