Broadband in schools - Connection must be improved

There is hardly a human transaction that can be completed without some reference to broadband services. This reliance will only deepen, especially if we try to expand our vital knowledge-based economy.

Through the Freedom of Information Act, the Irish Examiner obtained access to a report based on a survey of broadband experiences of 59 schools around the country.

The consultants who conducted the survey found that schools using wireless or fixed-line broadband access expressed twice the level of satisfaction of those with satellite connection. One third of the schools complained of an unreliable, slow broadband service. This represents another of the infrastructural disappointments being endured in post-Celtic Tiger Ireland.

The internet has become a vital research tool for subjects such as geography, history, and science. Most schools report that they use the internet for class projects, educational services and software, as well as school administration.

Teething problems might initially have been accepted as an excuse for sub-optimal service, but we are beyond that stage. More than 3,900 (99%) of the country’s primary and second-level schools have been set up with broadband services. While some 70% of the schools rate their broadband access as good or very good, the remainder rate it poor, or very poor.

The main problem would appear to lie with satellite broadband services used by more than 1,500 schools. This satellite system appears to be the least suitable of the available technologies.

Schools using satellite access are suffering permanent or repetitive problems that have been defying resolution. They share their signals with other schools, which leads to an inordinate number of computer users accessing the internet at similar times of day. This, in turn, is frustrated by the inadequate bandwidth, with the result that the speed of access to the web is seriously impaired.

Pupils may have to wait for up to 20 minutes for a page to open, or the system freezes. This is frustrating for both pupils and teachers. Initially the satellite system was the only means for many schools to access to the net, but with the improvement of technology, there are other more efficient means available. Almost 40% of schools use wireless broadband, while the remaining 20% access the internet through a fixed telephone line. A high level of staff feel their training does not properly equip them to understand and exploit the technology available to them.

Schools reported an average of more than two breakdowns a year that took more than three days to repair. Four of the 59 schools reported having to wait between 10 and 25 days to have the necessary repairs carried out.

Most of the schools are using operating systems that date back to the 1990s, but operating efficiency of even new computers may be retarded by the inadequate speed of their internet access. Improving the broadband services to our schools can really be more important than replacing prefab classrooms.

“OK, but could do a lot better” is how the situation might be described in a school report.