On the 7th June 2010 our Provincial Education Department announced that it will start implementing the Teacher Laptop Initiative with effect from the 1st April 2010. According to the circular released by the department, the allowance (R130 per month) will be granted to educators who comply with the following requirements, inter alia:-
- Employed by the Department of Education (DoE) in terms of the “Employment of Educators Act 1998”;
- Appointed on nature of appointment 25 or 27;
- Have the following rank codes: 62001, 62002, 62003, 62022, 62032, 62023, 62033, 62024, 62034, 62044, 62054, 62064, 62074, 62084, 62094, 62104, 62114, 62124, 62011, 62021, 61021 and 61022.
The purpose of the allowance is to “assist the educator in their learning and teaching experience as well as the administration of their learning and teaching.” (Government Gazette 32207:10)
I had a look at the financial implications of the TLI for educators and decided to share the findings with other teachers.
Firstly, let’s have a look at what the DoE has put on the table for calculating the allowance.
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The Minimum Specification in Schedule A (Government Gazette 32207:7)
Requirements | R |
Hardware (probably a netbook) | 4,000 |
Software (discounted) | 350 |
Insurance | 1,200 |
Internet Connectivity (min. 500MB) | 6,000 |
TOTAL | 11,550 |
Caption: Based on Government Gazette 32207:12
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I would like to highlight an error in calculation. The total was indicated as R11,750 in the gazette. I could not come to the same answer when I recalculated the total.
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Figure 1: The percentage each requirement contributes to the overall cost over 60 months.
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Figure 2: An indication of who will carry the bill. The DoE Allowance will cover 68% of the cost with the allowance and the educator will pay the 32% over the 60 months.
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After looking at the graphs and costs involved, I was quite impressed that the DoE was willing to contribute two-thirds of the overall costs incurred by the educator. I felt this would go a long way in assisting educators change their working conditions.
This changed when I looked at the numbers within a potential scenario. I realised that the DoE is not contributing as much as I had initially thought. In fact, the educator may pay as much as 60% (may be more) of the overall cost even with the allowance. Here are the findings.
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The Minimum Specification in Schedule A (Government Gazette 32207:7)
Requirements | R |
Hardware (entry level laptop) | 4,500 |
Insurance (estimate: R70 pm) | 4,200 |
Internet Connectivity (ADSL 1GB @ R169 pm) | 10,140 |
TOTAL | 18,840 |
Caption: I have excluded the software costs because I am not sure of the current price of Microsoft Office Enterprise under the current Microsoft Agreement.
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Figure 3: The percentage each requirement contributes to the overall cost over 60 months.
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Figure 4: An indication of who will carry the bill. The DoE Allowance will cover 41% of the cost with the allowance and the educator will pay the 59% over the 60 months.
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I am uncertain of the insurance cost for a laptop but the laptop and internet costs are a true reflection of the current market prices. The current prices are almost double the cost of the base calculation used by the DoE to calculate the allowance. If you divide the overall cost by 60 months the amount per month is equal to R314 as opposed to the DoE’s R192.
In the DoE’s calculations, the educator pays in R60 per month (R192-R130) whereas in my findings the educator could end up paying R184 per month (R314-R130). Remember, I have excluded the cost of the mandatory software and may have underestimated the monthly cost of laptop insurance which is also mandatory.
In conclusion, the TLI may help jump start the adoption of laptop usage amongst educators and that is a move in the right direction. Remember, the DoE did not offer this sort of financial assistance in the past. However, it is important that educators are aware of the potential costs (not controlled by the DoE) that may be incurred by choosing to own a laptop and exercise the necessary prudence to ensure that the technology they would like to adopt does not become a financial burden.
