'American Corner In A Box' Project Helps To Narrow Digital Divide In Malaysia's Sarawak

KUCHING (Sarawak, Malaysia), Nov 17 (Bernama) -- More primary school and secondary school students in east Malaysian state Sarawak's rural areas will be connected to modern digital resources with the introduction of the 'American Corner in a Box' project. This pilot project introduced by Pustaka Negeri Sarawak (PNS) is to connect students and teachers in rural schools with poor Internet bandwidth, to modern digital resources. The Chargé d'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Edgard D. Kagan, on Thursday presented new digital resources to primary school of Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Telaga Air, about 40 km from here, the second school to be part of the project in Sarawak. The first is secondary school of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Katibas, Song in Sibu Division. Pustaka Negeri Sarawak's Library Service Sector head, Japri Bujang Masli said the project supplied schools with a Raspberry Pi (a credit card-sized computer that can connect to a monitor and keyboard) preloaded with a wide catalogue of information. He said the resources available on the network included English language learning programmes, mathematic lessons and Project Gutenberg resources. "All of the resources can be accessed on the local network to help teachers supplement their lessons and schoolchildren develop their skills," he said. The basic cost of installing the whole system is only US$45.55 (RM200). Pustaka Negeri Sarawak is collaborating with the US embassy to provide the equipment to more schools in Sarawak, especially those in the rural areas without Internet connection. "This technology can help more people access information, hence narrowing the digital divide," Japri said. He said Pustaka Negeri Sarawak was currently working on some academic details as it wanted to install as many informative materials into the device, which students could access through their notebook and use in their daily studies. "We have tested it with the teachers and students and it came out as very useful for them," said Japri. Meanwhile, Kagan told Bernama that the embassy would supply more of the device to schools in Malaysia if the project was proven successful. "This is the second in Sarawak and we are working with Pustaka Negeri Sarawak on the project. I wouldn't know how many of the device we need in Sarawak...it will depend on how they're doing, how useful the device is and on feedback from the schools. "It (the device) is still at the test phase now, our goal is to get more results because we want to see that it is tremendously useful for schools and the students. "The ultimate goal is to gain knowledge, and people benefit from this," he said. --BERNAMA