Cheap PCs for the classroom

By Adam Gifford

The founder of an Auckland company which recycles old computers for use in schools hopes a new Government-backed initiative will stop school boards wasting money on unnecessary equipment.

Bob Lye, director of The Ark, says the Computer Access New Zealand (CANZ) project should allow schools to meet their IT needs for a reasonable price.

"You have schools which are using Pentiums to teach kids to type. That's nonsense. There's a mountain of good 386s out there which are ideal for that," Mr Lye says.

"A lot of boards of trustees only want the best - they want to drink champagne on a beer budget."

The Ark, a not-for-profit company, has been selling computers to schools for several years. Its activities came under threat last year when the Ministry of Education warned schools all their machines must be year 2000 compliant.

This warning, Mr Lye says, led to schools being ripped off by dealers charging up to $80 a machine for "testing" and teachers becoming even more technology shy.

"I went down to Wellington and kicked some doors down," Mr Lye said.

The outcome was CANZ, coordinated by the Wellington City Council-backed 2020 Communications Trust and involving The Ark and Wellington's PC Recycling Channel. It is supported by the Ministry of Education.

Businesses and government organisations are being asked to donate surplus equipment so it can be refurbished and sold for a modest cost under the Computer Access brand and warranty.

The project aims to be able to sell a PC with a 486 processor, 200mb hard drive or bigger, 16mb or RAM, a network card, monitor and licensed Windows 95 and Microsoft Works software, for $450.

Ministry of Education information technology in schools project manager Carol Moffatt says it gives schools far more chance of meeting the ratio the Government is aiming for of one computer for every five students.

"A mix of new and old makes sense for many schools. To achieve the desired ratio with new computers would cost the country over $100 million a year, and that level of funding is just not available," she says.

"Recycled computers are letting schools browse the Internet, download learning resources, use e-mail and run word processing, spreadsheets and basic graphics software."

Mr Lye says recyclers must be able to perform to the CANZ code of ethics and work to the price limits they set.

"It make the recyclers totally accountable, and should get rid of the turkeys doing a quick hit and run," he says. "I hope it brings respectability to the recycled product and helps overcome teacher fears and apathy."

Mr Lye says the recycling companies will be more viable if they have a supply of donated computers to work with. In the past they have had to get all their machines through competitive tenders.

The Ark prefers to stick with name bands, after finding the cheaper clones don't have the robustness to cope with a second lease of life.

Mr Lye says a major piece of the jigsaw still to be resolved is the licence price for the Microsoft operating system and bundled software.

"The Ministry of Education can't negotiate with Microsoft on behalf of schools because it's only a policy agency. So the cudgel is being taken up by Carol [Moffatt] on behalf of CANZ."