Léim ar aghaidh chuig an bpríomhábhar
Gnáthamharc

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 24 Nov 1981

Vol. 331 No. 1

Written Answers. - Computers In Education.

727.

asked the Minister for Education whether he or any officials of his Department licensed any firm to supply computers to second level schools.

728.

asked the Minister for Education if he or his Department in any way indicated to a specific firm (details supplied) that they should provide schools with the PULSAR 81 Computer using the Comal system, under the grant scheme.

732.

asked the Minister for Education if a computer grant is available to all schools who fulfil the necessary conditions whether or not they have already bought computing equipment out of their own funds.

736.

asked the Minister for Education when the grant scheme for the purchase of computing equipment for schools will be implemented; and whether schools will be allocated the equipment they ordered when completing the application forms.

With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle I propose to take Questions Nos. 727, 728, 732 and 736 together.

The position is that my Department placed an advertisement in the public press on 25 September 1981 inviting tenders for the supply of micro-computer systems to second level schools. The closing date for the receipt of tenders was 21 October.

The tenders received are currently under consideration in the Department, and a contract has not yet been signed with any firm including the specific firm mentioned by the Deputy. Neither has a decision been taken as to which schools will be supplied in the present financial year. That decision and the decision on the type of equipment to be provided are due to be made very shortly and the school authorities will be notified accordingly when the contract for the supply of the equipment has been placed.

729.

asked the Minister for Education the names of the people who were financed by his Department to attend the Third World conference on computers in education held in Lausanne, Switzerland, from 27 to 31 July 1981; and the cost involved in each case.

An officer of my Department attended the Third World Conference on Computers in Education at a cost of £500. An amount of £147 was paid from subhead B.2. of Vote 30 (Research Activities) towards the cost of travelling and subsistence of a person nominated by the Computer Education Society of Ireland to attend the conference.

730.

asked the Minister for Education the maximum grant available under the scheme for the purchase of computing equipment in secondary and vocational schools.

The maximum grant for a secondary school is 80 per cent of the cost of the computer facilities authorised by my Department for the school. In the case of vocational schools funds will be made available to vocational education committees to enable them to defray the cost of the computer facilities authorised by my Department for such schools.

731.

asked the Minister for Education if his Department intends to recommend the introduction of the computer language, Comal into schools in the near future.

The specification on the basis of which my Department recently invited tender for the supply of micro-computer systems stipulates that the system should provide facilities to use a suitably structured version of Basic, such as Comal, but that a comparable structured Basic may be offered instead of Comal.

733.

asked the Minister for Education why teachers who could not find places on computer courses which were organised by his Department last summer were not advised of the dates and venues of teacher training courses organised by the Computer Education Society of Ireland (CESI) even though his predecessor had publicly stated that the CESI were grant-aided to run courses for teachers, as it has done since 1975, in view of the fact that his Department was informed of the dates and venues of their courses in letter of 14 May 1981.

734.

asked the Minister for Education if he is aware that when his Department's computer courses were booked out there were still vacancies on the courses of the Computer Education Society of Ireland, particularly in the Dublin area and that the majority of teachers who could not be accommodated on his Department's courses were from the Dublin and Wicklow areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

735.

asked the Minister for Education why officials of his Department sent to CESI the application forms of those teachers who unsuccessfully applied for places on their computer courses on June 29 last, when it was too late for CESI to accommodate them, since CESI had advised his Department that it had vacancies on its courses on June 9 1981.

With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle I propose to take Questions Nos. 733, 734 and 735 together. The courses organised by the Computer Education Society of Ireland were referred to in the circular letter which my Department issued in regard to this year's summer courses. It was clearly indicated in that circular that teachers who wished to secure places on those courses should contact the society's representative at a specified address. This was considered to be the most appropriate procedure to follow as information as to availability of places on such courses at any particular date would not be available in my Department.

My Department could not inform CESI in regard to unsuccessful applicants for the courses being held by it until the exact position had been established in relation to the acceptance of offers which had been made.

737.

asked the Minister for Education his Department's policy in relation to computer education in second level schools.

738.

asked the Minister for Education his plans for the formal introduction of computer studies in second level schools.

With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle I propose to take Questions Nos. 737 and 738 together. A departmental committee set up to advise the Minister for Education on the question of introducing computer studies into post-primary schools furnished a report which is at present under consideration in my Department. Pending a decision on the recommendations of that advisory committee, an optional section on computer studies has been made available in the leaving certificate examination syllabuses in mathematics.

739.

asked the Minister for Education the plans he has for in-service computer training for teachers in view of the marked shortage of such teachers.

The in-service training of teachers is an essential part of the programme to introduce computer studies into the schools. In 1981 over 400 teachers attended in-service courses in computer studies, including the courses organised by the Computer Education Society of Ireland and supported by my Department.

I propose to have further courses provided in 1982 and subsequent years as the circumstances may require.

Barr
Roinn