PERU PLAN CONNECTS POOR STUDENTS WITH INTERNET

key campaign issue for President Alejandro Toledo, Plan Huascaran is a multi-million dollar project to fight poverty by bridging the digital divide and bringing technology to rural schools.
A About 100 rural and urban schools have been connected across Peru and the government hopes to reach 5,000 by 2006. In Peru less than 1 percent of its 26 million population has Internet access. Students in the program spend 2 hours a week on computers connecting with other schools and participate in videoconferences for instruction. Sandra Marcone, director of Plan Huascaran said, “Huascaran is like a smart highway system. It will not only allow 5,000 connected schools to give students…a better education in the long term, but also link their parents to more economically viable activities, like tourism, farming, handicraft.”

Date: Thursday, May 2, 2002
Author: Missy Ryan
Web site: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020502/wr_nm/tech_peru_internet_dc_1