Funding for tablets, cloud technology, projectors

The Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton T.D., announced today, the start of Internet Safety Week, that he is investing €30m in ICT infrastructure for primary and post-primary schools.

Thousands of primary and post primary schools around the country will receive a grant to purchase equipment which will enable them to integrate digital technology in teaching and learning.

The grant, which will be received by all schools built before 2014, is allocated according to the size of the school plus a standard lump sum amount, is worth in excess of €4,100 for a 100 pupil school and almost €13,000 for a 500 pupil school at primary level. At post-primary level, the Minister said that the grant is worth almost €18,000 for a 500 student school, and over €33,000 for a 1,000 student school. Note - schools built since 2014 would have received funding for ICT infrastructure upon set up.

All schools are supported in having a Digital Learning Plan in place, which details the integration of new technologies in the teaching and learning of the school. It is expected that the infrastructure purchased with this grant will align with the objectives set out in a school’s Digital Learning Plan, some examples of what the funding can be spent on include:

• Desktop PCs, laptops, tablets or hybrid devices.
• Projectors
• Cloud based tools and software applications to support learning.
• Learning platforms – these are generally cloud based applications used to support the teaching and learning process.

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