Recession plan to hire computers for schools
- Published: 02 November 2008
Source : Sunday Tribune
Recession plan to hire computers for schoolsConor McMorrow
THE Department of Education may start to lease computers from IT companies for use in schools if they cannot afford to buy them during the recession.
The Sunday Tribune can reveal that education minister Batt O'Keefe met a number of leading IT firms last week to negotiate a 'computers for schools' deal as the downturn takes hold.
The government's pledge to invest €252m in information technology for schools in the National Development Plan 2007-2013 is under threat and the minister is understood to be exploring alternative ways of providing computers for primary and secondary schools.
O'Keefe met with representatives from Apple, Hewlett Packard and Microsoft last week, in the midst of the controversy over education cuts contained in the budget, in a bid to find "innovative" ways of providing computer hardware for schools.
The education minister will meet with representatives from Dell, Intel and Lenovo (formerly IBM) in the coming days as he attempts to hammer out a deal with the IT industry.
Speaking to the Sunday Tribune, O'Keefe said: "I recognise the integral importance of information technology in the learning process in primary and second level. The straitened economic times in which we live will demand affordable and innovative solutions to enhance our IT capacity in schools around the country.
"I have started a process in which I have asked the industry for their input and expertise and they have responded very positively. The industry is now looking at a number of options and will come back to me in the very near future with ways that show how we can work together in the interests of the children in our schools."
The government invests millions of euro each year in teacher-training programmes in IT and claims that more than 90% of all schools have access to broadband. But unless O'Keefe can negotiate a deal with companies to provide computers for schools, that broadband provision will be rendered useless.
November 2, 2008
