SCHOOLS IN Northern Ireland have almost twice as many computers as their counterparts in the Republic.
Figures published by the Department of Education inspectorate show a ratio of one computer for every five pupils in primary schools in the North.
By contrast, there is only one computer available for every nine pupils in the Republic.
Last night, the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation claimed a “digital divide” now existed between schools in the two parts of Ireland. Its general secretary Sheila Nunan said: “Schools in the North are an example of what can be done whereas schools in the South are an example of what should be done.”
Ten years ago a new school computing initiative Classroom 2000 was rolled out to all schools in the North. Over that time it has delivered nearly 70,000 networked computers to schools.
In stark contrast, schools in the Republic could, according to Ms Nunan, “paper the classroom walls with glossy reports from Government on what can be done with technology in classrooms. In fact, the digital divide is widening because of a lack of investment and a coherent national plan.”
The union said Ireland would continue to lag behind the rest of the world until the Government “puts its money where its mouth is” and gave schools the resources to do what needed to be done.
The INTO said nearly all computers in Irish classrooms were past their sell-by date.
In 2006 the National Centre for Technology in Education compiled a report showing that in primary schools, almost one in three computers was more than six years old. The report said these computers might be adequate for basic tasks, such as word-processing, but they were not capable of running modern software. It also said as computers aged they became prone to technical problems.
Ms Nunan said this was in complete contrast to schools in the North where teachers used computers in classrooms because they worked. There, the computers are owned, installed and maintained by private companies like Northgate and Hewlett Packard. Technical problems were fixed quickly.
One inspector there had said the network service was now as reliable as “switching on a phone and getting the dial-tone”.
“In contrast, schools in the Republic are left to fend for themselves.”
Last month, department inspectors reported that “ICT is a relatively underutilised tool in the teaching and learning of English in Irish primary schools”.
The report said the use of ICT was evident in only 29.6 per cent of the English lessons inspected.
The INTO said this should come as no surprise given the appalling level of investment in hardware and software by the State.
