Second-level schools are facing mounting pressure to introduce individual electronic devices for students due to the new senior cycle curriculum, and although schoolbooks are now free, the financial burden has shifted to families who must pay for laptops or tablets for their children.
Schools that had previously resisted asking parents to fund laptops or tablets say the revised curriculum, which allocates at least 40% of final grades to practical or project-based work, has left them with little alternative but to alter their approach, reports RTE.
The increasing move towards one-to-one devices has triggered a fresh wave of marketing aimed at school leaders by companies competing to win contracts for supplying devices and related services to students.
While school management decides which technology model to adopt and which supplier to engage, it is parents who ultimately buy the devices, sometimes paying up to €1,000 per child, reports RTE.
Because parents are the ones footing the bill, public procurement regulations do not apply.
One company, Wriggle, has been offering school leaders overnight stays at luxury five-star hotels including the K Club and Mount Juliet, reports RTE.
“This exclusive retreat includes dinner, drinks, and an overnight stay in a five-star venue, providing you with an excellent opportunity to reflect, recharge and reimagine with school leaders and the extended Wriggle team who will support you on your journey,” the company states on Eventbrite, reports RTE.
At a conference for school leaders late last year, companies were eager to convince school principals of the advantages of their product offerings.
During the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals conference, representatives from another technology company were paying for rounds of drinks at the bar, reports RTE.
“I went up to get my order of drinks from the bar and it was already paid for,” one principal remarked, reports RTE.
“But they are not going to get any money from me because I don’t have it,” he added, reports RTE.
Wriggle, the largest supplier of managed laptops and tablets to schools, is organising what it describes as “exclusive retreats” for school leaders at five-star hotels.
This month, the company circulated its latest high-tech invitations to school principals, featuring a hotel keycard and a video that plays when opened, inviting recipients to attend one of four “exclusive retreats at one of Ireland’s finest five-star venues”, reports RTE.
Wriggle is hosting its complimentary overnight retreats at the K Club in Kildare and Castlemartyr Resort Hotel in Cork in February, followed by Mount Juliet and the Grace Hotel in Westport in March.
The retreats, entitled “Leading Senior Cycle Reform with a Student Device Model”, are all scheduled during weekday term time, reports RTE.
The company told RTÉ News that these events help schools implement the Department of Education’s Digital Strategy for Schools Implementation Plan, which acknowledges the role of collaboration with external partners.
“These events are structured professional development forums that allow school leaders to learn from peers, reflect on digital strategy, and engage with system-wide changes such as senior cycle reform, digital skills and AI, with no sales requirement or obligation attached,” a statement from Wriggle said, reports RTE.
“The only reason we went with tech this year is because of the new Leaving Cert,” said Jan Dowling, principal of St Anne’s Secondary School in Tipperary Town, reports RTE.
“With such an emphasis now on project work [in the new senior cycle curriculum] it is important for students to have their own devices,” Ms Dowling said, reports RTE.
Until now, the school had been reluctant to place additional financial strain on families already under pressure.
From this academic year, parents of fifth-year students must buy a laptop for their child at a cost of €750, with the school keenly aware of the financial challenges many families face, reports RTE.
The school intentionally selected laptops with a five-year warranty so that students can use them throughout senior cycle and into three years of further or higher education.
“Parents are able to pay for the devices over a number of months” Ms Dowling said, reports RTE.
“Tipperary is a really really deprived town and you can’t turn a blind eye to what is around you,” she added, reports RTE.
St Aidan’s Community School in Tallaght continues to push back against the trend. Principal Kevin Shortall of the DEIS school acknowledges the demands of the new senior cycle curriculum but says asking parents to pay for a device is simply “a non-runner”, reports RTE.
Instead, the school adopted a different solution this year.
“We have purchased devices with €30,000 in funding that we received from Google,” Mr Shortall said, reports RTE.
“We have four trolleys of 24 laptops which are shared between our 600 pupils,” he added, reports RTE.
Mr Shortall expressed concern about what he sees as widening digital inequality between wealthier and less affluent schools, pointing to nearby schools where students must buy their own iPads or other costly devices.
“The inequality among schools is really stark, and the extra money the state gives doesn’t even begin to address it,” he said, reports RTE.
The Department of Education and Youth has said schools can use State-provided ICT funding to establish loan schemes to assist parents with the cost of student devices.
Last May, €35m in ICT funding was distributed to schools across both the primary and post-primary sectors, reports RTE.
“The department is aware of the financial pressures faced by families and has instructed schools to work closely with parents to ensure costs are kept reasonable,” it said, reports RTE.
However, the principal of a DEIS school in Co Laois highlighted the contrast between funding for schoolbooks and ICT.
“We got €260,000 in funding for schoolbooks [this year], but we got only €35,000 for ICT. That €35,000 is to cover PCs, licences, WiFi, projectors, TVs etc,” he said, reports RTE.
“You can see the imbalance”, he added, reports RTE.
That school has introduced tablets with keyboards for students, costing parents €455.
Schools are expected to consult with parents before implementing policies that require families to pay for technology, reports RTE.
In practice, however, parents have limited choice. Enrolling a child in a school means accepting its policies, and if that includes paying up to €1,000 for a device, families must comply.
Dr Ann Marcus-Quinn, an associate professor at the University of Limerick, specialises in ICT use in education, reports RTE.
She argues that a centralised system, led by the Department of Education and Youth, should oversee both procurement and the provision of digital devices and ICT infrastructure in schools.
In what she describes as a largely unregulated area, Dr Marcus-Quinn believes such an approach would promote informed digital policies and better investment decisions, reports RTE.
In the interim, she says schools need guidance on a common minimum standard for student and teacher devices.
“The department needs to acknowledge the necessity of devices, both at junior cycle and at senior cycle. They have never done that, so this has allowed schools to do what they want, and it means they are beholden to the private sector for advice on devices and technical support,” she said, reports RTE.
“This is driving up costs for parents” she said, reports RTE.
“A device is now part and parcel of going to school in the same way as books once were, especially now with the new AACs (Additional Assessment Components) at Leaving Certificate level, and the Leaving Cert is high stakes for student prospects,” she said, reports RTE.
“The department needs to lay down minimum standards for devices to help counter what is currently a mandated brand approach,” Dr Marcus-Quinn added, reports RTE.
Mr Shortall agrees with many of these points.
“There needs to be a State procurement system. They will say one to one devices are not needed, but because of the new specification for senior cycle they are,” he said, reports RTE.
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