€150m laptop investment like ‘supplying cars without roads’

A €150 MILLION investment over three years in a laptop computer for every classroom in the country has been likened to supplying cars without roads because of inadequate internet access in schools.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen’s announcement that every classroom in the country is to get a teachers’ laptop, software and a digital projector is a direct response to a recommendation from an expert advisory group on information and communications technology (ICT) in schools.

The Department of Education will spend €22m this year putting equipment into primary schools and work in second-level schools will begin next year.