Schools in Bermuda were yesterday given a hand up the information technology ladder thanks to a $500,000 gift from TeleBermuda International (TBI).

The telecommunications giant announced a major initiative in conjunction with the Ministry of Education to provide high-speed internet access to every public school on the Island during the next three years, via TBI's fibre optic network.

Many schools already had internet access, but the donation by TBI means that the computer system in Government schools now has the capacity to enable every student to be on the internet at the same time.

In the past, the capacity for multiple users, or bandwidth, has been substantially less.

Government is hoping to have computers in every single classroom in Bermuda, including in all primary schools, and the TBI initiative will enable them to be used to their fullest.

At a presentation yesterday in a Berkeley Institute computer lab, TBI president James Fitzgerald said the initiative was not only an investment in the Island's education system, but also a gift to help the company mark its fifth anniversary.

He said: "It was a situation where we had the students and all the schools, but funding has always been a critical issue in education and we wanted to help.

"We knew what the Ministry of Education had in the way of bandwidth (capability for computer use) and it was far from what was required, but there are always priorities for the Minister to consider.

"It became apparent very quickly that we wanted to help them do this, and the Ministry had to come up with a way it was going to do it."

He said not all of the lower schools were wired with the proper infrastructure at the moment to utilise the new computer capability, but during the next year, additional works will be carried out by the Ministry.

But by next year, just about all schools should be online, he said.

"Once they are all connected, there will be enough capacity to enable all students in every school to be on the net at the same time."

Mr. Fitzgerald said TBI had ploughed in between $350,000 and $500,000 to improve the schools' computer capacity for the next three years.

However, he said the world of information technology was moving so quickly, who knows what will happen after that.

It may be that a different initiative is required, he explained.

Education Minister Paula Cox said: "We are delighted to announce this wonderful initiative for Bermuda's children and teaching staff.

"Our objective is to expand and grow the education opportunities within Bermuda for electronic learning, research, teaching and accelerated e-learning.

"Information technology skills are essential in the modern workplace and we must ensure that students graduate with the skills they need to be successful in their chosen careers."

And Ms Cox said she hoped other businesses would follow suit and talk to the Ministry about how they can invest in the education of children.

And she said the benefits from the new bandwidth will be:

Enhanced school-to school communication via e-mail.

Access to Edunet, the school administration software used globally.

The option to use video conferencing

The future option to provide internet-based instruction from both classroom and other sites

Minister for Telecommunications Renee Webb said: "Bermuda has already made great strides to position itself as a leader in e-commerce.

"This new partnership between the Government and TeleBermuda International Ltd will now help us to ensure that Bermuda's future leaders and professionals have the skills to maximise e-commerce and e-business opportunities."

Schools with the infrastructure already in place have gained access to the internet and e-mail from every classroom previously. They include CedarBridge Academy, Berkeley Institute, Sandys Secondary Middle, Dellwood Middle and Spice Valley Middle schools.

All other schools will initially have access to the web in large groups, such as in computer labs, libraries and administration areas. But this network will eventually be extended to all classrooms.