NSW government makes statewide computer drop off to HSC students
The New Sales Wales government has delivered more than 10,000 computers to year 12 students across the state over the past week to ensure they have access to the new HSC Hub during the school holidays until the end of their exams.
A spokesperson for the NSW Education Department told ZDNet the computers were supplied by various tech vendors including Apple, Acer, Dell, and HP.
"We periodically go to market and conduct a competitive tender process for devices for educational usage. We sourced the computers via a number of these successful vendors," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added how the department worked closely with schools to identify students who needed access to a device.
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"The distribution of devices will ensure year 12 students have ongoing access to support from their teachers. Importantly, students provided with devices and dongles will be allowed to keep them until the completion of their HSC exams," NSW Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning Sarah Mitchell said.
"We have provided more than 10,000 additional devices to schools, prioritising HSC students, and we have over 1,000 more devices ready for distribution should the need arise.
"It has been a disruptive term for our HSC students, and I want to make sure that going forward they have as little distractions as possible. Ensuring access to the HSC Hub through these additional devices is a good way of doing that."
The HSC Hub is a one-stop shop to allow students access to HSC support material created by the department, including online lectures, demonstrations, as well as access to external resources.
The Victorian government provided similar support to school students in April to enable remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It partnered with Telstra to provide an additional 21,000 internet dongles to support students while they were learning from home.
"We're making sure no child misses out on learning during this period -- providing a device to every child that needs one as well as internet access to thousands of Victorian students," said Victoria Minister for Education James Merlino.
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