Will public schools use Microsoft or open source?

By Erwin Lemuel Oliva, INQ7.net

THERE is now a brewing issue on whether government should use Microsoft or open source-based software in the second phase of the "PCs for Public Schools Project" of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), says a government source privy to the bidding.

Dita Maralit, director for special concerns of the DTI and in charge of the PCs for Public Schools project stressed, however, that the brewing war between proponents of Microsoft and open source software "is not an issue."

"People are batting for Microsoft while some are pushing for open source software. That is not an issue. [The bidding] is a long process so we must be careful. The bidding is still in the process," Maralit told INQ7.net in a telephone interview.

She said that according to the terms of reference of the project, the software to be used in the project is a choice among three operating systems: Windows, open source, and Mac-based software.

She added that the project proponents are currently at the stage of post-qualifying the bids, and expect to have the PCs deployed by June 2006, noting that she cannot discuss details until the winning bid is announced.

The DTI is allocating 500 million pesos for this project that hopes to distribute about 12,000 desktop computers to 1,200 schools in the Philippines. These computers will come with software.

The Japanese government is giving over 500 million pesos in a grant for the DTI to roll out the third phase of the PCs for Public Schools program.

The agency has distributed more then 30,000 computers to over 2,000 Philippine public high schools since the program was launched in 2000.

The DTI is the proponent of this project; the Department of Education is its implementing partner. The Department of Science and Technology is also developing courseware for integration into the program. Gilas Foundation will provide Internet access to the schools provided with computers.