Fears for ICT in schools as election looms

The head of one of the largest employers in the State has expressed fears that the upcoming election could further delay the Government's long-awaited ICT in schools strategy and ultimately put economic prosperity at risk.

Martin Murphy, managing director of HP Ireland, which employs 4,000 people at its inkjet printer facility in Leixlip, Co Kildare, and is, along with Intel and Microsoft, seen as among the State's most important US multinational investors, has said that he is frustrated by the slow progress of the schools ICT agenda.

"My fear is that the whole IT in schools issue is going to fall down the agenda in the coming months as the Government concentrates on what it sees as more important electoral issues," he says.

His comments come at a time when the Government has pledged an additional € 252 million to be spent on ICT in education as part of the new National Development Plan (NDP) announced last week. This comes on top of spending of € 170 million between 1998 and 2005 on schools ICT, including € 114 million on capital supports and €30 million on the schools broadband scheme.

Responding to the ICT provisions in the NDP, Mr Murphy points out that less that 0.5 per cent of the total spending of € 184 billion was earmarked for ICT in education, a share which he hoped "was not reflective of the overall priority given to ICT".

He nevertheless describes the planned investment as "a good starting point" for the work that needs to be done in this area. "The next stage is the execution which is all about how we spend it - and we need to take a structured approach to that," he says.

Despite the significant levels of funding, the Government has frequently been criticised for not having a coherent overall plan for ICT, in particular for not having updated its ICT in Education strategy since 2002.

Last November, in response to an Opposition question about the status of the strategy, Minister for Education and Science Mary Hanafin said that an updated strategy covering the 2007-2013 period would be produced by her department "some time in 2007".

Notwithstanding these assurances, Mr Murphy is concerned that action is not being taken quickly enough. He feels there is insufficient urgency and also that any forthcoming strategy has to be accompanied by a detailed plan with milestones and targets.

Following Ms Hanafin's comments in the Dáil, Mr Murphy sent her a letter in early December, outlining his concerns and suggesting a fast-track approach that would involve the formation of an advisory group to help produce an ICT strategy by mid-2007, an action plan to implement the strategy from mid-year onwards, and the initiation of several pilot projects within schools in early 2007.

At time of going to press, Mr Murphy had not received a reply from Ms Hanafin's office to his proposals.

Elaborating on how his mooted advisory board would work, he says it would consist of IT industry representatives.

He says HP is willing to sit on the board and take a leadership role if so invited, and feels that his counterparts in other large technology firms would also be keen to get involved. He stresses, however, that the board's role would be a supporting one; the task of driving the initiative should remain the responsibility of government.

While HP, the largest technology company in the State in revenue terms, is keen to be seen as a "good corporate citizen" on education and other major issues, it is no secret that the company would probably be one of the main beneficiaries of a large-scale ICT-in-education programme because of its strong track record in the area. In March 2003 the company was awarded a € 107 million contract to provide and manage the technology infrastructure for the groundbreaking Classroom 2000 (C2K) education project in Northern Ireland, a 10-year plan to give all students from primary to university level access to their own PC, email address and broadband access.

However, Mr Murphy denies that ICT in education is "simply a vehicle for HP to make money" and insists there is a wider issue at stake, namely nurturing the skills and knowledge needed to allow the economy to compete globally.

He takes issue with those who argue that the educational system is good enough as it stands, the "proof" being that it has been one of the cornerstones of recent economic success.

"We can't live on past glories," he says. "What was good enough before is not necessarily good enough now."