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| SA schools get security tech boost |
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| BY TRACY BURROWS AND PAUL VECCHIATTO |
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| [Johannesburg, 5 February 2004] -
Internet security company Symantec has signed a deal with the Department of Education to donate R100 million worth of security technology to the roughly 28 000 schools throughout SA.Guiseppe Verrini, Symantec EMEA VP for sales and marketing, and education minister Kader Asmal signed the contract in Cape Town yesterday afternoon.In terms of the agreement, Norton Internet Security will be deployed at schools with fewer than 10 computers, and Symantec Anti-virus Enterprise Edition and Symantec Client Security will be implemented in technology centres with more than 10 workstations. Symantec will provide the software, daily virus definition updates via the Internet, access to scan engines and technical support via its help desk. The first installation will take place at GautengOnline schools this month.It is the latest in a series of moves by the IT industry to get South African schools connected.Asmal, who signed the deal after attending an African conference on open learning and distance education, reiterated the department's commitment to using ICT to enhance learning and teaching in SA.“Advances in information and communications technology have changed the learning and teaching process,” he said. “Symantec's donation supports the Department of Education's commitment to transform learning and teaching through ICT by ensuring a secure and protected online experience for our learners.”Verrini said the deal supports the government's e-Education White Paper, which states that by the middle of 2007, every school must have a computer and software for administrative purposes, 50% of all schools must have access to a networked computer facility for teaching and learning, 50% of all schools must have signed the Microsoft agreement and use the software, and that ICT facilities are being used effectively to facilitate ICT integration into teaching and learning and that the facilities are safe.Verrini said the estimated 16 000 schools that will have access to computers by the end of this year would have immediate access to the Symantec products.Symantec regional manager Patrick Evans said security was as important for schools as it was for business, to protect school records, confidential files and administration systems.Evans said the donation not only benefited SA's youth, but created jobs, since the education department would have to outsource implementation, maintenance and support of the IT infrastructure.“They will not have the expertise or the manpower to do so themselves,” Evans said. “Therefore, this agreement will facilitate the establishment of training programmes and small business incubators to develop community-based computer repair and maintenance businesses, as well as other ICT enterprises, thus supporting the government's greater objective of supporting and empowering the SMME sector in an extensive job creation effort.”
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