Newspaper clipping – The Cape Times – 11 August 2008

MEC opens first solar-powered school computer By Mogomotsi Magome

By Education Writer

The first solar-powered computer lab in the Western Cape has been opened.

The award-winning Khanya Project of the Western Cape Education Department installed the laboratory at Bernadino Heights Secondary School in Kraaifontein. Khanya is responsible for installing support technology at schools. So far, 919 schools have been helped in using technology and about 36219 computers have been installed.

New Education MEC Yousuf Gabru, who opened the lab on Friday, said he was encouraged that Khanya was not only about installing computers or teaching computer literacy for “the sake of it”. He also praised the school, most of whose pupils were from poor communities saying:
“We normally associate poverty with poor school results, yet your matric pass rate is 95 percent. For the past 10 years, (it has not been) less than 92 percent.”