SA parents foot the bill for Labor's Computers in
28 Jan 2011
Media release Documents obtained by the Federal Opposition reveal that South Australian parents are being asked to pay for Labor's Computers in Schools program out of their own pocket, Christopher Pyne, Shadow Minister for Education said today.
"At least one South Australian public school is asking parents for $365 a year to allow their students access to the laptops at home and on weekends. Public school students in New South Wales are able to take their laptops home without any additional cost," Mr Pyne said.
"Other Schools are urging parents to take advantage of 'Digital Education Revolution pricing' and purchase a laptop outright,"he said.
The problem is no one outside of South Australia has ever heard of 'Digital Education Revolution pricing'. It doesn't appear anywhere in the federal government's material about the program.
It seems the SA State government is selling computers onto parents or encouraging parents to purchase the laptop from a reseller in an attempt to meet the Federal Government's targets.
If Computers in Schools was delivering as promised, why one earth would parents need to purchase a laptop outright when Mr Rudd promised them a free laptop? What will happen to the funds provided by the federal government for laptops that are purchased by parents?
During the 2007 campaign Mr Rudd promised to deliver a laptop to every year 9-12 student in Australia. Beset with problems from the beginning it has blown out by $1.2 billion as the additional costs of installation and software were not factored in.
Now it appears in South Australia the State Government is seeking to either skim funds out of the program to bolster their budget bottom-line or have grossly mismanaged their allocation.
Each state receives the same amount of funding per computer from the Federal Government. Why are South Australian parents been charged for something interstate parents are receiving for free?
"The Minister for Education, Julia Gillard needs step in and sort out this mess. Australia deserves a full-time Education Minister, with the time to properly administer her own programs," Mr Pyne said.
January 17, 2010
Media contact:
Adam Howard
0400 414 833