Insufficient IT resources in schools - that does not compute

Teaching Matters: To err is human. To really foul things up requires a computer. Various people, from Dan Rather to Paul Ehrlich are credited with coining that piece of homespun wisdom, writes Breda O'Brien

However, as second-level schools - particularly in the voluntary secondary sector - wearily point out, not having computers at all (or else having clapped-out, defunct models) fouls things up pretty badly, too. For years now we have been told that science and technology are critical factors in the development of a creative and competitive knowledge-based economy in Ireland. Don't tell that to information and communication technology (ICT) co-ordinators in schools, or you are likely to have a large (and probably outdated) computer manual thrown at you. How are we supposed to build a knowledge-based economy without a coherent long-term strategy for schools? The last major tranche of money for ICT in schools was rolled out by the Department of Education and Science (DES) in 2000.

While the grants were welcome, computers purchased at that time are already in need of replacement. In the high-usage environment of a school, PCs need to be no more than four years old if they are to be effective and relatively trouble-free.

Being a secondary teacher who is an ICT co-ordinator is probably a fast-track either to a mental breakdown or sainthood, such are the demands on their time from staff, management and pupils. A typical day might include a distress call from management who have just discovered that the administration programme - through which all returns are made to the DES on pupil numbers, exam candidates and subjects - is mysteriously refusing to perform a standard function, and the support line cannot help. Meanwhile, a teacher of French is cracking up because the only data projector in the school is not working, and three hours of preparation and his classes for the week are about to go down the tubes. Next, a sheepish student confesses that he thought he knew how to download something from the internet, but instead he seems to have crashed the network. He knows that it states in large print on posters all around the computer room that pupils are forbidden to attempt to install or download anything without permission, but he says it worked fine at home. While all of this is going on, the ICT co-ordinator has the small matter of classes to teach, but crisis management becomes the order of the day.

Things have improved, believe it or not, but there is a long way to go. For example, the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE), the Government agency charged with providing advice, support and information on ICT in education does an impressive amount on a small budget, but it too is hamstrung by lack of resources. There are immediate practical steps that could help.

Schools are being buried in paperwork, and the NCTE should be given the go-ahead to commission or purchase a central administration package. It would be wonderful to have one robust and well-designed package that could satisfy the needs of schools, the DES, and all other agencies that require returns of data, such as the National Educational Welfare Board, the State Examination Commission and the Special Educational Needs organisers. It is standard practice for local education authorities in Britain to provide such a package for schools, which results in much of the wasteful and frustrating duplication of paper and electronic records being eliminated. Such a package should also have a support helpline, and ideally should be web-based. Again, training would have to be provided for all staff in how to make the best use of it.

Technical support is a key issue. It is insane to expect a full-time teacher to also function as a technical support person. Sadly, support does not come cheap. Every school should have access to rapid technical help, either in the form of a person on site or on a consultancy basis. Either way, the cost is about the same. It is impossible to imagine a business, no matter how small, functioning without technical support, so why do we expect complex organisations such as schools to be able to make do without? At the moment, schools are often dependent on expertise supplied by past-pupils or parents on a voluntary basis, and there is only so much you can ask such a person to do.

Schools need a guaranteed annual ICT budget to allow for the purchase, maintenance and repair of computers and ancillary equipment. The Joint Managerial Board (JMB) has a hardworking ICT committee that gives its time voluntarily. It proposes that the best way to fund ICT is by an annual index-linked grant of around €130 per child.

You can hear hollow laughter already from parents and teachers in schools where the rain still comes in through the roof, but it should not be a choice between decent premises and decent ICT. The JMB ICT committee also suggests a ratio of one PC to every five children, and that the post of ICT co-ordinator should be outside the ordinary schedule of posts, in the same way as Transition Year or Leaving Cert. Vocational Programme co-ordinator is currently an additional post in schools.

Proper central planning and funding for ICT is long overdue. If Ireland's claims to being a knowledge-based economy are to have any credibility, this vital teaching and learning tool cannot be neglected any longer.

Breda O'Brien is a teacher at Dominican College, Muckross Park, Dublin