$100 laptop for Nepali students soon



Kantipur Report


KATHMANDU, Jan 11 - Primary school students may no longer have to carry heavy backpacks while attending school in the near future. If things go as foreseen, the familiar schoolbag filled with text books and copies will be replaced by a tiffin-box-sized laptop, weighing less than one kilogram.
The laptop, which comprises an electronic version of all text books, a word processor, e-toys, drawing tools, camera, and inbuilt audio and video applications, will cost US$ 100 (approximately Rs 7,000).

Originally developed by One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) trade association - a US based non-profit organization formed by faculty of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - the notebook is currently being modified by Shankar Pokharel and Ankur Sharma, both 22-year old graduates of Nepal Engineering College.

“We are currently developing operating software and applications in Nepali language, so that children residing in rural areas are able to use it easily,” Pokharel said. “We will also store the contents of primary level text books in the computer so that students do not have to carry books to school,” he added.

As soon as the process of localization and curriculum development complete is completed, the Pokharel and Sharma duo are planning to hand over the laptop to the government.

“We have set a tentative date of mid-2007 to finish the project,” they said adding, “Once our part of the work is complete, it will then be the responsibility of the state to distribute it among various schools, especially those located in remote areas of the country.”

Designed in the US and manufactured by a Taiwanese company, the laptop operates on Fedora Core operating system developed by Linux, and comes with a 366Mhz processor, 128MB RAM and 512MB flash memory (for storage).

The notebook, which has a life expectancy of around 10-12 years and consumes 10 times less energy than other computers, also comprises a USB port, an extra slot to insert additional flash memory cards and in-built multimedia tools such as stereo speakers and microphones.

Another special feature of the notebook is that every time it is turned on it is automatically plugged to a wireless mesh network, which will facilitate students using similar computers to share packets of data even if they are in remote places from the school, Sharma said.

Nice if it is really introduced to those who are reading in Government Schools.

save money on books using laptops and have every kid required to do eye exams and develop early eye weakness. forget about handwriing thing, nepali tesai ta garho, anyo pachi ta ka kha pani gha samma janyo bhane nepali ma saya aunchha. 22 year engeneering graduates kida are develping notebooks for computers. I would say, the teacher will have no operating laptop soon and he will take his home and sleep through the day and if he gets to school, every studnt will stand and say "good morning notebook".

another way to rip the poor people off .......... if they really cared abt the poor kids .. they would just take the old computers that they throw here in so called "developed countries" and distribute among village schools in under developed countries. What would those kids do with individual laptops anyway??? won't we be making the kids UNSOCIAL by giving them indiavidual laptops??

well if they can get all the contents and the subject matter to be in the books loaded to the laptop every year ..its not that bad an idea ..but i cannot how they will do it ..
all the best

well if they can get all the contents and the subject matter to be in the books loaded to the laptop every year ..its not that bad an idea ..but i cannot how they will do it ..
all the best

For what it's worth, I think it is a good move, at least on intention, to bridge the digital gap. I say kudos to those who made $100 laptop possible.

Also, there are organizations that take used computers and distribute to the poor after refurbishing. I recently found out that I could donate my old cell-phones too. So there is fair amount of recycling effort being done, but still not enough.