The first draft of the MOU for the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) programme, had proposed that the netbooks being distributed be jointly owned by the government and the user with the latter paying a US$400 replacement cost or doing community service should the computer be lost due to negligence.
Stabroek News saw an unsigned Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) proposing agreements between the government and citizens likely to benefit from the OLPF. When contacted yesterday, Office of the President Press and Publicity Officer Kwame Mc Coy said that the document this newspaper had obtained was a “first draft” and that there have been at least four more drafts since. He said that “a fifth draft” is currently at the committee stage, and this document is significantly different from the initial document. He pledged that within a few weeks, the MOU will be released to the public.
The MOU is not ready even though the project has been formally launched.
According to the document this newspaper saw, before any of the 90,000 poor families could receive the computers, a parent or guardian would have to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the government. Under this agreement, one parent or both adult parents would be the custodian of the computer and would be termed the primary user.
This individual would be responsible for the proper use, care and compliance of the instrument with the terms and conditions of the MOU.
“Where the laptop becomes lost or stolen as a result of negligence of the user whilst in the possession of the user, the primary user shall be solely responsible for its full replacement at the cost of US$400 at the Bank of Guyana’s exchange rate at the date of loss, or alternatively the Guyana government shall determine whether … the primary user will be allowed to do community service as replacement for the laptop,” the draft stated. The estimated cost of the netbooks to be procured, President Bharrat Jagdeo said last week, is US$300.
During the launch of the project at the International Conference Centre, President Jagdeo said that while the computers were free, they had to be earned by “effort and commitment”. According to the latest draft of the Project Plan of the OLPF initiative: “Families receiving laptops will be expected to contribute to the acquisition of computers through community service. Each community group project will include community projects that will benefit the entire community and Guyana in general as repayment. Each family receiving a laptop is receiving a valuable resource from the Nation for which they will be expected to give back equal value in service as repayment for Guyana’s investment in their family and community.”
The draft MOU stated that: “all adult users have to take part in and successfully complete ‘Community Engagement’ to the project.” This community service shall be managed through a facility identified and managed by the government. The purpose of the community service is to support social and community development of the users.”
Further, the draft agreement stated that “all users shall have access to all training modules and the laptop” and that it will be “the responsibility of the primary user to ensure that all the eligible members of his household attend the training and use the modules provided.” Within six months after the training begins, the primary user shall take an online assessment based on the specific modules to be determined by the government. It is the primary user’s responsibility to ensure that at least two additional users of the “same household” or community group are computer literate, having learnt at least three training modules. Under this model, it seems that the parents would have to prove their proficiency at the computer before the computer is given to the family where the children can benefit.
On the successful completion of the evaluation by the primary user, the government will determine “whether the primary user shall be the custodian of the laptop”, whereby he is allowed to take the laptop home.
In cases where possession of the instrument for home keeping is not granted, the user shall have the sole use and benefit of such an instrument at a facility identified by the government.
Other countries, such as Trinidad and Tobago, have adopted initiatives where the computers are made available in the school setting to children. However, President Jagdeo has said that he is not in favour of such a model.
At the project launch, Jagdeo said that the one laptop per family enhances educational access to the entire family. He said too that parents become more involved in the work of their children and that a greater connection between the home and the classroom is achieved. Jagdeo said too that it is important to promote a more “self-directed type of learning.” He said this type of education is lacking locally, even at the University of Guyana. According to the President many of the University’s graduates have “not learnt how to learn.”
However, questions have been raised about the capacity of netbooks to fulfill the stated objectives of the project. When asked about this recently, the President said that the specifications outlined are capable of fulfilling the purpose of the project. “We think that this [the specifications] is adequate to deliver what we want to deliver…the content that we want to deliver,” Jagdeo said.
$1.8 billion has been budgeted for the procurement of the instruments, and the tender document is scheduled to be launched on February 22. It is expected to be open for 30 days and afterwards, the tenders will be assessed and an award made. The computers are scheduled to arrive by May 12, 2011, under the proposed schedule. Guyana is also hoping to tap into a US$8M ($1.6 B) grant from China, Jagdeo said.
The first 142 computers that were donated were gifts from the Chinese firm Huawei. Huawei is the same company that has been contracted by the government to connect internet networks across Guyana as part of its e-governance thrust.
