The Government will spend £24 million implementing its Information Technology policy programme for schools before the end of this year, the Minister for Education and Science, Mr al Martin, has said. The central element of the programme will involve grants to first- and second-level schools for the purchase of computer equipment. Under the Schools IT 2000 project, which was launched as a policy document last November, the Minister promised to concentrate on classroom resources and teacher skills. According to the Minister, who announced the latest investment in Dublin yesterday, £15 million will be provided to primary and post-primary schools to purchase computer equipment, £3 million will go towards the provision of in-service training for teachers and £6 million will be provided for other schemes to support schools and teachers to integrate information technology into a range of educational programmes.
In the case of the £15 million for computer equipment, the Minister said that each school would receive a basic grant of £2,000 and a grant of £5 for each pupil. The Minister drew a distinction between provision for ordinary schools and provision for special schools and special classes - which cater for children with special needs, including traveller children. Special schools, he said, would receive a basic grant of £3,000 and a grant of £20 for each pupil. He also made provision for special classes in ordinary schools.
Each ordinary school, which has one or more special classes, will receive £1,500 in addition to the basic £2,000 and the grant per capita for pupils in special classes will be £20 per pupil. "This will ensure that appropriate levels of equipment, hardware and software, are available to these special classes," the Minister said.
The announcement was welcomed by educationalists. Mr Charlie Lennon, general secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland, said the additional funds will be welcomed by schools, although he said "it's not a lot of money" in the context of providing computers.
Mr George O'Callaghan, general secretary of the Secretariat of Secondary Schools, said "it goes some way" in helping schools to equip themselves, but more would be needed to provide computer rooms and better computer resources in schools. The Minister said that more than £1 million will be provided to equip computer rooms in new second-level schools and in existing second-level schools to which new computer rooms are being added.
Up to 630 introductory course s will be provided for teachers at primary and post-primary level between now and the end of the year, according to Mr Jerome Morrissey, director of the newly-established National Centre for Technology in Education, which has responsibility for the implementation of Schools IT 2000.