Today Professor Kader Asmal, Minister of Education, and Microsoft South Africa signed an agreement to provide all 32 000 Government schools perpetual free access to the use of selected Microsoft software. The agreement, announced in February during President Thabo Mbeki`s State of the Nation address, is estimated to save Government up to R 100 million per annum.
"Technology has created dramatic changes in the way people communicate, learn, play, do business and solve problems. These changes require an appropriate response from Government," says Minister of Education, Professor Kader Asmal, MP.
"This is an exciting day for our team at Microsoft South Africa and I`m truly proud to be part of this initiative to make technology in schools more accessible for learners and educators," says Mark Hill, Managing Director of Microsoft Sub-Sahara African Region. "Providing the software is only part of what needs to be done to make technology more available in our schools. We are convinced of the power of technology as the greatest social and economic enabler and we urge all technology players to join us in providing the necessary hardware, infrastructure, training and support to ensure that this vision becomes a reality."
As part of included in the agreement schools will have access to productivity software suite, Microsoft Office; a selection of development and educational titles; operating system upgrade rights to Windows; and server products. Since the announcement of the offer at the opening of Parliament, Microsoft South Africa has been working with National and Provincial Government to profile schools in order to plan the nationwide rollout of the software programme.
"As a company Microsoft is dedicated to investing in youth and education related programmes, and we believe that if you provide people with the resources they need, they will accomplish great things," concludes Hill.
For more information on Microsoft South Africa`s community investment programme visit http://www.microsoft.com/southafrica/community/.
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Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software - any time, any place and on any device.
If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at www.microsoft.com and the Microsoft South Africa home page at www.microsoft.com/southafrica.
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