Will the Minister’s plan fix the computer problem?

A sceptical WENDY CURRIE looks at the newly announced computer resources.

On November 8, Dr Refshauge announced the "biggest school computer roll-out in Australia." Fine words, but the Federation has now been informed of the implementation plan and it doesn't instil confidence.

The "100,000 new high-speed computers" will be distributed across the state in stages. Some schools will not receive their allocation until the end of 2005. Since there was no roll-out at all in 2004, this means that certain schools will have waited at least two years for updated equipment.

The employment of "129 new IT [information technology] support staff" will be staged over four years, that is, 30 a year. According to the Minister's media release: "These new IT support staff will be working in classrooms - making sure computers operate at their optimal speed and capability."

They will also "free up valuable time for teachers by providing technical assistance in the classroom when needed".

Perhaps the Minister has forgotten how many classrooms there are in NSW. A rough estimation suggests one new IT support person for every 2000 classrooms for 2005. If something happens to the computers during your lesson, don't bank on them arriving to fix the problem. You'll need a Plan B, as you always have. This is not going to change.

"Remote support software will be installed on all new computers, allowing schools to have their computers fixed on-line by technical experts", the media release promises. Well, let's hope the help-line is not as clogged as it was during the running of the practical component of the year 6 Computer Skills Assessment.

The Government doesn't seem to have got the message. Adequate infrastructure and support is the prerequisite for expansion of information and computer technology (ICT) in teaching and learning, and for successfully teaching new IT based courses for the HSC and years 7-10 and the mandatory ICT competencies in all K-10 syllabuses.

Schools have been making provision for these curriculum changes over the past few years. Those plans have now gone awry.

Neither Federation nor schools are confident that Government is willing to recognise the problem and solve it.

Wendy Currie is a Research Officer.

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