Internet vital for students, says Iduhu

 Information and Communication secretary Henao Iduhu has stressed the need for internet access to go with the one-laptop-per-child programme.

“The current problem is lack of adequate internet access in primary schools,” Iduhu said

“It makes no sense to have one laptop per child in every primary school without internet access, although the students could still utilise the computer for other purposes.”

Iduhu said this at the opening plenary of the South Pacific Commission Joint Country Strategy Mission Dialogue with the government of PNG.

“Over the years, my department has corroborated with SPC on numerous ICT initiatives on policy and capacity-building, through our active participation in various regional and international workshops and seminars.

“For example, the SPC this year has ensured officers attend a cyber-crime legislation workshop in Tonga.

“It was a significant move which, for the first time, brought together three separate but important sectors – the ICT, Energy and Transport – to discuss cross-cutting issues in the Pacific and set a course on how to address them,” Iduhu said.

He said the one-laptop-per-child programme  should be encouraged.

Iduhu said the government was not committed in taking up the project, although many had expressed a strong desire to do so.

“The other worthwhile project that I want to see is the rural internet connectivity system. 

“Positioned well, such a programme will really complement the rural communication project and integrated government information system that my department is presently spearheading.”

He said the NICTA policy embracing competition involved a comprehensive rural communication programme which would assist in bringing ICT access to districts. 

“To this end, the SPC will also see the setting up of 60 internet access points in the districts, and the PNG government must commit itself beyond these 60 points in the pilot project.

“We must learn from each other’s successes and failures, and then strategise to harness the full potential of our corroboration.

“The Friday’s final outcome document must be one that we can jointly call our own and serve as the PNG/SPC country strategy, which will also give us direction and determination on the way forward.” Iduhu said .