Zuma cuts teacher laptop allowance

Johannesburg, 05 Jun 2009

President Jacob Zuma has confirmed his administration will follow through with the teacher laptop initiative. However, the laptop allowance drops from R195 per month to R130 per month.

Speaking at the Presidential Golf Challenge, in Somerset West, yesterday, Zuma explained the initiative will go ahead as planned at the beginning of next month.

Just before the end of her term as minister of education, Naledi Pandor gazetted the initiative. It would allow permanently employed teachers to be eligible for an allowance to purchase a laptop. The programme would have provided a stipend of R195.83 per month, over 60 months, to more than 400 000 educators in SA, for a laptop package worth R11 750.

Yesterday's announcement by the president saw that figure drop to what would amount to R3 120 over 24 months. “The project will be phased in over a two-year period, starting from 1 July 2009. I am sure this will work greatly towards motivating our educators to improve the standard of teaching and learning in our schools,” noted Zuma.

The Teacher Laptop Initiative has been in the making since late last year, when it was announced at the social cluster directors-general briefing. The initiative gained prominence after the Department of Education (DOE) snubbed a mobile computer contract, which the South African Democratic Teachers Union nearly penned for a R330 million deal with Rectron, to provide its 240 000 members with ultra-mobile low-cost notebooks.

Zuma stated: “Teachers participating in this scheme will be required to utilise their laptop in their teaching, as well as for administrative duties.”

Following the gazetted terms, teachers will be expected to source the laptop packages, which meet the DOE's minimum requirements and conditions, on their own.

The laptops must have a 160G hard drive, wireless LAN, Ethernet LAN and voice-fax modem Internet connectivity and a Windows XP, or higher, operating system.

The laptop must be loaded with Microsoft Office software, which will be available under a DOE-Microsoft agreement to the teachers at a discounted price. The DOE will also provide content, such as a school administration package and national curriculum materials, which will also be installed on the laptop.