One kid, one computer
IMAGINE THE LONG-TERM BENEFITS to South Africa’s economy if every school-going child had access to a computer connected to the Internet? To establish a PC/Internet infrastructure throughout Africa would cost US$240bn (around R1,8 trillion) and take 10 years, Ernst & Young consultant Neil Butcher said at the recent Nepad e-Schools Conference (as reported by ITWeb).
The Nepad initiative aims to put the broad principles in place and urge national governments to develop their own e-Schools business plans by 2010. It hopes to transform all secondary schools in participating countries – there were 16 to start with – into Nepad e-Schools by 2015. That’s clearly a mammoth task and one that would require different and unique models for each country. However, working together would also give Africa huge buying power.
So what is SA doing about it? Apart from Communications Department-led initiatives, such as its policy that schools should get 50% off Internet access, the Education Department is nearing the end of a feasibility study for a public private partnership (PPP) that could see the provision of information and communication technology (ICT) equipment to schools.
The obvious social benefits aside, such a tender could be a massive boost for SA’s hardware manufacturers, such as Pinnacle and Mustek, and presumably any additional, smaller black economic empowerment companies it would partner with.
But Education Department director-general Duncan Hindle says it’s still early days. “The department, together with National Treasury, is undertaking a feasibility study in regard to the provision of ICTs to schools.” In emailed replies to Finweek recently – incidentally, the fastest and most efficient feedback I’ve ever received from an SA Government department, so hats off – Hindle says the process is still at a “due diligence” stage and only after that would any decisions be taken regarding models and procurement. Costs would be dealt with then, he says.
Education Department project officer Trudi van Wyk says its feasibility study was due at end-May at the latest, before going through internal processes and then taken to Treasury.
Treasury launched a PPP manual in August 2004 to guide the process, she says. The manual sets out very specific processes that PPP initiatives need to follow, as well as best practice in terms of accounting and how PPPs should be audited.
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said at the time of its launch that the manual represented a set of practical tools to implement PPPs, which were undisputedly useful. “The public gets better, more cost-effective services, the private sector gets new business opportunities.”
Van Wyk says the department had used several worldwide case studies in implementing its study, including those from Malaysia, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Britain, Brazil and several African countries. It had also studied experiences in SADC, Nepad and the EU.
Back of a matchbox calculations suggest procuring a basic PC or notebook for every school-going child – there were 10,6m of them in 2005, says the University of Cape Town’s Children’s Institute – would cost SA more than the entire arms deal.
Van Wyk says it agreed the project would be both huge and costly. “That’s why we have to make the economic valuation and value assessment.” She says a Treasury representative sat on the steering committee and project team. “We’re constantly in interaction with Treasury and work closely with them.”
She added: “The purpose of the feasibility study covers through-and-through the economic viability of the project. We’re also looking at a managed phased-in approach, definitely not a drop-and-run approach.”
The Education Department wants to provide schools and further education and training colleges with ICT hardware and software, access to broadband technologies, curriculum support and innovation, ongoing professional development, electronic and online learning support material and support services and community involvement.
Van Wyk says in terms of the PPP manual, the feasibility study looking into that would outline the strategic and operational benefits of this e-education initiative, describe the specific terms, set out the legislative and regulatory framework, demonstrate its affordability, outline the proposed allocation of financial, technical and operational risks, set out the anticipated value for money and comment on its capacity to procure, implement, manage, monitor and report on the project’s progress.
Finweek
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