Just half of schools have full broadband connections

ONLY half of the country’s schools have been fully connected for broadband internet use but the Department of Education insists it should have the rest of them hooked up by its own deadline of next March.

Under an €18 million Government and industry connectivity programme, announced in February last year, every school was to have broadband access by the end of this year. This facility offers faster download speeds for educational content and greater access to multimedia applications.

The deadline was extended by three months, and roll-out of the connections began last summer following contract negotiations with the department.

The Oireachtas Education Committee was told yesterday that 2,036 of the country’s almost 4,000 primary and second-level schools have now been fully connected.

Mary McGarry, principal officer with the department, said: “We expect that the March 2006 deadline will be achieved, we have very tight monitoring arrangements and when we have any concerns, we meet very quickly with the contractors concerned.”

But Green Party education spokesman Paul Gogarty asked what was being done to improve the numbers and quality of computers available in schools.

“It’s very difficult for teachers to use information and communications technology. Having broadband is well and good, but the corresponding hardware has to be in place,” he said.

Ms McGarry acknowledged that 2002 figures show there is one computer for every 10.3 Irish pupils, compared to an EU average of one for 9.3 pupils. But she said a schools census due to be published shortly should give an updated picture.

Jerome Morrissey, director of the National Council for Technology in Education (NCTE), said there had been improvements since the last accurate assessment of school computer numbers in 2002. He told the committee that schools have a choice of two filtering levels, offering access to different categories of website they consider suitable for their students, and connectivity is not finalised unless schools show they have an appropriate use policy.

Asked by Sinn Féin’s Sean Crowe if the controversial Rate my Teachers website was available in schools, NCTE technology coordinator Tom Lonergan said it is blocked on one of the filtering levels.

He added that, while some schools ask to keep it, there have been requests from a handful of schools in recent weeks to have access blocked to their students.