South Learning Centre is managed by Christchurch City Libraries, part of the Christchurch City Council. As part of the official opening, students from the south Christchurch area interviewed the Prime Minister and guests to produce an electronic record of the day. According to the PM, they were, “the most polite reporters I’ve come across”.

The children used modern tablets which convert handwriting to electronic text. Ms Clark also took part in a video conference with students from Beckenham School in the city and Papamoa School in Tauranga.

The South Learning Centre is a New Zealand first, allowing school children and teachers from across south Christchurch the opportunity to integrate technology into the curriculum.

“It’s not until you come to see what’s happening that you get your head around what a centre like this is all about,” the PM said. “This will create considerable interest around New Zealand and people will want to know ‘how can we get it?’.The surface is just being scratched with learning in this type of facility.”

Sue Sutherland, Christchurch City Libraries Manager, announced that the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT) will soon provide community programmes at the South Learning Centre.

The Prime Minister noted the economic contribution being made by the South Learning Centre’s sponsors — TelstraClear, Hewlett Packard NZ, Microsoft NZ and Technology Leasing and Computers. They were, she said, “enabling us to do things we had never imagined before”.