19 May 2005

Hon Trevor Mallard Minister of Education

Investment in technology in schools nears $60m

The government is investing an additional $30.2 million in Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) over the next four years to improve teaching and learning in schools, Education Minister Trevor Mallard announced today.

ICT funding will increase by $8.2 million in 2005-06, then by $7.4 million and $5.9 million in the following two years. In 2005-06 the government will spend nearly $60 million on school ICT, an increase of nearly 1800 per cent since 1998-99, when only $3.2 million was spent in this area.

"New technologies influence every aspect of our lives," said Trevor Mallard. "To achieve the social and economic benefits they can bring, we must continue to build the ICT capability of teachers. These initiatives will see more schools and teachers using ICT to support effective teaching and enhance learning."

The new funding over four years includes: $14.2 million to complete the provision of laptops to teachers, extending the opportunity to lease laptops to permanent, fulltime teachers of years 1-3 students at state and state-integrated schools. More than 33,000 teachers will be eligible to receive a laptop. $8.2 million to increase the number of ICT professional development clusters from 80 to 100.

This programme is the main way teachers get long-term ICT professional development. $7.4 million for the development of e-asTTle, an online version of Assessment Tools for Teaching and Learning. Students will be able to take assessments online, reducing the amount of marking for teachers. $345,000 to upgrade Te Kete Ipurangi (www.tki.org.nz), the Ministry of Education’s web portal for schools, which provides teachers with bilingual access to educational tools and curriculum materials.

"Coupled with other government initiatives such as the Project PROBE, these programmes will go a long way to enabling teachers to focus on quality education for a rapidly changing world," said Trevor Mallard.

ENDS

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