Students make good teachers in first ever Oireachtas presentation

TWO secondary school students from Dundalk made history yesterday when they became the first ever school students to make a presentation before an Oireachtas Committee.

Ruth Devine, 16, and Annie O’Connell, 16, both transition year students in St Vincent’s Secondary School, made a presentation to the Committee on the advantages broadband access to education.

The transitional year girls of St Vincent’s this year won an all-Ireland computer skills competition and were named the most computer literate transition year class in the country.

However the school, like most, is struggling to supply enough equipment and funding to provide the levels of computer accessibility their teacher, Deirdre Mathews, feels students should have.

Ms Mathews told the Committee more investment was required on a national level to bring school facilities up to scratch. In particular she emphasised the need for broadband access to cope with the demand of school internet use.

“The benefit is that it would allow our students to work cooperatively and collaborate on a global scale online,” said Ms Mathews.

Addressing the Committee, Ruth Devine said she believed better computer access and faster internet access were vital to her education.

“I believe connectivity to be vital to my learning, connecting me to persons and resources that stretch my thinking, the walls of my room and mind, the corridors of my experience and the materials in my schoolbag,” she said.

Annie O’Connell said access to the internet was very restricted because the school had to pay by the hour.

Ms Mathews said St Vincent’s was spending more than 500 a month on internet phone bills.

“We found ourselves having to restrict internet access during the day and to a time when we could maximise the number of students online.

Broadband would mean that for a fixed fee the internet would be an always on facility,” she said.

Communications Minister, Dermot Ahern agreed that broadband for schools was crucial.

“I have already outlined how I want to bring broadband into every school in the country.

“Today’s children can teach us a lot and by providing them with a sound education and the skills to work online and at high capacity, we can benefit greatly,” he said.