21st century education is heavily reliant on information technology. It is simply not possible to operate effectively and efficiently in the modern world without IT.

The pandemic has changed the way we work, shop, communicate, teach and learn. St Patricks College has not been spared the ravages of the pandemic. Fr Rector through his sheer efforts succeeded in providing online teaching to all students in the school with the help of the UK Alumni uninterrupted education was maintained during lockdown. It is to be regretted that about 30% of the students did not have access to any media devices at home. Those students were required to come to school and use the IT lab to follow the lessons. Unfortunately these students were denied this facility when curfews were imposed. Government schools were provided with media devices by the government. As a non-fee levying private school, students at St. Patricks College were denied these benefits.

The situation is further complicated by the fact that the average income of the families of the children in the school is hardly adequate to afford IT equipment for their children. Although the ethnic conflict ceased ten years ago there are children still in the school without a wage earner in the family: a factor that is often overlooked in assessing the needs of the children.

In recognition of this problem the UK Alumni has taken the step to create a computer pool at the school to help those who cant afford media devices. The school will loan the devices to those students for their use. The school also needs computers for each classroom and teacher. We also plan to place computers in the library for use by the students to familiarize themselves with the use of computers.

So far we have shipped 120 computers from UK to fully equip four computer labs. We have also shipped 17 smart boards with projectors, 4 network servers, network switches, Wi-Fi receivers, printers and network cables with the intention of building an IT network infrastructure throughout the school.

Our target is to raise £30,000. One half of the funds will be used to build the outstanding IT network infrastructure and the other half to provide the additional computers required. Cost of a refurbished A grade Pentium i5 laptop is £100.0 including shipping.

You may consider donating one or more laptops in your name or any amount towards the project. UK Alumni will purchase, ship and administer the project.

Please donate generously and spread the word among friends and well-wishers.