IT support, training for schools cut

The Fibre Connections to Schools program was not the only victim of the $132.5 million cuts to the Digital Education Revolution program in the budget, the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) has revealed.

(Empty classroom image
by Max Klingensmith, CC BY-ND 2.0)

In the Federal Budget in May, the government announced that it was cutting $132.5 million in funding from the Digital Education Revolution (DER) program — although the budget specifically mentioned that the laptops in schools program would not be affected, and that the roll-out for that program was on target for meeting its one-to-one ratio for students between years 9 and 12 by 31 December 2011.

In budget estimates earlier this month, it was outed that the bulk of this cut would hit the Fibre Connections to Schools program, with the program axed to save the department $100 million.

DEEWR revealed to ZDNet Australia that $22 million of the $40 million Digital Strategy for Teachers and School Leaders will also be cut as a result of the budget savings. This program aims to improve computer literacy of teachers through training provided before they begin teaching, and support for integrating the use of ICT in classrooms.

According to DEEWR, $10 million of funding for ICT support mechanisms of the DER will also be cut as a result of the budget.