Bishops College renews support contract with CS Holdings

Bishops College in the Western Cape renewed its contract with support service provider CS Holdings for another three years. Besides the maintenance and support of the college`s laptop network, the contract also includes the provision of 130 laptop computers. CS Holdings has donated another five laptops to the college`s bursary programme for disadvantaged students.

"We negotiated a competitive price for the purchase of the laptops, which not only made them more affordable to Bishops College, but also enabled the college to standardise on a certain brand," says Henry van Bosch, business manager at CS Holdings. "The laptops are serviced on site and we provide backup units when necessary."

"CS Holdings has managed the laptop service for 18 months and while it certainly has not been without difficulty, its commitment to making a success of the programme is obvious," says Sally Bowes, IT director at Bishops. "CS Holdings` willingness to assist with our bursary programme for disadvantaged students is another positive aspect."

Established in 1996, the Bishops College laptop programme is geared to providing technology-assisted teaching in grades 9 to 11.

"The need to stimulate and sustain a shift in learning and teaching, while at the same time establishing technology as an integral part of the educational experience at Bishops College, has been the main reason for implementing the laptop programme," Bowes explains. "Central to the programme is an academic intranet, which is used as a means of delivering curriculum and learning programmes to the students. The networked infrastructure that supports the development and delivery of learning activities provides an excellent fit-for-task architecture that is well resourced.

"Learners, parents and teachers have indicated high levels of support for the programme and its beneficial contributions to the learning and teaching at Bishops," she concludes.