Gauteng e-learning rebooted: report

 ·15 Aug 2013
Government money

Gauteng’s costly e-learning project – which has cost tax-payers R3.1 billion to date – will be rebooted with a new R400 million plan, the Times reports.

Expected to be completed in March, Gauteng finance MEC Mandla Nkomfe announced on Wednesday (14 August) that the consortium, Cloudseed, would be rolling out the Gauteng Online Schools Programme.

According to the Times, the consortium is not a fresh face to the project, as it is the same SMMT Online consortium which was awarded the R2.1 billion tender in 2007 to roll out the failed Gauteng Online project.

Before Cloudseed (then SMMT Online) was awarded the tender, the project was handled by the provincial education department at a cost of R1 billion, the paper reported.

According to reports, Cloudseed won the tender based on price.

In terms of the contract, Cloudseed will:

  • Provide a core Wi-Fi and 3G network to 2,200 provincial schools;
  • Purchase 88,000 tablets at a price of R289 million;
  • Aim to provide every school with a computer lab.

According to the report, Cloudseed stands to profit by R107.2 million over two years.

More on Gauteng ICT

Gauteng online schools project to be reviewed

Western Cape allocates R53m for broadband

Gauteng’s R15.9m broadband budget

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