School computers soon to outnumber students

MORE than 130,000 extra school computers have been bought and installed than were required under Labor's rollout

MORE than 130,000 extra school computers have been bought and installed nationally than were initially required by the states and territories under Labor's digital education revolution rollout, new figures show.

The biggest winner under the school computer windfall was NSW, with more than 100,000 extra units installed than were originally forecast to be needed.

The Gillard government last night attributed the extra purchases to flexibility in the procurement process across the states and territories.

A spokeswoman for School Education Minister Peter Garrett said the increased numbers were because the states were able to buy more computers for their money than was originally anticipated.

The states and schools had discretion over purchases with funding of $1000 a computer and up to $1500 for their installation and maintenance.

Some schools had opted for devices such as iPads, the federal and Victorian governments said.

This would free up cash for both the tablet and installation.

The Gillard government figures suggest that in virtually every jurisdiction there will be more than one computer for each student. They show that every state and territory except Victoria has hit the required benchmarks in government schools for Years 9 to 12 under the $2.4 billion DER program.

A spokesman for the Victorian government said any delays were due to the complexity of the computer systems compared with other states.

The national secondary school computer fund is the major funding element of the DER.

Most schools have exceeded unit purchases by close to 20 per cent, the figures show, although Victorian government schools have only reached a target of 87 per cent installation, or a more than 15,000-unit shortfall.

Mr Garrett said Victoria had made a commitment to be at 100 per cent by the start of the year.

"The Victorian minister (Martin Dixon), as well as all state and territory education ministers, provided written assurances that they were on track to meet the 1:1 ratio for all students between Years 9-12," Mr Garrett said.

"We have provided the states and territories, including Victoria, with all the resources required to deliver a computer for every student by the start of the 2012 school year."