No. 70

$20 MILLION INJECTION INTO SCHOOL IT

The Stanhope Government has continued its commitment to provide and maintain state of the art Information Technology (IT) in ACT schools with a $20 million investment over the next four years for IT in schools.

Minister for Education and Training, Andrew Barr, said the funding boost aims to ensure that ACT public schools remain at the forefront of creatively using new, established and emerging technologies.

“The tools and techniques used to teach children are different than they were 30 years ago – indeed even 10 years ago,” Mr Barr said.

“IT is utilised now more than ever in workplaces and in our schools – both as a subject to be studied, and as a teaching and learning tool.

“This $20 million funding boost over the next four years will see an investment in current and up‑to‑date IT tools for our public schools.

“This will ensure students have an appropriate learning environment that reflects the society in which we live, where IT is used every day in workplaces and homes. It will also mean teachers can utilise these technologies as teaching tools.”

Mr Barr said that the funding comes on top of the Stanhope Government’s $11 million ICT package delivered in the 2004-05 Budget, which allocated funds over four years.

“In addition to funding allocated through previous Stanhope Government initiatives, $5 million will be allocated each year over the next four years to support and upgrade existing IT systems in our schools such as smart boards,” he said.

“This funding will also deliver new services for students and teachers such as video on demand, enhanced bandwidth and wireless access, improved online services for students and parents, and improved audio services such as podcasting.”