Juan Ameen
Hundreds of students went to Valletta yesterday morning to take advantage of the Microsoft package offered by the Ministry for Investment, Industry and Information Technology and Microsoft Corporation.
People started queuing as early as five o’clock in the morning to to make sure they got their package. One student, Daniela Apap, said she had been waiting for over one-and-a-half hours. When she joined the queue at 9.30am, its end was near the HSBC Bank in Republic Street.
One man commented that even though it was a long wait, it was a very quiet and orderly queue. In fact he pointed out that “it is a good lesson as it teaches the Maltese how to queue quietly”.
Other people were wiser as they asked their boyfriends or parents to keep their place in the queue and stepped in when their turn arrived. On the whole, the queue moved relatively fast and once the pace picked up, it did not take longer than an hour to reach the counter.
The line of people waiting to pick up their package did not stop growing and as the day went by, more and more people kept turning up.
Dr Austin Gatt, Minister for Investment, Industry and Information Technology, attended the registration of software packages at the Royal Opera House site in Valletta yesterday.
He said that so far the response has been extremely satisfactory. Two years ago over 32,000 students took advantage of a similar offer provided by the Ministry and Microsoft.
The ministry teamed up with Microsoft Corporation to boost the digital skills of Maltese students. This resulted in an investment by Microsoft Corporation in subsidies of Microsoft software. This alliance gave all Maltese students and teachers the opportunity to acquire the Microsoft package for a fraction of its original cost.
The software package includes: the latest version of Microsoft Office, Encarta, Class Server 2.0 and Visual Studio. Visual Studio is offered to encourage people to try out this specialised field, and to help the industry by providing it with people proficient in the programme.
Class Server creates a system that allows students and teachers to continue their lessons after school from the comfort of their home. It is a way of complementing the lessons done at school. Students can send their homework and assignments through the Internet and work closely with their teachers.
This system also allows teachers to provide feedback, comments, give extra help as well as keep in touch with parents. Once students register for this product, it will soon be up and running in private and public schools.
The original price of this package is Lm790 but is being offered at Lm13.99. This offer is open for all registered students and targets over 70,000 students and teachers. The package is offered free of charge to people with a disability.