There have been complaints from Islamabad schools regarding the refurbished Chromebooks provided to them for education. These Chromebooks were reportedly faulty to the point some wouldn’t even turn on.
As a result, the Ministry of Education has now formally ordered the inspection of the refurbished Chromebooks in question. Not only that but certificates confirming the satisfaction of school heads will also be obtained as part of this inspection.
The directive comes from Secretary of Education Mohyuddin Ahmad Wani, who ordered the inspection of Chromebooks via an official letter to the Director General Federal Directorate of Education (FDE).
The letter says:
This letter is aimed to ensure that all Chromebooks and charges supplied to schools under the joint initiative of the Federal Directorate of Education and National Book Foundation are thoroughly inspected for functionality before delivery.
The refurbished Chromebooks, which were 12,500 in total, were acquired by the Ministry of Education through the National Book Foundation. Each unit was bought for Rs. 11,900 through a tendering process. Sources within the ministry have revealed that 4,000 devices out of the total 12,500 have been supplied so far while the rest will be delivered soon.
The reason for choosing refurbished Chromebooks was due to budget constraints, as per the Ministry’s statement. He said:
Due to budget shortage, we opted for refurbished Chromebooks to facilitate as many institutions as possible. Each device cost Rs. 11,900, and the purchase was made through a competitive bidding process
Additionally, the FDE is working on acquiring another 10,000 Chromebooks for schools via a new tender within the next few days.
