School laptop promise falters as supplier cannot honour prices

The government’s school laptop rollout has hit a supply problem after its contracted supplier informed the Education Ministry it could no longer honour agreed financial terms, an internal circular obtained by The Shift reveals.

The circular, dated 3 November, warns that the development will “inevitably affect” planned deliveries of new laptops to Year 4 and Year 7 students.

Yet the ministry’s communication does not name the supplier, disclose the value of the affected contracts or explain why the prices agreed through public procurement have become unworkable.

Instead, Year 7 students who received laptops during primary school will keep using those devices as they move into secondary education.

Year 4 pupils will bear the main impact, according to the ministry, as no replacement delivery date is given.

The devices were meant to be supplied under framework agreements covering several years. The ministry says it is seeking alternative solutions but identifies no replacement supplier or concrete arrangement to restore deliveries.

Public procurement records identify Newtech Ltd, a company of the Demajo Group, as the winner of the Year 4 laptop framework tender.

Its award notice lists an admissible tender of €13.22 million against an original estimate of €24.96 million.

So far, the Education Ministry, headed by Byron Camilleri, has failed to declare whether it demanded continued performance, sought compensation or considered other contractual remedies.

The Government’s scheme of diving out devices is not by itself ensuring digital competence.

A European Commission’s 2025 report noted that 52% of Malta’s eighth-grade students underachieved in computer and information literacy, compared with 43% across the EU.