One man’s aid plan for Africa
All Shelvan Kannuthurai wants is your moral support — no donations, no tax dollars, no special favours. Actually there is one other thing he’d like: Any used computers, software or university textbooks that you no longer need. What the 42- year- old entrepreneur wants to do is organize an unprecedented transfer of technology and knowledge to Africa. He has founded a non- profit organization, Professeurs pour la Liberté, whose aim is to train an enthusiastic corps of young people to fan out across Africa and build the infrastructure, villageby- village, to deliver free online education.
“ You might think this is too big, it’s crazy,” Kannuthurai said, “ but what I’m proposing is not charity. It’s a selffinancing plan to empower Africans to help themselves.” He hasn’t said much about it publicly until now because he wanted to get all the pieces in place. But with the launch of Professeurs pour la Liberté imminent, Kannuthurai is eager to share his dream. Next month, former U. S. president Bill Clinton will officially kick off the program with a keynote speech at the Museum of Civilization, across the Ottawa River from Parliament Hill. Former prime minister Jean Chrétien will be at the Oct. 18 gala. Invitations have gone out 1,000 politicians, senior bureaucrats and other public figures.
Kannuthurai has drafted a bill, an Act to Advance Sustainable Development in Africa through Intellectual Capital Infusion, which he hopes Prime Minister Paul Martin will introduce in Parliament this fall. Once he has some political wind in his sails, he intends to move full bore to convert his vision into reality.
It consists of three linked initiatives:
He will transform the for- profit vocational school he runs now, the Canadian College of Business Computers, into a non- profit training centre offering a two- year accredited program in information technology to students from around the world.
Eventually, he hopes to produce 100,000 graduates a year. Kannuthurai and his network of recruiters will look for bright, highly motivated young people who can’t afford to attend big- name North American or European universities. They will be asked to pay their first- year tuition of $12,000 and a $400-a-month accommodation fee. The school will pick up their secondyear tuition.
Kannuthurai, who has operated the Canadian College of Business of Computers for nine years, says this can be done on a break- even basis. “ You forgo your profit but you build a youth movement.” He also says that students of limited means — as he was in Sri Lanka 25 years ago — will be able to come up with the money. “ They will sacrifice anything and everything for a good education.” The study body will mirror as closely as possible the global population: China, for instance, will be allocated 20,400 spots; India 17,000; the United States 5,100; Nigeria 2,350; Canada 550 and tiny Andorra 10.
He will ask every degree- granting institution in North America, Europe and Japan — he estimates there are 10,000 — to donate one accredited online course to be offered at no charge to African students. By early next year, he hopes to have an e- studies portal functioning, ready for faculty members to upload their course content.
He will collect used computers, software and textbooks from individuals, businesses and public institutions, to be shipped off to Africa with the first cohort of graduates in 2008.
Kannuthurai is adamant that he will not benefit personally from the scheme. “ I started the Canadian College of Business and Computers for profit, but you can’t mix the private and the philanthropic. Every dollar that comes in will be dedicated 100 per cent to PPL ( Professeurs pour la Liberté). Its financial transactions will be transparent and audited annually by a major Canadian accounting firm.” He believes Canada is the ideal launching pad for the initiative. “ There is no other country where I could have done this. Canada is blessed with enormous know-how from immigrants of many backgrounds. It has a tradition of forward- thinking leadership to build tolerance. From which other country could I have approached Bill Clinton?”
There is one aspect of the project that saddens Kannuthurai. His relatives in Sri Lanka don’t understand what he’s doing. All they know is that he’s working on something involving Africa.
“ But my children will understand.” He wants his sons — aged 6, 5 and 2 — to grow up believing anything is possible in Canada.
( Further information is available at www. myppl. org) Carol Goar’s column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.