IT projects help reduce poverty through education<\/p>\n
Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post\/Surabaya<\/p>\n
Mohammad Khotim, 19, who runs the e-Pabelan IT Center at the
\nPabelan Mungkid Islamic boarding school in Magelang, Central
\nJava, was thrilled after winning second place in a nationwide
\nInformation and Communications Technology competition organized
\nby Microsoft.<\/p>\n
Amazingly, prior to the establishment of the e-Pabelan IT
\nCenter pilot project on Aug. 23, 2004, Mohammad knew next to
\nnothing about computers.<\/p>\n
\"I learned a lot about computers and their operation after the
\nIT Center was set up,\" he told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines
\nof a seminar in Surabaya organized by the United Nations
\nDevelopment Program (UNDP).<\/p>\n
The e-Pabelan IT Center is housed in a seven-by-twelve meter
\nroom in one of the buildings of the Pabelan Islamic boarding
\nschool, which is run by preacher Ahmad Najib. The center was
\nestablished jointly by the National Development Planning Board
\n(Bappenas) and the UNDP.<\/p>\n
Khotib, a junior high school teacher since 2004, beat the
\nother 150 participants in the competition in the compact disc
\ncreation category. The topic he chose was Arabic-language
\nteaching using Microsoft PowerPoint. Besides receiving a cash
\nprize of Rp 5 million (US$500), Khotib won a place on a computer
\ntraining course in South Korea in August sponsored by Microsoft.<\/p>\n
Khotib says he spent the cash prize on a computer that he will
\nuse to train students and to set up a graphic-design business in
\nhis hometown.<\/p>\n
\"I have gathered a few young people, and right now we are
\nlearning to design a number of products, such as visiting and
\ngreeting cards. I want to set up my own business,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Khotib will use the proceeds from the business to help his
\nparents pay for his education at the Information and Management
\nInstitute in Yogyakarta, where he hopes to major in IT.<\/p>\n
\"I am now taking part in the orientation program for new
\nstudents. I want to become a computer programmer after I
\ngraduate,\" he told the Post before performing noon prayers.<\/p>\n
Khotib, who lives in a village near Semarang, is not the only
\none who has benefited from the IT Center program. Many other
\nvillagers have also benefited.<\/p>\n
A similar IT Center has been set up in Kertosari village in
\nPasrujambe district, Lumajang regency, located about 150
\nkilometers from Surabaya, and forms part of a pilot project that
\ninvolves Central Java, East Java, North Sulawesi, Central
\nSulawesi, Gorontalo and Papua. In Kertosari, the IT Center has
\nbeen operating since May 30 in a 13 meter-by-6.5-meter building
\nthat has a capacity of 40 people. It has been named the Semeru IT
\nCenter after the highest mountain in East Java.<\/p>\n
The center's manager, Sahlan Basyar, said that the facility
\nhad helped introduce computers and modern technology to the
\nvillagers. Kertosari is designated a disadvantaged rural area by
\nthe East Java administration and most local people have only
\ngraduated from elementary or junior high school, and depend on
\nagriculture for their livelihoods.<\/p>\n
However, the area has managed to reduce the poverty rate
\nto around 24 percent this year. There were 418 people categorized
\nas indigent in 2001. This figure gradually dropped to 316 in
\nJune, 2005, thanks to the work of the Gardutaskin Tani Sejahtera
\nFinancial Management Unit (UPK).<\/p>\n
Sahlan said that hopefully the presence of the IT Center would
\nfurther help reduce poverty in the area. Farmers can now exchange
\ninformation through the Internet with their peers in Batu,
\nMalang, on how to cultivate sensivera, an ornamental plant for
\nwhich there is high demand on the export market.<\/p>\n
UNDP Knowledge Management and Communication Officer Dinar
\nPandan Sari also voiced optimism that the IT Center program could
\nreduce poverty, illiteracy and the size of the technology gap.<\/p>",
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