EDUCATION: Computer grant still leaves schools short

By Theresa Garner and Andrew Laxon

All schools will be hooked up to the Internet by next year, but students could have to queue for a turn unless schools top up new Government spending.

A $25 million one-off grant for schools to buy computers and $10 million a year for maintenance and support have been welcomed by schools, which say it is about time the Government acknowledged the need.

A typical primary school is likely to get $6000 and secondary schools $20,000. But schools say the money stacks up poorly against the $200 million already invested by schools and their communities.

The schools will still need to rely on fundraising and sponsorship to keep up with students' demands.

Primary schools average one computer per 14 students and secondary schools one for eight students. Half their computers are more than three years old.

Education Minister Nick Smith said the Government knew it had to invest in technology to secure a high standard of living. But he warned that the money was not the be-all and end-all, and said schools would have to adjust their own budgets to top up funds, as other "service providers" had to do.

Until now, it has been up to school boards to set aside some of their operating budgets for technology, but some have not made it a priority.

"The world is changing at a phenomenal pace and we must ensure our schools and businesses keep up," Dr Smith said. "Schools' IT capabilities vary tremendously. We have everything from Star Trek to horse trek, yet every pupil needs to be IT literate."

Schools must submit an information and communications technology plan to receive the money.

Meanwhile, the site of a new secondary school in central Auckland should be decided within a few months.

The long-delayed project was one of five new schools announced in the Budget, along with primary schools for West Harbour in Auckland, Papamoa near Tauranga, Hawkes Bay and one near Thames.

About $15 million will be spent on land for the schools in the next financial year and they will be built by 2004.

The money is part of a $537 million school-building programme over the next two years, which includes $60 million on maintenance and $100 million for 200 new primary and 80 secondary classrooms.

The Ministry of Education's property manager, Paul Burke, said there were now three options for the Auckland secondary school site.

He would not discuss the likely site as this could drive up the price. However, one previously favoured site for the secondary school of 1000 to 1500 students was land at Green Lane Hospital, which will be freed by Auckland Healthcare's $250 million move of high-tech operations from Green Lane to the Auckland Hospital site at Grafton.