TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen will today unveil a major investment in computers for schools, amid criticism that Irish schoolchildren are losing out in the digital revolution.
Mr Cowen is expected to commit about €150 million to a new plan providing laptops and computer software for every school in the State.
The Government has been stung into action by criticism from former Intel chief Dr Craig Barrett at the recent Farmleigh summit.
He said Ireland needed a “new game plan” if it hopes to compete in the new Knowledge Economy.
At present, Irish schools are lagging well behind leading OECD states in the provision of information and computer technologies. (ICT).
A new report, due to be published at today’s launch, also warns how competitor states have moved ahead of Ireland in the digital revolution.
The Smart Economy, Smart Schoolsreport comes from a hi-tech industry advisory group, chaired by Paul Reillis of Microsoft Ireland.
The new investment plan will see laptops in every classroom and much closer integration of ICT in all elements of teaching and learning. There are also new commitments to teacher training and technical supports.
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. In Northern Ireland, some €75 million is spent annually on school ICT and all principals and teachers have laptops for educational use.
Earlier this year the roll-out of a new, “cutting edge” maths course for Leaving and Junior Cert classes had to be scaled back because of a lack of computer support in schools.
The Government is financing the new ICT programme from savings made in the school building programme where over €200 million in funding has still to be allocated.
Last night INTO general secretary John Carr said there had been no Government funding towards the purchase, upgrade, maintenance or repair of computers for almost a decade.
The Teachers’ Union of Ireland said the country’s ICT structure in schools has more in common with some third-world countries than that of an economically-successful member of the EU.