Macedonia to supply all school with GNU/Linux desktops

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia will deploy 180.000 computer workstations to all schools, running the GNU/Linux distribution Ubuntu and virtual desktop technology by NComputing.

According to a statement by the company the Macedonia Ministry of Education and Science will provide almost every elementary and secondary school student in the nation with his or her own desktop, using GNU/Linux and other Open Source software.

The company says its computer set-up costs about half that of other low cost PC installations tested.

The statement quotes Ivo Ivanovski, Macedonia’s Minister for the Information Society, calling the ministry’s ’Computer for Every Child initiative’ "the largest and most important education project undertaken in the 15-year history of the Republic of Macedonia. Our goal is to build a knowledge-based economy in which our entire workforce is educated in using information and communication technology within the next five years."

Already in 2004, Macedonia began using GNU/Linux to run PCs in it schools. A USAID sponsored project resulted in the GNU/Linux distribution Ubuntu being installed in 468 schools and 182 computer labs.

As part of that project, some ten thousand teachers from primary and secondary schools were trained in the use of GNU/Linux and other Open Source software applications. As part of the project, in 2005 some 82 wireless access points were installed in the country to provide rural and urban areas with free wireless Internet access.

Source: IDABC (The European Commission Open Source News)