It's got nothing to do with gymnastics but everything to do with educational fitness. The "Computer Gym" is a mobile classroom which travels the byways and laneways of Ireland, teaching children how to use a computer.

It will feature at the Education Show Ireland 1999 in Dublin later this month.

Five mobile units, which are all sponsored by Siemens, visit schools each week to provide classes and workshops for young primary-school students. The units, which were developed and are managed by Gary Leyden director of Computer Gym in Bray, Co Wicklow, are fitted with the latest in Siemens multimedia computers.

The "gym", which has been designed by teachers for use by students in a classroom-type setting, is fitted to accommodate up to 16 children. One of those units will be on display at the Education Show, which runs from Thursday, March 25th to Saturday, March 27th in the main hall of the RDS.

This is the second year that Siemens has taken part in the show - but it is the first year that it will use this mobile teaching unit to demonstrate what is available.

Gary Leyden says the gyms are going to more and more primary schools. It costs £5 per pupil per class; classes generally run over 12 weeks. The unit arrives with two teachers and generally two of the teachers from the school come "on board" as well to watch and learn themselves.

The children troop onto the truck and "it's amazing how quickly they take to it", says Leyden. "We have a huge bank of educational software," he explains.

More information about the Education Show is available from (01) 288 8821. For further information about Leyden's five mobile computer gyms, phone (01) 272 0984.