AMD donates computer labs to SA schools
Two facilities added to existing three
AMD AND NEDBANK have teamed up to help out South African schools by donating two more computer labs to the country.
The labs are situated at the Makgoto High School in Limpopo and the Lenyora High School in the Free State province. Each is equipped with between 20 and 30 ultra-versatile PCs (UVCs) running Geode LX800 processors, worth more than R11,000 (about £782) per station.
These facilities are expected to bring internet access and digital educational content to more than three thousand learners in the country.
The set-ups are part of the global 50x15 initiative launched in 2004 by AMD, which aims to enable affordable, accessible internet connectivity and computing capabilities for half of the world's population by the year 2015.
The two new labs join three others at the Sol Plaatjie High School and Mmabatho High School in the North West Province and the Dr Nelson R Mandela High School in Gugulethu.
According to Reabetsoe Motsepe, Nedbank group head of corporate social investment, the bank "made a commitment in 2007 to deliver five learning labs and are proud to say we have achieved this, through the opening of these two additional facilities."
Similar to the OLPC project, the UVCs are designed to be cheap and rugged. The design means that are easily repaired and upgraded but consume less than 20W of power and don't require fans.
"In the three years that we have been running the UVCs in Gugulethu, we have had only two incidences of downtime and that was because one computer had a broken keyboard and the other a broken mouse," explained Imi Mosaheb, AMD's South African country manager.
The labs are already producing positive results with student marks rising by 15 to 20 per cent at one school. The initiative has also helped train more than 75 teachers in computer skills and brought internet access to 7,000 young Africans. µ
Comments
Perspective?
Don't get me wrong - this is indeed a good deed by AMD - but we are talking about a ~$40,000 donation for these 2 labs (and actual cost to AMD is far less than this) from a MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR company. I would have more respect for this type of activity if it was done quietly as the cynic in me sees this done as much for PR as anything.Many companies do comparable if not far more charitable activities, but don't seem to feel the need to get it out in the press as much or the INQ doesn't seem to feel the need to report on it... curious....
More Perspective
I think your perspective may be too narrow on this one magnet. Not that I think AMD is the king of charitable corporations, but there are two parts of this article you seem to have missed. The main reason for the 'hullabaloo' is not just these two labs, but also the three that have come before it. So 5 labs in under 2 years in one country isn't so bad in terms of corporate donations to learning. But then as mentioned it's part of this 50x15 initiative, which has an even broader scope, and truely is a lofty goal for a corporation.So I don't mind if it seems a bit excessivly 'pat-on-the-back' from Inq, at least it's news of a company doing good rather than another company snooping more, or fighting to lessen user's rights.