Family's ability to pay increasingly determines child's access to technology in school, ESRI says

Common devices included Chromebooks, iPads, Windows laptops, and hybrid touchscreen devices, with some packages approaching or exceeding €700 in some cases as some bundles included more than 'hardware alone'. File picture

Students' access to digital learning and technologies is increasingly dependent on their family's ability to pay at a time when new research says there has been a “growing institutionalisation” of mandatory digital devices in schools.

Without strategic intervention, the ongoing expansion of digital learning, particularly in light of new Leaving Cert reforms, risks deepening existing inequalities within the Irish education system, a working paper from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) suggests.

In the first major review of the digital device programmes in place in schools, ESRI researchers found compulsory one-to-one device purchase and use has become “increasingly embedded” within Irish post-primary schooling.

Approximately 30% of more than 720 post-primary schools had either mandatory or “strongly structured” device purchasing arrangements in place for students, it found.

Common devices included Chromebooks, iPads, Windows laptops, and hybrid touchscreen devices, with some packages approaching or exceeding €700 in some cases as some bundles included more than “hardware alone”.

The prevalence of mandatory one-to-one devices varied based on a school’s patronage. The vast majority (90%) of schools with multidenominational patrons, including Educate Together schools, have mandated device models in place, while 37% of the 52 private schools examined mandated the purchase of devices.

Meanwhile, this rate was much lower in disadvantaged schools, with just 17% of DEIS schools examined operating a mandatory digital device programme.

Prevalence rates also differed by school gender mix, researchers found.

There were higher rates of mandatory devices in all-boys’ schools (42%) compared to co-educational schools (30%) and, particularly, all-girls’ schools (19%).

While some schools did not require students to have a device, there was an expectation that students would have a device at home.

“For example, the school booklist for one school stated that ‘students will require access to a computer/laptop, a printer and a supply of ink at home during the year’.” 

In many cases, schools explicitly referred to participation in ‘1:1 mobile learning initiatives’ or digital learning programmes integrated into teaching and assessment structures.

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“Other schools did not explicitly state that devices were compulsory but nevertheless demonstrated extensive integration of individual student devices into classroom practice, strongly implying an expectation of participation.”

The current policy shifts a “substantial proportion of the financial and logistical burden of digital provision onto families”, the ESRI noted.

“In the absence of centralised procurement or standardised guidance, schools increasingly mandate devices with widely varying costs. This creates inequitable pressures for households, particularly those with multiple school-aged children, and raises significant concerns regarding affordability, transparency, and systemic consistency.”

• Jess Casey is education correspondent for the Irish Examiner