Poor record on computers in the classroom

ANOTHER impact of Ireland’s low level of computer and other technological facilities in schools is highlighted in the primary curriculum review report.

The last survey of information and communications technology (ICT) in schools showed there was one computer for every nine primary pupils and for every seven students at second level. But a Department of Education report published in July, which highlighted many shortcomings in the availability of ICT in schools, said the top-performing developed countries are aiming to have a computer for every five students in their schools.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment report published last week on implementation of science, Irish and social, personal and health education (SPHE) reveals that barely two-in-five teachers frequently or sometimes use ICT such as computers and software or digital cameras in science. For Irish and SPHE about half of teachers said they never use such equipment. Most of the teachers who used computers, did so for planning or research, rather than to present information or demonstrate experiments to students.

The findings are likely to add further pressure on Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe to begin the €252 million investment in ICT for schools promised in the National Development Plan but the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) said it is losing faith in the Government’s ability to improve facilities.

“About one third of computers are now clapped out and belong in museums, not in classrooms. They can’t be used to run modern software and access the internet,” said INTO general secretary John Carr.

Kathryn Raleigh, director of employers group IBEC’s ICT Ireland, said that other countries are making the investment in school computers in equally tough economic circumstances and that Ireland risks being left further behind if it does not do the same.