Right-to-Reply results

Thanks for another excellent id21 publication. I am writing to follow
up on the topic of open source in school computer labs. Bridges.org is
currently conducting a research study in collaboration with SchoolNet
Africa that compares the full range of issues related to the choice
between open source and proprietary software. The focus is on community access and we are visiting computer labs and are speaking to
policy-level decision makers in South Africa and Namibia. If you don't
mind, I might send you an update on our progress from time to time and
would be interested in feedback from your community of experts.

Philipp Schmidt

Programme Manager, bridges.org
Tel. +27(0)21 970 1318
Fax. +27(0)21 970 1319
philipp@bridges.org

7-March-2003

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Computer Aid International welcomes the publication of id21
and its timely contribution to the debate about the use of ICTs in
developing country schools.

I have to start by declaring an interest. Computer Aid is the world's
largest not-for-profit provider of refurbished Pentium PCs for schools
in developing countries. Please filter for potential bias!

Andy Cawthera's research published in id21 is extremely valuable
in identifying the crucial contributory factors which determine the
real value - and real costs - of using refurbished PCs in
under-resourced schools.

It is not in our interests - or those of recipient schools - to go to
all the trouble of sourcing donated PCs from UK companies, fully
refurbishing, packing and shipping them to Africa only then to see them lie unused because of unforseen costs. That would be a cruel waste of time and effort for everybody involved in the work the charity.

To ensure that this does not happen we only supply PCs to schools who
have been assessed to ensure that they already have in place the necessary resources to make 'immediate, productive and sustainable' use of the PCs. This means exactly the training, running costs and infrastructure detailed by Andy Cawthera including secure buildings, power supply, wiring and furniture, trained teachers and technical support.

It is a fact that parents are prepared to run fund-raising events and
make financial contributions to school funds to ensure that
their children gain access to computer education. In this way communities ensure that revenue costs are met and as Andy Cawthera
points out many school computer labs are now generating modest income
streams through allowing community access in the evenings, weekends and school holidays.

I would also like to add one important, and common, mechanism used to
increase cost efficiencies which is not addressed in Andy's report:
Organisations involved in the use of computers in education have
calculated that it is crucial to increase the number of PCs per school
above the 10 per school on which Andy's original research was based.

Computer Aid's provision per school is normally 20 PCs per school.
(We have already provided over 16,000 fully refurbished PCs in 70
different countries - including a minimum of 20 for over one third of
all Swaziland's secondary schools).

Because the fixed costs of premises, utilities, teacher and teacher
training remain more or less constant whether the teacher is teaching
10 children with 10 PCs or 20 children with 20 PCs the cost efficiencies
achieved with double the number of PCs are relatively high.

On the issue of Open Source software it is a fact that there
is no Ministry of Education anywhere on the continent of Africa that
can afford to buy licensed copies of MicroSoft software.

The only options are to MicroSoft unlicensed (most common) to use Linux
(increasingly common) or to beg the local MicroSoft representative for
a few charity handouts (least common).

Although MicroSoft has recently softened its stance and started to
make some limited versions of some Open Source and limited programs available in a small number of countries - this has only really come as a defensive reaction the fast growing movement to adopt Linux at grassroots level.

In Namibia and Nigeria the principle suppliers of national computers
for schools programs adopted Linux and it was this that belatedly sprung MicroSoft into action.

Last week in Geneva at a two-week-long preparation committee for December's World Summit on Information Society the African Open Source Foundation was launched.

Computer Aid initiated a partnership with them to showcase low cost sustainable ICT solutions (using refurbished Pentium computers and Linux software) at a series of conferences and exhibitions across Africa in 2003.

We'll be hearing a lot more about refurbishments and Linux in 2003.

And the reason is that there is no viable alternative.

And we cannot allow the digital revolution to be yet another technological revolution which entirely leaves Africa behind and further entrenches underdevelopment.

Tony Roberts

Executive Director
Computer Aid International
Unit 114 Belgravia Workshops
159 Marlborough Road
London, N19 4NF, UK.
Tel: +44 (0)20 7281 0091
Email: tony@computeraid.org
Website: www.computer-aid.org

7-March-2003

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I have read with much interest the February Issue of 'Insights Education.' To me the main theme appears to be 'Education Development through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).' In that issue much were thoroughly analysed with conclusions by all authors. One thing that remains untouched is the telephone costs! I have been in the UK and at a school where I happened to be almost all school computers were connected to the internet.

Curiously I once asked somebody about how much the school was paying for the telephone bills. The answer was not given! Although some days later someone informed me about the option of using satellite connections. By using the satellite connection, the using organisation/individual(s) was liable to pay extremely lower connection charges. Should this information be true how is it done? Because to me buying and installing computers and their accessories may be expensive but the main setback is the telephone line maintenance. On top of that telephone lines are only networked in urban and semi urban areas. As a result this appears to be a service for urban pupils and students. In our context there are a lot of schools located in remote areas where telephones will take time to be connected. While in the same areas some capable people are using satellites to watch televisions.

Jumanne Magiri

Coordinator
Community Based Health Promotion Programme
Mara Region
Tanzania

Email: cbhpp@africaonline.co.tz

7-April-2003

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