Every schoolchild in Uruguay is set to have a state-funded laptop computer by the end of this month, according to dpa. Programme coordinator Shirley Sirial confirmed Monday that the handout of the computers was close to completion. Over the past three years, about 400,000 laptops have been handed out to the children and teachers in 2,360 state primary schools around the country. Thirty-three schools in the capital, Montevideo, would get their share by the end of the month, Siriel said six weeks before the presidential election scheduled for October 25. The campaign was launched in 2006 by centre-left Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez and is set to have a total cost of about 120 million dollars. In remote regions in the small South American country, however, there are problems with internet access. "About 5,000 students still have no internet connection, but we will take care of the problem," said Miguel Brechner, president of Uruguay's Technological Laboratory. The so-called XO-Laptops were developed by the US company One Laptop per Child and were designed to cater to the needs of school children. They are robust and light, although they have smaller memories than other laptops. Including tax, each of these laptops costs 230 dollars. Luis Alberto Lacalle, Uruguay's conservative presidential candidate, complained that many schools in the country remain in a disastrous state. "So much money is being spent on the laptops although people know that the toilets, the classrooms and the roofs of many schools need improvements," he told the daily El Pais.
