The Department of Basic Education will officially introduce its teacher laptop initiative and address all outstanding issues on the project.
The initiative, which was supposed to have been phased in from 1 July 2009, was only introduced at the end of August, following departmental delays. The project will be rolled out over a period of two years and all educators should be provided with laptops by 2011.
While certain aspects of the initiative are yet to be finalised, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) says it is pleased with the progress of the roll-out and hailed the project as an “achievement for the union”.
“Our teachers will now receive subsidised laptops, which have far-reaching implications towards improving the quality of education. Our teachers will be able to access relevant information for teaching and learning, as well as their own professional development via the Internet,” says Sadtu.
Earlier this year, basic education minister Angie Motshekga said the department was engaging with Microsoft to extend the existing school-level arrangements to make available the resources for educators either at a lower cost, or at no cost to the department.
The department was also scheduled to publish lists of approved vendors once the initiative was gazetted, but had failed to do so by October. Teachers will not be able to acquire a computer from a company not approved by the teacher unions or the provincial education department on credit terms.
The initiative has been in the making since late last year, when it was announced at the social cluster directors-general briefing.
It gained prominence after the Department of Education snubbed a R330 million mobile computer deal with Rectron, which Sadtu nearly penned, to provide its 240 000 members with ultra-mobile low-cost notebooks.
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. President Jacob Zuma then dropped the monthly stipend to R130, over 24 months, with the revised package now being worth R3 120.
Minimum standards
According to the Government Gazette, every school-based educator employed in terms of the Employment of Educators Act and who occupies a permanent post would be eligible to qualify to participate in the initiative.
Following the gazetted terms, teachers will be expected to source the laptop packages, which meet the department's minimum requirements and conditions, on their own.
The laptops must have a 160GB 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 Department of Basic Education-Microsoft agreement to the teachers at a discounted price. The department will also provide content, such as a school administration package and national curriculum materials, which will also be installed on the laptop.
Each province determines its own roll-out programme, which may include issues such as the granting of subsidies according to seniority, availability of funds and any other factors. All provinces have warned educators not to rush out and buy laptops, but rather wait until their provincial education departments inform schools of their plans.
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