Scottish Government Takes Up Proposal By Gordon Macdonald MSP To Sent Old Computers To Africa

Gordon Macdonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, welcomes the decision to donate used computer equipment from the Scottish Government to schools, communities, and education projects in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Scottish Government replace IT equipment every four to five years in order to meet security requirements. The equipment includes computers, mobile phones and tablets, and will be sent to Malawi, Ghana and Liberia.

Commenting, Gordon said, “I sponsored a debate in Parliament earlier this year calling for this and am pleased that the Scottish Government have taken up my proposal to partner with the Turing Trust to send old IT equipment to Africa”.

“The Turing Trust are an excellent charity based in my constituency and this decision will help hundreds of teachers and thousands of children and adults to develop their computer skills and their career prospects.”

“There is also the added benefit of offsetting carbon emissions and ensuring that waste does not go to landfill”.

The Turing Trust were previously awarded £60,000 by the Scottish Government as part of the International Small Grants Programme to provide computer training for teachers in Malawi, and have put more than 4,250 computers in hundreds of schools and supported the training of more than 530 teachers. The Trust was co-founded by James Turing in honour of his great uncle and World War 2 codebreaker Alan Turing.