State ‘must invest in ICT for schools’

TEACHERS have warned Ireland’s ambitions to be a knowledge society will be set back enormously without significant Government investment in computers and technology in schools.

Despite a €252 million initiative for information and communications technology (ICT) in schools under the National Development Plan, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland said shortfalls will continue to exist.

TUI president Tim O’Meara said: “It equates to just €46 per child per year, far behind the €110 spent per child in England on technology in the classroom. With our current economic health as a nation and the importance of ICT in developing the much-vaunted knowledge society, this is shortsighted in the extreme.”