HP wins $83m laptop contract | Print |
User Rating: / 5
PoorBest 
Written by Nariba Robinson—Aug 25, 2010   

min_ed

 

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY company Hewlett-Packard (HP) has been awarded an TT$83 million contract to provide approximately 20,400 laptops for use by first-formers at 131 schools.

The announcement was made by Minister of Education Dr. Tim Goopeesingh, at a press conference earlier today, at the ministry's head office in St. Clair, Port of Spain.

Refuting rumours that students in Tobago will be left out, Goopeesingh said that the negotiation process with HP will be completed by the end of the week and all students can expect to start receiving their laptops by mid-September.

According to the Minister no effort was spared in securing the best machines for students.

"The Ministry has placed specific emphasis on ensuring the technical relevance and applicability of the machines particularly as the laptops are expected to serve students for multiple years," Goopesingh said.

To boost performance, the laptops will have improved wireless capability, large internal storage, security software, extended battery life, faster processing speeds and bluetooth connectivity. Each unit will also have an extended warranty.

The Minister said he was confident that the government was getting value for money and was confident the programme will not only address the digital divide among students but also ensure additional benefits to their families and communities.

"Our government firmly believes it is a good investment in the children and by extension the human resource of this country," he said.

Of the 20,400 laptops, about 3,000 are for use by teachers who are currently engaged in training workshop specific to the laptop programme. Students will be allowed to take the units home.

The ministry is promising to give laptops to students every year. Next on the agenda, the minister said, is a plan to incorporate electronic textbooks into the school system.

 

 

Trackback(0)
Comments (15)add comment
feedSubscribe to this comment's feed
...
written by khadija , August 25, 2010

interesting.. well done on delivering on the promise.. but i'd love to see th fine print... u kno how our beloved government operates..


boy oh boy
written by ellz , August 25, 2010

I commend the gov't for holding up their side of the deal by offering these laptops but i really am more concerned with budget allocation.I seriously hope this new gov't is wise when it comes to spending money and not just doing this to win over skeptics.


re: khadija
written by charlie , August 26, 2010

@ khadija - It's better than hearing that this project will cost $150,000,000 then half of the laptops weren't delivered.

Basic maths - each laptop will cost approx $4068.63, which is very good for the type of system that they'll be getting (which has an avg price of $6000+, and even more for the additional security features... So I'll say that so far, the gov't has been operating fairly... :)


SAfety?
written by TCE student , August 26, 2010

I'm not too sure about letting students take the laptops home. I'm about to go into form5, and I've witnessed countless robberies after school. I can personally say that only the elder students are safe...form 1's are targets. What will happen if these laptops are stolen, will the student be accountable?


BATCE ALumni
written by Jeanne Marie Thompson , August 26, 2010

The above comment is making my point. Children in schools fighting for pens. Could you imagine what would happen if Form One students had laptops. I can see school violence escalating.


nicely done.. for now
written by sunny , August 26, 2010

it's great that he government is keeping one promise... but let's see how it all works out for the kids getting the laptops..... surely there's a catch to this... i'm just waiting in silience to see what it is.....


Good indeed
written by Gary , August 26, 2010

What the goverment is doing is a great deed, we want to see our selves next to the first world countries but a little thing like this and our "gutter" mentality comes out. Don't try to take the children's happiness they deserve it. Children abroad use it and progress in their studies why can't we do it here? are we insinuating that the laptops are "too good" for our students to have?

That is backward thinking, as further at the person who spoke about theft of the laptops if you were paying attention to the news you would have noticed that minister tip gopiesingh himself announced that it can tracking capabilities which in short is a high grade gps tracking system. Yes there will be stupid and vindictive people out here that just want to steal it to prove a point and im not talking about the school students, you would find that it is the adults of our society with this jealous and foolish thinking.

I think it is time for our mentality to change, at the moment the government cannot afford to pay for all forms but im sure that once the economy can handle it, it will be done. It was already promised since COP was newly established so all you die hard pnmites who just like to bury your head in the sand or regurgitate the lies told by our previous government i advise you evaluate your statements carefully.


Form 1's?
written by Penny , August 26, 2010

I think it's a waste to give laptops to form 1's alone. I mean , there are form 6's doing cape not to mention CXC and others. They are NOW coming into the secondary system. I think they should provide laptops to not only form 1's but upper forms as well. They need it more.


good move, poor vendor choice
written by ITC OFFICER , August 26, 2010

No surpise that HP was chosen, the ministry has uninformed people making choices about hardware and software. The local vendor for all the primary school desktops in the computer labs roped them into buying HPs there as well. HPs have a very high rate of failure and have lost their way in terms of build quality. HP laptops have extremely high failure rates.. but politics is politics.


Well Done but a cause of concern
written by Jesse B. , August 26, 2010

For me I glad that the People Patnership is keeping the promises of giving a laptop to every student of Form 1 but I am quite concern that they allowed to take it home which make the Form 1 a target for bandits, gangsters and pipers who want to either rob or kill them for the laptops. I think that allowing them to take it home is a bad idea and what they can do is allowing them to use it in school and not allowing them to take it home.
2nd Point is that I agreed to Penny who say about Form 1 that is a waste of time to give for Form 1 because they hardly get to do projects/assignments and they will most likely to play games rather than doing works and I talking about Video Games such as GTA San Andreas, Need for Speed to name a few. Form 3-6 have a lot of work to do and mention about CXC & CAPE that have SBA and IA which students have to pay hundreds of dollars to type and print the documents.
So I think giving Form 1 laptops are not a good idea and they should be give for Form 3 right up to Form 5 and 6 if it a seven years school


@good move, poor vendor choice
written by brad , August 27, 2010

how did they go to HP suddenly. all the schools at the moment are outfitted with Dell Optiplex systems.. so I dont get why they went that way....


oh that's right....it's cheaper.

that's how the govt thinks..about how much they can save...not how long it lasts. the peeps up in SEMP and the ICT division at the top of the MOE dont know crap about IT infrastructure.


Laptops for form 1 students.
written by Mandisa Clyne , August 27, 2010

I really commend them on their efforts and taking the initiative to do this.However here is a next option:
India has developed a 35-dollar 'laptop' specifically made for schools.In my opinion this will be better.The tablet gadget, which CAN be run on solar power, is equipped with an Internet browser, video-conferencing capability and a media player, among other facilities.The laptop has all the basic features, including a built-in keyboard, 2 GB of RAM memory,which is great. Wi-fi connectivity, USB ports and is powered by a 2-watt system for use in power-deficit areas.
The GOVERNMENT CAN SAVE A LOT OF MONEY WITH THIS initiative.




so far so good
written by Lee , August 29, 2010

I also commend the government on pulling through thus far and for those people who are speaking about laptops getting stolen typical example of not keeping updated with the news. They clearly said that student would be given their laptops at the end of school to take home and to keep at home to prevent those things and on top of that someone mentioned the tracking systems.

to Brad, dell is good and so is Hp so i really don't agree with your comment and with that said the deal was a good one with what it entails and its price once again hp is also a trusted brand just leave it as you prefer dell, people have different preferences and thoughts in this case.


in addition
written by Lee , August 29, 2010

Those who said that giving form ones are a cause for concern, i understand where you guys are coming from but every year the work load gets different and at a higher level. Think about it, what kids are learning in primary school now some of us learned in high school! These form one student have the laptops to carry through their high school life, here is the point where responsibility steps in for them to take good care of it in order to have it serve its purpose.


...
written by love , February 20, 2011

its a pure lie!
i jst finish my lower 6 n nt yet receive the laptops!!! the govt lie 2 us jst 2 gain our votes



Write comment
smaller | bigger
 

busy