Lack of computer access puts Pacific islanders at a disadvantage

WELLINGTON, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Increasing the pace of computer literacy in grade schools throughout the Pacific is an essential, and currently largely missing, ingredient for Pacific islanders to take advantage of the revolution in telecommunications sweeping the globe.

That is the view of Forum Secretariat telecommunications advisor John Budden, who has just completed a region-wide survey of telecommunications capabilities in Forum member islands, the Pacific Magazine reported.

Although the Pacific Islands still face hurdles to getting high-speed internet access and telephone service to small, remote populations, the reality is that only a small percentage of islanders even know how to use computers.

And increasing computer literacy is essential for Pacific Islands to make the most of new telecommunications technology in education, health, economic development and job opportunities, Budden said.

Budden, who is based at the Forum Secretariat in Fiji, said the issue in the Pacific is not just getting technology to people, but improving people's ability to make use of the new technology as it becomes available.

"It's not just about telecommunications companies," said Budden. "I'm concerned with the capability of people to use it (internet and computers)."

Access to internet can improve business opportunities and government administration through so-called 'e-commerce' and 'e-government', Budden said. "This can make a difference to isolated islands."

Budden has surveyed Forum island members ranging in population from just 1,200 to several million.

In many Pacific Island countries, elementary school children have virtually no access to the Internet and little access to computers, Budden said. It is little different at the high school level.

In many smaller islands, only a small percentage of schools even have computer laboratories, many of them at private schools, and typically they are under-resourced with students forced to share access for lack of adequate numbers of computers.

At the largest public high school in the Marshall Islands, 860 students compete to use just 10 computers with Internet access.

The lack of computer awareness is a hurdle for educational advancement and national development in the Pacific region.