The lingering government project that initially aimed to put laptops in the hands of the country's 400 000-odd teachers by 2011 has been held up, amid financing issues.
A national drive, the Teacher Laptop Initiative (TLI), was first introduced in 2008, under the management of the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC), and as part of the Department of Basic Education's (DBE's) "cohesive plan" to improve the overall quality of education in SA. The project got under way in May 2009.
Following a number of obstacles and delays since then, basic education minister Angie Motshekga said in her budget speech in May last year that the TLI was "back on track" and that a "very exciting announcement" regarding the project would be made by the end of the year.
Management shift
However, the months since have seen no news forthcoming on the project, which quietly changed hands in terms of management, towards the end of last year.
The ELRC yesterday confirmed the TLI is no longer under its management, and that the DBE has now taken the reins.
An ELRC spokesperson confirmed the project had undergone a number of setbacks, which necessitated the department's mediation. "The implementation of the laptop project was not taking place as planned, so the [basic education] department took over. There were issues with regard to the budget, because of funding problems and the black-listing of teachers; and so in order to move the project along, it was put under the department's control."
Financing flounders
Garry Hodgson, education sales manager at Mustek - chosen as the TLI's first accredited supplier of laptops in 2011 - says a challenge has arisen with regard to credit approvals for some of the teachers.
"Mustek is currently in the process of facilitating finance through a local bank. Although the initiative has experienced some teething problems, we are now confident that the project will move forward in 2013."
In accordance with the ELRC's original TLI programme, each provincial department of education is to provide qualifying teachers with a monthly laptop allowance of R130 per month for 60 months, which is a total of R7 800 over five years.
The DBE did not comment by the time of publication.
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