[LINK] Cost shock puts school PCs at risk - was Computers for schools more than hardware [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

[Evan.ARTHUR at deewr.gov.au]

Howard asked: <<Does anyone know if the federal model was based on a
laptop (with Vista) per kid basis or a thin client basis using, say,
Edubuntu

As it happens I do have some knowledge of the Commonwealth approach :-)

The Commonwealth is not making decisions on the model of deployment.  We
provide $1,000 per unit to an education authority (State Government or
Block Grant Authority in the Catholic/Independent sectors).  The total
funds received by any one authority depends on the number of students in
years 9 to 12 and the numbers of computers four years old or less on the
date of an audit carried out earlier this year.  In Round 1, all schools
with computer to student ratios of 1 to 8 or worse were able to apply
for funds to bring those schools to a 1 to 2 ratio, based on a $1,000
per unit costing.  It is up to whoever makes the buy decision in the
relevant education sector (normally Government departments in the
Government sector and the individual school in the Catholic/Independent
sector) to determine what access device they purchase and what operating
system.



Evan Arthur
Group Manager
Schools Teaching, Students and Digital Education Revolution Group
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
*: GPO Box 9880 Canberra ACT 2601
' 02 6240 5187 ': 0412 329 169
* evan.arthur at deewr.gov.au 
 

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED