Laptop Myopia

It seems that the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago has decided to spend $83 million dollars (TT) on laptops for children when they don't have a proper plan for implementation within the present Trinidad and Tobago education system. It's not that children shouldn't have laptops. It's that adults should have a plan for educating children with laptops. They don't have one, or if they do it cannot stand up to a slight breeze of common sense.

But first, what we know. We know the specifications for the laptops (they can be found in this post). We know that the curriculum for subjects has not been adapted to technology use. We can infer that the majority of teachers in Trinidad and Tobago don't know how to use technology in the classroom effectively.

We should know that leveraging open source software such as Linux, Open Office and educational software could well have lowered the costs substantially. We should know that since the Ministry of Education doesn't know what educational software they are going to use because they let the vendor choose the software as shown in in the specifications for the tender in  this post. We know that the original budget for these systems was around $45m and that the Trinidad and Tobago government has decided to spend $38 million more on something that they have no effective plan for. We know that the laptops will be outdated in less than 2 years by Moore's Law. 

And we know that the laptops themselves were a political promise made on a political platform to win the election. Effectively, it could be said that the People's Partnership are dipping into the coffers of the Trinidad and Tobago government simply to keep a campaign promise. That's reminiscent of the party that they pushed into opposition, isn't it?

Here's some excerpts from the media. I recommend reading the comments on all the media sites. They demonstrate more awareness than the People's Partnership Government has demonstrated.

From the Guardian, 'Laptops to cost Govt $83m':

...“The cost of the preferred bidder is approximately $83 million,” he added. Gopeesingh said 20,400 laptops were ordered from Hewlett-Packard, and were expected to arrive in T&T by mid-September. The new school term begins September 6, and therefore new secondary school students will not have their laptops as the People’s Partnership had promised during its election campaign. When calculated, the average cost of one laptop worked out to be $4,068. Of the 17,270 pupils who wrote the examination this year, 2,000 scored less than 30 per cent. However, 401 will repeat, while 1,599 will be allowed to attend secondary schools, but under a remedial system. This means that in all, 16,869 students will be given laptops...

So 16,869 children get laptops for $83 million? 

And from the Trinidad Express, '$83m Laptop Contract Awarded':

...Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh made the announcement during a news conference at the Ministry's head office in St Clair yesterday.

The cost is almost twice the amount initially announced by Gopeesingh at the July 15 post-Cabinet news conference at the Prime Minister's Office in St Clair. Nevertheless, the Minister insisted the benefits would extend far beyond their investment...

Are they planning to devalue the Trinidad and Tobago dollar? If they do, the benefits might well extend far beyond their investment. Can't wait to hear the budget from Winston Dookeran.

And from Newsday, '$83m for School Laptops'

...“From the time you steal these laptops we will have a process of locking off connectivity immediately,” he said. Tracer markers will be put on the computers to locate them. Gopeesingh said security also included blocking certain sites from children accessing. Asked if the laptop initiative will take place next year, Gopeesingh was confident the programme will continue. Giving the rationale behind the laptop offer, he said, “we wanted to give the students the ability to have good technology so they could start learning from early on.”...

So you can keep them from being stolen, at least in theory. And the child-blocking software would have to be implemented at the ISP; it's a matter of time before the kids figure out how to bypass the stuff on their laptops.

Giving children technology so they can start learning early isn't a bad idea. Far from it. But start what? It's the what that remains the problem - and now we can add $38 million dollars to the pot. The laptops have specifications that some child dreamed up ('...uh... and yeah... we need educational software too...'), we have educators who are going to have to contend with students who emulate Basdeo Panday in parliament.

Myopia. Plain and simple. Or some are already saying that this is corruption. Either way, if the people in charge of education make such ill-informed decisions based on poorly thought out campaign promises, we shouldn't expect too much of the children who come out of the education system. It looks like we're just getting them ready for politics.