Principals’ laptop woe
PRINCIPALS at small schools were forced to decide whether to revert back to paper and pencil or dip into the school budget for laptops for students during last month’s home school learning period, it has been revealed.
Students across Queensland spent more than a month in a home learning environment and while some were able to learn online, other school principals were left with the ultimatum.
The State Government has revealed 1181 of more than 5000 laptops have been distributed to North Queensland students without access to technology.
However, Burdekin MP Dale Last said some principals had to decide whether parents could afford to buy devices.
“I’ve spoken to principals that were left to decide whether parents could afford to purchase devices or whether the school would have to fund them from their existing budget,” Mr Last said. “And, for some of those schools, to fund those devices from the existing budget would mean significant cuts to resources.
“They really were left in a no-win situation while other students had access to brand new laptops even if they were attending school.”
A parent at a small school, who wished to remain anonymous, said she was given an option to use online learning or paper-based and had chosen to take on paper-based learning as there was only one ipad in her home to share between her two children. “We were given a choice … I said paperbased learning,” she said.
She said having her children learn paper-based meant there was no distraction from technology during learning.
Mr Last said smaller schools then had their “faces rubbed in it” because there were leftover devices. “It’s blindingly obvious that if you live in certain parts of Queensland it’s time to prepare for ‘21st century learning’ but, if you attend a small school in the Burdekin, it’s back to paper and pencils,” he said.
Education Minister Grace Grace said any remaining laptops would be used by schools on a needs basis.
“Schools across the region were asked to identify disadvantaged students who did not have access to a device,” she said. “The Department of Education distributed those devices directly to schools for them to prepare and loan to these students.”