Fran Foo | July 29, 2008
AUSTRALIAN public schools have begun buying PCs as part of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's plan to equip each secondary school student in Years 9 to 12 with a computer, despite a bitter war raging between federal and state governments over extra funding.
All states and territories have signed on for round-one funding, but have all agreed they will not sign any funding deeds for round two until the issue of associated on-costs is resolved. These are expected to run into millions of dollars, covering areas such as maintenance and security.
Round two closes in October, and 1900 secondary schools are eligible to apply for the $180 million in funding.
In the $116 million first round of the National Secondary School Computer Fund, NSW was allocated around $56 million to purchase equipment. It has said that it will only buy laptops.
Victoria, the second-largest recipient at $14.67 million, will require state schools to purchase laptops and desktops from a panel of approved vendors.
The list includes Acer, Lenovo, Dell, Apple and Hewlett-Packard, a Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development spokesperson said.
"The Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development has entered into a funding agreement with the Commonwealth to administer round-one funding and schools will commence purchasing in the coming months," the spokesperson said.
South Australian schools, which will receive about $4.4 million, the third-largest haul, will purchase a combination of desktops, laptops and thin clients.
"Schools decide locally what types of computers and technology they require, rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach," a South Australian Education Department spokesperson said. "SA should receive all three types - desktops, laptops and thin clients." Students in that state should receive their first machines by the end of September, the spokesperson said.
The ACT Department of Education hopes to spend its $2.84 million, the fourth-biggest slice of the pie, on a range of hardware including laptops and desktops.
"These can be selected from an agreed list of suppliers, which at the moment is confidential," an ACT Education Department spokesperson said.
Some ACT schools should receive their new machines from September, depending on type of computer they select, the spokesperson said.
Queensland has also left the decision-making process to each school.
"Queensland state schools will be purchasing computers through the existing computer bulk purchasing arrangements and standards," an Education Queensland spokesperson said.
Schools in Queensland that have received funding for round one would have started buying computers from July 1 this year.
"The type of computer to be purchased will be a school-based decision," the Education Queensland spokesperson said.
Queensland is the fifth-largest recipient, receiving $1.96 million.
In sixth place lies resource-rich Western Australia with about $1.24 in funding. The state's Department of Education and Training will purchase a mix of devices for schools.
"Funding allocated for successful round-one schools is expected to be received by mid-August. Decisions on the use of the funds will be taken at that time to suit local needs," deputy finance and administration director Peter McCaffrey said.
Tasmania will spend its $634,000 on desktops and laptops, Premier and Education Minister David Bartlett said.
"Schools are planning to deploy equipment from round one and will meet the Commonwealth requirement of 40 per cent of equipment being deployed in the first six months," Mr Bartlett said.
In the Northern Territory, individual schools would decide what hardware suited their needs, a Northern Territory Education Department spokesperson said. The territory has been given $443,000.
All states except the ACT received an allocation for Catholic and independent schools as well.