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All
Schools On-Line by 2003 in Argentina
By Marcela Valente Inter Press Service |
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 BUENOS
AIRES, Apr 25 (IPS) - Argentina plans to hook all schools in
the country to the Internet by 2003. At present only 30 percent
of the 52,000-odd formal and informal schools are connected.
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| Through
a programme to be launched in August, the government aims to
equip 12 million students and teachers with computers and access
to Internet through the world's first official educational portal
-- 'educ.ar'.. |
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| The
educ.ar programme will be bankrolled with a donation of around
12 million dollars -- calculated at one dollar per student -
from Argentine-Spanish businessman Martin Varsavsky.. |
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Varsavsky
who went into exile in Spain with his parents in 1976 (fleeing
the 1976-83 dictatorship) has returned to the country he was
born in to help implement the new project. His business interests
involve telecommunications, computers and the Internet. He
believes the potential for the expansion of access to the
World Wide Web in Argentina is enormous.
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| ''Through
this project, access to the Web will grow from less than two
percent to 30 percent,'' he predicts, stressing that the project
will provide equal opportunities to all. |
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| A
survey in March this year by the Centre of Studies for the New
Majority found that just 2 percent of primary, secondary and
tertiary-level students in Argentina are ''cybernauts'', and
they were mostly in private schools. |
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| While
the report put the number of people on-line at 900,000 (population
37 million), other studies estimate a higher 1.5 million. The
average across Latin America is 2.7 percent of the population,
according to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)..
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| The
idea is to provide one-third of the population with the possibility
of surfing the Web, and to set up an educational ''intranet'',
offering long-distance education and training for remote users
and generating a market for electronic or e-commerce. |
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| A
major reduction in illiteracy among the population over age
15, from 20.1 percent in 1991 to 13.8 percent in 1998, is another
positive result, even if it does not quite meet the goal of
reducing the 1991 level by half. |
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Although Argentina has a relatively large number of registered
websites, there are fewer cybernauts than in Brazil or Mexico,
the other two large economies in the region. Neither has e-
commerce developed here to a great extent. |
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| With
computers installed in classrooms, the number of students clamouring
to use one computer will drop from 50 to five. Teachers will
each have personal e-mail addresses, as well as access to cyberspace-libraries,
educational programmes and information-exchanges and contacts
with other schools. |
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| ''Computering
classrooms'' is the pet project of Argentine President Fernando
de la Rua, who took office in December. |
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| "Today
more than ever the world will be divided between those who have
access to a good education and the latest technologies, and
those who do not,'' said De la Rua last month. ''For that reason
we have to take advantage of the Internet, which will allow
us to carry out a big revolution in education ...'' |
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| An
earlier programme, launched by the Carlos Menem government (1989-99)
to install computers in schools nationwide, fizzled out. Sophisticated
equipment installed in several provinces remains under lock
and key because no one knows how to use it. |
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| By
1999, 30 percent of Argentina's educational institutions --
in many cases one computer per school -- were equipped with
computers. In some schools the new equipment became obsolete
immediately, and funds for upgrading were not available. |
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| Graciela
Fucks, a teacher at a school in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina's
southernmost province, says access to the latest technologies
was important for schools, but initiatives when they are imposed
from outside are not necessarily successful. |
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| ''Many
schools received equipment, but they have no idea of what to
do with the machines or how to offer them to the students,''
she points out. ''Equipping a school with Internet is not a
guarantee of development of communication in the school or between
schools -- efforts must be made in other areas''. |
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| Juan
Jose Cataldo, a computer science expert involved in long- distance
teaching, said in order for the initiative to take off, coordinators
trained in educational methodology and technical areas were
needed and should be retrained. |
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| Cataldo,
who participated in the training for Menem's project, told IPS
the idea was good and the investment substantial, but the programme
petered out due to lack of follow-up. ''Many computers we installed
have been locked away, and in others the schools are charging
fees for the courses,'' he complained. |
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Education Minister Juan Jos Llach said this month that the portal
will be user-friendly, and the programme, thanks to participation
by the private sector, will be an ongoing one in schools across
the country. |
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"We are aware that in Argentina there are schools without
power, telephones or even water, schools that are periodically
flooded, or that have leaky roofs,'' he said. ''But we have
to address both areas of needs at the same time, in order to
provide all students with the opportunity of access to these
new tools.'' |
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The government plans to use funds collected from publicity posted
over the Internet to provide electricity in schools not connected
to the power grid. It also plans to reinvest this money, and
keep 80 percent of the project under state-control. |
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Llach spoke of a big divide in education: between those who
do and do not have access to a good education; and the digital
divide, with those who do not know how to use a computer or
surf the Web at a marked disadvantage. |
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The minister stated that the government did not see the Internet
as a panacea for all problems in the educational system, but
as an important ''tool'' and ''indispensable means'' of reaching
the country's educational goals. |
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Through the new programme, Argentina -- which was a pioneer
in the region in terms of near-universal literacy -- is seeking
to stay in the vanguard, without overburdening the state budget. |
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"We want Argentina to be a pioneer in Latin America in
this too,'' said President De la Rua, who has taken on the challenge
of having all schools on-line by the end of his term, in 2003.
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| This
article is free of copyright restrictions and can be reproduced
provided that Inter Press Service is credited. |
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