Taipei - The Taipei county government, to reduce the digital gap between the countryside and cities, will dispatch a mobile computer classroom to teach people how to use computers, the county government said Tuesday.

Under the programme, the Taipei county government in North Taiwan will dispatch six coaches carrying teachers, computers, desks and chairs to give computer classes free of charge.

"The only requirement is that there must be 18 participants for our class. Applications can be made by individuals or an institution," Chen Shu-hui, from the Taipei county government's Computer Centre, said.

The county government has converted six mini-coaches into mobile computer classrooms, with each coach equipped with two teachers, 20 notebook computers, six sets of desks and chairs and six sun umbrellas.

"If the applicants have tables and chairs, we put the notebook PCs on their tables and start the class. If they do not have tables and chairs, we set up desks and chairs in the open to give the class," she said.

The six-hour class is aimed at helping those who do not know how to use a computer, teaching them to send and receive email, browse the internet and search Google.

The Taipei county has 3.8 million residents, many of whom live in mountains and along the coast and have no access to computer instruction.

But in Taiwan as a whole, some 70 per cent of households have computers and a broadband internet connection. (dpa)