Commonwealth Government’s National Secondary Schools’ Computer Fund

The Australian, Matthew Franklin, 16 February 2008; The Australian, Sid Marris, 21 February 2008

Government, Catholic and independent schools across Australia have been invited to apply for a grant under Kevin
Rudd’s $1 billion National Secondary Schools’ Computer Fund.

The Council of Australian Governments meeting in December last year requested that an audit of computer resources within all schools be conducted to identify schools in need. The Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Ms Julia Gillard, has announced that the nationwide audit is almost complete, and that it has shown ‘a huge disparity’ between schools.

Ms Gillard went on to say that not all schools in need of funding were from the government sector. She indicated that
the audit showed that many low-fee independent and Catholic schools are ‘poorly resourced’ and that there were
schools in need in ‘all sectors’. Schools identified to be in need by the audit will be given priority when the first $100 million in grants becomes available in June 2008.

Furthermore, Ms Gillard indicated that the government would not dictate how schools set-up their computer systems. Schools can choose to provide students with laptops, or create a computer facility within the school or supply terminals that connect to a central computer.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has also promised that even well-resourced schools will receive a share of the funding to
assist with upgrading existing computer systems. Ms Gillard also said that despite the amount of resources, all schools
will be able to apply for funding during the next financial year.

 

 

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