Kells welcome for school broadband roll-out

Proposals to roll out high-speed broadband to all second-level schools has been welcomed by kells councillor, Sarah Reilly. She said the joint decision of the Department of Communications and the Department of Education reflected commitments made in the Programme for Government. "As part of education and training for the workforce, students today must be exposed to ICT in all aspects of their learning. "In this way, students will be prepared for the digital workforce and be capable of competing for jobs in an ever increasing competitive market, both at home and abroad. This is a sound investment by the government and one that the State and its students, present and future, will reap rewards from." She explained that the national roll-out would be completed over three stages with 200 schools being connected by September 2012, a further 200 being connected next year and the remaining 250 schools being connected in 2014. "The programme follows on from the successful pilot project that has been running since 2009. The pilot involved 78 second-level schools, where the use of broadband has been shown to have improved both teaching and learning." The Kells councillor highlighted the funding programme for the scheme. "The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources is funding all of the capital costs of this project, estimated to be approximately €11m as well as contributing some €10m in current costs for the years 2013 to 2015. "The Department of Education and Skills will fund the remaining current costs (estimated to be some €20m up to 2015). It will also fund the on-going costs on an annual basis into the future," she said.