Every school classroom in the State is to get a laptop, software and a digital projector over the next three years under a €150 million plan to bring Irish schoolchildren “up to speed” with the digital revolution.
Details of the plan were announced by Taoiseach Brian Cowen at the launch today of a report by the hi-tech industry advisory group, chaired by Paul Rellis of Microsoft Ireland.
The Smart Economy, Smart Schoolsreport identified an "infrastructural deficit" in schools' basic technology systems that needed to be addressed to ensure that Ireland keeps pace with global technological developments.
The report recommended an initial investment package of €150 million to provide computers coupled with educational software and digital projection.
It suggested the investment was necessary to close the current infrastructure gap, and would need to be followed with an annual budget in the region of €30 million for “support, rolling replacement and enhancement of the service”.
The report comes amid growing criticism that Irish schools were lagging behind their counterparts in other OECD countries in the provision of information and computer technology.
Mr Cowen said the Government recognised the need for investment in the integration of information communications technology (ICT) in teaching and learning in Irish schools.
The Government’s investment plan would see €22 million in grants issued to primary schools before the end of this year. "Priority would be given to ensuring that there is a teaching laptop and digital projector in every classroom,” Mr Cowen said.
Under the plan, funding for post-primary schools would be made available early in the next year and schools would be prevailed upon to give priority to the purchase of equipment for classrooms used for the teaching of maths to support the rollout of the Government’s curricular reform plan, Project Maths.
Mr Cowen said the funding would be complemented by specific investment in the school building programme, which provides for all new classrooms to be fully equipped with ICT equipment.
The plan also includes funding to continue the roll-out of the schools broadband programme.
Speaking today, Mr Rellis said: “The report is not simply a vision statement but a plan of action. It sets out what needs to be done to improve the education system which, in turn, will help Ireland regain its position as a competitive, successful economy.
“The better use of technology in schools is vital to ensuring that students leave with the skills needed to participate fully in today's modern economy,” he said. “The report sets out how industry believes this can be done."
Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe said: “The potential of ICT as a motivational tool to engage students and to enrich and enliven teaching across the curriculum is well recognised.”
Last night the INTO expressed serious reservations about the new investment which would do little, it says, to narrow the “technology gap’’ with other OECD states.
A recent survey of computers in schools found one in five cannot be used and more than 50 per cent are at least four years old.
The Republic has one of the lowest rates of ICT usage in education in the developed world. It is close to the bottom of OECD tables in relation to ICT.
The National Development Plan had proposed spending €252 million on ICT in schools over the next seven years but none of this funding has been available to date due to government cutbacks.
