Schools 'just playing catch-up' with laptops
Tuesday November 17 2009
EDUCATION Minister Batt O'Keeffe has admitted the €150m investment in school laptops announced yesterday is simply playing 'catch-up' with other countries which have 'leapfrogged' us in investment.
As disclosed in the Irish Independent on November 9, a €150m plan for 'smart schools' will see every classroom in the country getting a teaching lap-top, software and digital projector over the next three years.
As a first step, primary schools will get €22m before the end of this year with the money coming from the capital budget.
This transfer was defended by the minister who said it amounted to only two per cent of the capital spending. He said he had achieved "savings" of 30pc on the capital programme this year.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen defended the decision to plough funds into the sector when the Government was coming under fire for planned cuts in the upcoming Budget.
"We have got to recognise that despite difficult economic times there are strategic decisions that have to be made about investing in the future of our children, the future of our students, the future of education," he said.
The new action plan has been produced by a joint advisory group established by Mr O'Keeffe and was chaired by Paul Rellis, managing director of Microsoft Ireland.
Report
Launching the report, 'Smart Schools = Smart Economy', in St Joseph's National School, Terenure, Dublin, the Taoiseach said: "The Government recognises the need for investment in this area and it is committed to providing funding to support the integration of information communications technology in teaching and learning in our schools."
Mr Rellis has agreed to remain on as chair of an implementation group to oversee the introduction of the recommended changes.
The report says that to match international norms of five pupils per computer would require a total of 170,000 computers. It estimates that the current supply of computers in schools less than six years old could be as low as 30,000.
The incoming general secretary of the INTO, Sheila Nunan, said the €22m in grants to primary schools before the end of this year equate to €44 per child. Broadband connectivity and teacher training would have to be addressed as a matter of urgency, she said. "Putting a laptop into a school with no broadband is the same as giving someone a car without any roads," she added.
- John Walshe Education Editor
Irish Independent
