The Khanya project is hoping to expand an online tracking system that has drastically reduced computer thefts at schools in the Western Cape.
The Khanya Project is an initiative of the Western Cape Education Department to promote computer technology in schools, and launched the safety initiative with service provider, ITcrimes 15 months ago.
Despite strong security thieves had previously managed to raid between 10 and 12% of computer labratories installed by the Khanya project, but since the tracking system was launched only six incidents of computer theft were reported.
Essentially, the service provider keeps a database of all computers and computer parts installed at participating schools. Police can immediately identify the owner of the computer or computer parts online by typing in relevant serial numbers of equipment suspected to have been stolen.
“To date, 387 schools in the Western Cape are registered on the database,” said Ingrid Graham, responsible for public/private partnerships at Khanya. “This equates to about 8 000 computers.”
“Over the December holiday period, zero computer theft incidents occurred at registered schools. Two incidents occurred at schools not registered on the database,” she said.
Computer theft has become a headache for schools, especially those without adequate security. The computers are stolen then the components are sold off.
“The thieves are not always successful,” said André Pietersen, ICT Implementation Coordinator at Khanya. “However, some do get past various security systems to steal valuable computer equipment used by schools to support teaching and learning.”