Sorca Clarke
Question:293. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the full year cost for the digital grants for primary schools. [26199/23]
View answerTuesday, 30 May 2023
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The Digital Strategy for Schools to 2027 was published in April 2022 and builds on the achievements of the previous Digital Strategy for Schools 2015-2020. It aims to further support the school system so that all students across our schools have the opportunity to gain the knowledge and the skills they need to navigate an ever-evolving digital world successfully. The strategy was developed following an extensive consultation process with all relevant stakeholders including students, parents/guardians, teachers and industry and sets out the various supports and resources available to schools in this important area.
Under the National Development Plan 2021-2030 €200m has been committed to support the implementation of the Digital Strategy. The first tranche of ICT grant funding under the Strategy of €50m in respect of the 2021-2022 school year issued in December 2021, which included funding of €30m for Primary Schools. The remaining funding will issue over the lifetime of the Digital Strategy for Schools to 2027.
As with funding under the previous strategy, the funding under the Digital Strategy for Schools to 2027 issues directly to schools as they are best placed to identify the requirements of their own student cohort and to meet those requirements in the most appropriate way in accordance with their digital learning plan.
The full year funding for Primary schools for the years 2021, 2022 and 2023 is as follows -
2021: ICT Grant 2021/2022 school year - €30,125,067
2021: Digital Divide ICT grant - €32,724,915
2022: No funding issued
2023: No funding issued year to date.