By Seshoane Masitha

Cape Town - Schools across South Africa will soon receive free anti-virus software, thanks to a donation from a leading American software company, Symantec.

Education Minister Kader Asmal signed the agreement promising South Africa's schools computer software worth R100-million with Symantec in Cape Town yesterday.

The software includes a personal firewall, intrusion detection, anti-virus and content-filtering technology, assisting schools to operate information and communication technology in a safe environment. It will help avoid the destructive effects of virus attacks such as "My Doom" that shut down major networks last week, leading to a loss of billions of rands worth of productivity as companies, institutions and organisations throughout the world came to a standstill.

Asmal said many schools from poor communities remained largely on the margins of information technology. "Computers and information technologies have not become part of the way most learners learn and the way teachers teach," he said.

He attributed this to lack of access to computers, software, connectivity and electricity in a large numbers of schools.

"Government has been working hard to put in place policies and systems that would rapidly open greater access to ICT for all our people," the minister said.

Asmal highlighted the government's White Paper on e-Education, which envisages that every student in the General and Further Education and Training would be able to use ICT confidently by 2013.

The minister said the government was encouraged by the positive response from the private sector.

Symantec's Regional Manager Patrick Evans said his company was eager to play a role in preparing the country and its youth for the digital future.

"We will be successfully contributing to the creation of a techno-savvy generation who will be better prepared than any generation previously, to not only cross, but hopefully close the digital divide," he said.

The company would work with provincial education departments to identify schools in need of anti-virus software.

In accordance with the agreement, Norton Internet Security will be installed in technology centres with between one and 10 computers, and Symantec Antivirus Enterprise Edition and Symantec Client Security will be installed in centres with more than 10 workstations. The donation will be reviewed in three years time and could be renewed.
- BuaNews