ICT Funding Announced

Minister for Education and Skills, Mary Coughlan, has annouced that €20 million will be made available over the coming weeks to secondary schools to fund the purchasing of ICT equipment for their classrooms. The funding is the first tranche of funds to be made available to secondary schools under the government's Smart Schools - Smart Economy strategy. The funds will be available to nearly 700 secondary schools with each will receive a basic grant of €1700 along with €63.45 per pupil. While this is not a huge amount of money, it should be enough for schools to purchase a number of computers and projectors - for the ambitious some iPad's, iPods, interactive whiteboards or visualisers. So far, €42 million has been provided to both primary and secondary schools for ICT equipment since the November 2009 announcement, but is still somewhat short of the €150 million pledged. The Minister said she was committed to providing further resources to schools stating "these new grants will enable post-primary schools throughout the country to equip their classrooms with appropriate technology, to enhance teaching and learning". The fund announcement coincides with the launch of the very first Irish Teaching and Learning Festival which gets underway this morning in the Citywest Conference Centre, which is sure to provide plenty of information on what to spend this money on. 

While these funds are gratefully received, ironically the government are expected to make significant cuts to education in their upcoming budget. Read my previous post on why cuts to education never heal.