4. MOANA MACKEY (Labour) Link to this
to the Minister of Education
What is the Government doing to assist schools with the costs of software for information and communications technology?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister of Education) Link to this
I announced today that the Government will be spending $33 million over the next 4 years on contracts with Microsoft, Apple, IBM, and Novell to ensure the continued delivery to New Zealand schools of crucial software for administration and learning. This is part of the overall investment of $377 million that we have spent on information and communications technology since 2001. That investment supports our school administrators, our teachers, our principals, and our students so as to transform the learning environment into the modern one that we all want to see.
What else is the Government doing to ensure that New Zealand teachers and students can make use of information and communications technology to aid learning?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
The $33 million announced today builds on the substantial investment over the past 4 years that I mentioned. That has helped clusters of schools to develop new ways of teaching with information and communications technology. It has supplied laptops to teachers and principals, provided videoconferencing facilities, provided fellowships to fund teachers’ research into e-learning, and provided information and practical assistance to schools about the Internet and cellphone safety issues. I suggest that Mr Key visit Tahatai Coast School, which is just one leading example of what our schools are doing in this area. By visiting the school, he could perhaps prepare for his next aspirational attack on our education system.