We need to invest in broadband

MY sister used to teach Form Five Chemistry. She is now retired. She shared with me her school’s bitter experience with the “computer for schools” programme in the 1990s. Do people remember that nationwide programme where schools were given free computers as part of the national digitisation plan? It received much publicity and was aimed at migrating our education system into e-learning mode.

The intention was good. But it was let down by the poor broadband infrastructure that existed then, especially in rural areas. Add that to the fact that no consideration was given to maintenance costs, and it was inevitable that most of the computers soon became just another source of e-waste.