Midrand: The Department of Education’s Teachers laptop Initiative (TLI), originally planned for roll-out in February 2010, has finally become a reality via written confirmation on 29 September 2011 by the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) that the Mustek Consortium has been appointed as the first Accredited Supplier of laptops to teachers in the programme.
“We are very excited,” said Garry Hodgson, head of Mustek’s Education Divison, “this accreditation is the culmination of many months of planning, negotiation and process development, and we can now go forward with execution and fulfilment”.
Mustek Ltd was founded in 1987 and is listed on the JSE. Its PC brand Mecer is locally assembled on one of the largest semi-automated computerised assembly lines in the Southern Hemisphere, providing much-needed employment in the South African IT industry. Mecer prides itself on being a techno-leader, and its PCs feature the latest international components and software. It has been one of the top-selling PC brands in South Africa for the past 20 years, and via Mustek, Mecer has a nationwide support structure with Sales and Service Centres in all the major metropolitan areas, and a third-party service network throughout South Africa.
The ultimate objective of the Department of Education’s TLI programme is to provide each and every teacher in South Africa with a laptop in order to streamline and optimise teaching-related and administrative tasks, including the access of information, effective communication and the storage of data. Each Provincial Department of Education will provide qualifying teachers with a monthly Teachers Laptop Allowance of R130.00 pm for 60 months, i.e. a total of R7,800.00 over 5 years. In order to qualify for the laptop allowance, teachers can only buy laptop bundles approved by the ELRC.
Mustek has developed a dedicated range of Mecer Xpression laptops especially for the Teaching Profession, and these laptops comply with all of the requirements specified by the Initiative. The laptops are stylish, lightweight and portable, and configured for all teaching-related and administrative tasks, each containing a Genuine Intel processor, DVD Read/Write Super Multi drive, embedded Intel Graphics Card, 10/100 TX Ethernet Card, 7-in-1 Card Reader, Intel HD Audio & Microphone, 1.3 MPixel camera, 3x USB 2.0 ports, Li-lon 6-cell battery (4.5 hrs), 3G USB Data Modem, Carry bag, 4GB USB Flash Disk and combination cable lock, as well as having 2 year comprehensive insurance and a 2 year warranty.
There are 3 different Mecer Xpression Teacher Laptop models available, viz. the Teacher 101, Teacher 201, and Teacher 301 with varying processors, RAMs and Hard Drives, ranging from R364.24 to R518.19 per month for 24 months, depending on the size of broadband bundle selected. All Mecer Xpression Teacher laptops also contain a wide range of FREE software, including Windows 7 Professional PPP Operating System, Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus Edition (Access, Excel, OneNote, Outlook, Powerpoint, Publisher, Visio, Word & Infopath), Microsoft Security Essentials Anti-virus, Microsoft Windows Live (including e-mail address), Microsoft Learning Suite for Schools (+25 programs for teaching and professional development), Intel Skool Website, (pre-loaded on hard drive), Mindset Website (pre-loaded on hard drive), DoE Thutong Website (pre-loaded on hard drive), SA-SAMS, Fax-to-Email, Mind Mapping, Paint.Net and Google Earth.
Mecer Xpression Teacher laptops are distributed through Mustek’s nationwide base of registered dealers. To find a local dealer or for more information, teachers can use one of the following Mustek contacts:
Call Centre:
011 237 1999
E-mail:
TLI@mustek.co.za
SMS:
TEACHER on 34007 (sms costs R2.00)