''What we are saying here today is very important for the country''. With these words the Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communications, Mário Lino started the presentation in the morning of a new ambition of the Portuguese government for the Information Society. Within the scope of the Technological Plan the e-school programme was made public. This programme is going to create conditions, in a phased manner, so that over half a million Portuguese have access to a portable computer and broadband Internet at low prices.
The programme was developed by the government in close co-operation with the main software, hardware and equipment companies and with the participation of telecommunication operators. PT and TMN appear as natural partners of this project and aim at massifying broadband access in Portugal and celebrating a protocol for the constitution of the Fund for the Information Society with two other operators and with the government, in the value of 25 million euros. This fund is to be used to finance projects aimed at the development and promotion of the Information Society and it will be responsible for the e-school, e-teachers and e-opportunities programmes that comprises the initiative.
TMN, together with two other national mobile communications operators, signed the protocol with the government for the creation of a Fund for the Information Society
Escola Secundária Eça de Queirós, in Lisbon, welcomed this initiative that gathered various members of the Portuguese government and representatives of the partner companies of this programme namely Henrique Granadeiro, Chairman of the PT Group and Luís Avelar, Director of TMN, who signed the protocols.
''To encourage the generalisation of the Knowledge Society'', was one of the aims expressed by the Chairman of the PT Group for this initiative. ''This programme is going to accelerate and encourage this path that PT has been treading which is the massification of broadband''.
Luís Avelar highlighted that at TMN there has been ''a great effort to increase penetration in broadband. This project will allow the country to boast an infrastructure not only of telecommunications but also of terminals that can promote an Information Society''.
''If we want Portugal to have an Information Society there are three points which have to be considered: we need to have a modern infrastructure that will cover the whole country; to massify the use of computers; and to massify broadband access'', explained the Portuguese Prime Minister.
José Sócrates who closed this public presentation still added that ''broadband is today a public service as important as the telephone and electricity were in the past''.
The event was broadcast via the PT webconference service that allowed various schools in Portugal to watch the presentation.
A computer per student, per teacher and per trainee
The project presented comprises three programmes to combat info exclusion and so that the computer and the Internet can become the most used learning tools.
The e-school programme:
This programme is going to start on 15th September and it will guarantee that students enrolled in 10th grade in the next three years can acquire computers with broadband access at accessible prices. For students enrolled in the School Social Action the computer can be purchased by paying an initial amount and then a monthly payment of five euros for broadband access. Students from low income families will pay 15 euros per month and won’t need to make an initial payment. For the remaining students the pack consists of a portable computer and broadband access for an initial payment of 150 euros and a monthly payment five euros less than offers of operators that adhered to the programme.
The e-teacher programme:
This programme is going to start on 15th September and will allow all the teachers of elementary and secondary schools to acquire a portable computer for an initial payment of 150 euros and broadband Access for a monthly payment five euros less than offers of operators that adhered to the programme.
The e-opportunities programme:
Available as of next Monday for workers undergoing training within the scope of the New Opportunities it guarantees an offer with an initial payment of 15 euros and a monthly payment of 15 euros for the acquisition of a portable compute rand broadband access.
For more information visit www.eescola.net