SOUTH AFRICAN school children will continue to receive software without charge from US philanthropist (cough!) Microsoft.

The Vole renewed its commitment to an earlier initiative by pledging to donate operating system and applications software products that would cost about 750 million Rand (over £49.2 million, €61.6 million or $98.1 million) if it were to impose its usual licence charges.

The software will be used by approximately 11.2 million students attending about 26,000 schools across the country.

Microsoft's renewed generosity continues a programme of cooperation with South African school districts that it started in 2002. That initiative was less than fully successful, as only about 6,000 schools had been able to benefit from it over a three year period.

The country's other 20,000 schools found that they couldn't take advantage of Microsoft's software offer for various reasons, including lack of local electrical service and having no computers on which to run the software. Many teachers also were found to be incapable of using computer technology.

To address these problems, Microsoft also donated computer hardware to some schools and launched a training effort that has so far reached about 17,000 teachers with classes on using computers in classrooms.

Its renewed commitment underscored Microsoft's desire to encourage computer literacy in the country and contribute to its development of a competitive economy, according to Fernando de Sousa, Microsoft South Africa's acting managing director.

"I have seen how the magic of software can help people be more productive and creative. I believe that software can also play a critical role in helping societies address their most difficult challenges," said de Sousa. "Software and technology innovation can help strengthen healthcare, protect the environment, improve education and extend social and economic opportunities."

South African government education department director-general Duncan Hindle said he was glad to see that a technology company is working with educators to help schools use and teach technology. "Educating our youth is the cornerstone of sustainable economic growth," he intoned.

Then there's also the reality that, once they've been thoroughly indoctrinated on Microsoft software, students will be less likely to ever become familiar with or deploy anything else.

Microsoft dominates the South African software market, according to an IDC study that found the Vole's software used in more than 153,000 jobs last year, that is, by 43 per cent of the country's information technology workers. µ

L'Inq
Business Day