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.