Is the promise of the ruling People’s United Party (PUP) to give each of 30,000 children at the upper primary and high school level a laptop the size of an exercise book—only thicker—a fancy election gimmick? Is it, as The Economist article says, “one clunky laptop”?
We asked PUP public relations point-man and son of Prime Minister Said Musa, Yasser Musa, who sat with us this morning with a sample of the computer about this pre-election promise, and while he concedes candidly that the purpose of promoting the project now is to win over voters, he said that while his party stands a real chance of losing the February 7, 2008, elections, he is sure that innovation will play an important role, and he hopes his idea to give children an ASUS personal computer will serve as a way to attract voters, especially those who are undecided about what they will do with their ballot papers come next Thursday.
“It is a clear agenda that we want you to believe in,” Musa said.
The people who are being promised the laptops can’t vote, however. So clearly, the PUP is hoping that publicizing the laptop will spark a hunger in children for this new technology—so much so that the children will appeal to their parents to vote PUP, because they simply have to get that laptop.
The computer uses a Linux interface, and the four major segments are Internet, work, learn and play. The computer contains a dictionary, games, word processing software and other standard tools, but according to Musa, the intention is to localize the content, to include materials such as maps, texts and interactive tools in line with the African and Mayan history texts, to foster learning.
Musa said that in early December he had a meeting with the Information and Communications Technology center in Taipei, Taiwan, which has agreed to open an ICT center in Belmopan under the National Institute of Culture and History, of which Musa is the president. They have agreed to send technical experts to train Belizean tech personnel, who will in turn train teachers in the use of the laptops.
The proposal is for Taiwan to co-finance the program, which should cost the Government of Belize $6 to $7 million over the four-year implementation period, from Standard IV to Fourth Form, from Crique Sarco to Corozalito, said Musa.
The laptops won’t replace books or teachers, he added, explaining that the computers include sections on science, language, math, paint (art). There is also an electronic English, and English to Chinese dictionary included, and the intention, said Musa, is to add Kriol, Garifuna and Maya dictionaries as well. They also propose to upload the math book of Dr. Arlie Petters onto the laptops.
“From February to May 2008 we will embark on a digital curriculum project where the African and Maya History program, the Dr. Arlie Petters (professor of mathematics and physics at Duke University) math program and other relevant programs will be integrated into the new laptop,” said a PUP release issued this week. “From May to July 2008 we will provide training to teachers in this new technology. We are planning for the ITVET centres across Belize to be utilized as laboratories to facilitate this process.”
Student laptops will hold 4 gigabytes, while teacher versions would hold twice as much material. The computers come with 3 usb ports and a built-in webcam, but no drive for CD’s or DVD’s.
“This has to become the new TV,” Musa commented.
So how will the project be paid for? According to Musa, the program can be funded initially through the education budget and a subsidy from the Taiwan Government. It will mean that GOB will have to find US$60 to US$80 per child.
The laptops would open up a whole new window of opportunity for children to use wireless Internet to surf the world wide web, and take advantage of widely available e-books, including the works of great writers like Shakespeare, over 100 years old and free of copyright limitations.
But all children wouldn’t get the laptops at the same time. The project would reach 7,000 children in its pilot year.
The target for initial distribution is September 2008. Of course, Musa concedes that this is based on the assumption that his PUP returns to office after the February 7 elections.
Musa feels that with $150 million targeted as the education budget for 2008, a couple million could be earmarked to provide children with this empowering technology.
In total, it should cover 44 high schools and 280 primary schools, which would each have their own servers, connected to wireless internet, which, Musa said, Belize Telemedia Limited has already committed to providing to schools around the country.
What are people’s initial reactions to the laptop project?
Musa told us that some say that, “It’s a toy… a joke” or a “whap,” but some teachers have told him it is a revolutionary idea, a radical shift in how we view education.
At the same time, though, there is a sense of fear among others who are not so confident with using the technology.
The project comes with “huge responsibility,” and teachers and parents need to understand that, he added.
Only the initial laptops will be free; parents would have to pay for future replacements.