THE Irish National Teachers' Organisation has said it is "regressive and irresponsibly Luddite" to think that Irish primary school children can be prepared for the modern world without access to computers.
Introducing a policy document on information technology in primary education yesterday, the INTO general secretary, Senator Joe O'Toole, said: "The keyboard today is as central to communication as the quill, the pencil, the nib and the pen were in former years. The computer is as important as libraries.
He said that while Ireland had the fastest-growing computer industry in Europe, the school system in Ireland had the lowest level of computerisation in the EU.
"Our record in this area is embarrassing. In Northern Ireland, for instance, every education board area has an information technology co-ordinator. Most schools there have a promoted post for a teacher as IT co-ordinator," said Mr O'Toole.
He also called for the connection of Irish schools to the World Wide Web, thus creating "the cheapest possible access to communications and compensating for Ireland's remote geographical location".
In 1994 an INTO survey found that 35 per cent of primary schools did not have access to a computer and a further 30 per cent had access to only one. Most schools had to raise funds to buy hardware and then were unable to afford the necessary software. The Department of Education had done nothing to address these problems since then, said Senator O'Toole.
That survey had found "an unacceptable lack of Department funding for provision of computers in schools; no standardisation of equipment, and a lack of support services and training for teachers".
The INTO report urges the Department to carry out a national survey to identify primary schools' computer and specialised teacher-training needs; and to introduce immediate training programmes for teachers.