Are used computers the best thing for our schools?

It’s been over a year since a shipment of donated, used computers arrived in Goa for installation across schools in the state. A survey conducted recently examines how successful the project has been and what issues and concerns it has thrown up. Frederick Noronha outlines some of the lessons learned from the Goa Schools Computers Project

The jury is still out. There’s considerable debate over whether it makes sense to ship in used PCs from abroad for use in schools in India. Networks like the US-based GKD (Global Knowledge for Development) have animatedly debated this subject. Africa could have a different perspective from Asia. Views of people involved may have changed along the way. Local hardware vendors might judge it from the point of unwelcome competition. Declining hardware costs, and alternative ways of doing things, might have changed the equation drastically. If software didn’t keep turning into bloatware all the time, perhaps we would have had less redundant computers, in all parts of the globe.

So, does shipping in recycled computers make sense?

Daryl Martyris, a formerly Mumbai-based engineer-journalist and man of many roles, was involved in a project to ship in computers to Goa. Recently, the Goa Schools Computers Project (GSCP) came up with some interesting results from a survey. This probably needs closer scrutiny, as thousands of schools examine their options across India, in terms of their computerisation plans.

Says Martyris: "Over the last two years as we’ve been using recycled equipment (and open-source software) in Goa as part of the Goa Schools Computers Project (GSCP), I’ve come across a lot of criticism about spending money on computers vs. on books and teachers, and also on the dangers of using recycled equipment."

But he argues that a survey conducted earlier this year showed that "76 percent of the GSCP PCs installed by schools are still working." He said the study was done almost a year after the PCs were distributed to schools. 99 schools participated in the study, accounting for 280 of the PCs.

In January 2002, GSCP had provided 360 PCs to 125 schools. About two-thirds of these PCs were based on the GNU/Linux operating system and the remaining worked on Microsoft Windows. While GSCP was responsible for installing and maintaining LTSP (Linux Terminal Server Project) at 20 schools, it also provided a six-month maintenance guarantee for all PCs.

"Of the balance (non-working), some are beyond repair, but others are simply waiting for school headmasters or headmistresses to take them for repairs (since we don’t have enough volunteers to go around to all the schools and our six-month guarantee has now expired)," says Martyris.

Lower maintenance

The cost of maintaining this equipment was found to be about 30 percent of what an annual maintenance contract (AMC) for new PCs would cost. Martyris argues that even if schools were not subsidised by GSCP for the first six months and were to pay "full-price" for maintaining their PCs, the cost would not exceed the average cost of an AMC for a new PC. This, he said, was thanks in a large part due to availability of parts from other recycled PCs designated as spares.

"The results of this study demonstrate that maintaining recycled equipment does not have significantly higher cost than new equipment, and that donated recycled PCs in Goa are not a liability," argues Martyris.

But, he felt the need for accountability from school authorities to get timely help to maintain the PCs. "There is also the need to educate school principals on the benefits of open-source software," he commented recently.

Flip-flop

Martyris maintains that the study reveals other interesting facts. For instance, one year later, 18 percent of schools have still not installed their equipment (i.e. installed electricity points in the lab, UPS etc), and these schools are predominantly those that have received Linux stand-alone PCs and Apple Macintoshes rather than LTSP or Windows PCs. He interpreted this to possibly mean that schools are more prone to spend money on infrastructure if they are given a "familiar OS."

Incidentally, the Goa government, which earlier gave indications of a pro-GNU/Linux sentiment for its Cyberage scheme—offering virtually-free computers to Standard XI students—has also taken a similar stand. Subsequent to its earlier Linux bent, it spent a crore of rupees on Windows licences, after negotiating with Microsoft for lower pricing and arguing that students were finding it difficult to use an operating system that they were not familiar with (Linux).

More recently, the GSCP has been focusing on what it calls CAT and AWA—computer-assisted teaching and after-hours access. This, it feels, would help make the computer labs sustainable. "Both are a reality in a handful of schools thanks to a small ‘hierarchy’ of three people and a handful of volunteers who lend a hand every now and then," says Martyris.

Meanwhile, Steve Cisler announced details of a recent study conducted by him, on the Solaris mailing list hosted on Sarai.net in Delhi. It looks at the history of technology companies making donations to schools, tech centres, and telecentres. Says Cisler: "It (the paper) begins in the 1920s and concludes with a new initiative by Microsoft in developing countries. As someone who has been engaged in these types of donations, I thought this would be a good time to reflect on the trade-offs and expectations about this kind of corporate giving and whether you should be suspicious of geeks bearing gifts.

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