S'pore goes all-out for IT training

S'pore goes all-out for IT training

SINGAPORE (AP): Singapore is going on an all-out nationwide
drive to train its people - including the elderly and low-income
- to use computers and the Internet, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong
said Saturday.

The government is launching a subsidized "National IT
(information technology) Literacy Program" to "equip 350,000
Singaporeans with basic computer and Internet skills over the
next three years," Goh said.

In a speech kicking off the drive, Goh called on Singapore's
young people to coach their parents and grandparents in computer
use and "show them how technology can make their lives easier."

Singapore, a wealthy Southeast Asian city-state of 4 million
people, is already one of the world's most computer-savvy
societies and has a high rate of Internet use, especially among
its young and affluent.

There are some Singaporeans who "seem afraid of technology,
who can't afford it or who simply do not believe that it will
make their lives better," Goh said.

Computer and Internet classes in the new national program will
range from seven to 14 hours, and students need only pay 20
percent of the cost, Goh said.