Queensland Labor's election promise of iPads for some Year 7 students has been labelled a token gesture for a lucky few.
Premier Anna Bligh announced the $5.7 million trial of iPads for 5000 Year 7 students while on the campaign trail at a Mackay school on Tuesday.
It followed Monday's announcement that Queensland Year 12 graduates going on to further study or training would receive $4000 scholarships from 2015 under a Labor government.
"Technology today moves faster than ever before, and to give our children the best skills for the future we must see the best tools," Ms Bligh told reporters.
The students earmarked to get iPads are at 20 schools trialling Year 7 classes in high schools instead of primary schools.
The tablets would be funded through Labor's Mines to Minds policy, which invests liquefied natural gas royalties into education programs.
The Liberal National Party (LNP) says it's a token policy and questioned Labor's record on IT-related rollouts.
The opposition last November announced its own iPad policy, a $3.5 million plan to give the tablets to special education students.
Opposition education spokesman Bruce Flegg says Labor's policy is too little too late for Queensland students who are lagging in national literacy and numeracy standards.
"Today's announcement from Labor is little more than a token gesture for a select few instead of getting back to basics and addressing the needs of all Queensland students," Dr Flegg said in a statement.
Under Labor, IT rollouts had been linked with bungles and money wastage, he added, referring to the Queensland Health payroll system that caused months of pay problems for staff.
The Queensland Council of Parents and Citizens' Associations welcomed the premier's announcement but said it was keen to see training in the use of the iPads.
"They'd need to have the proper infrastructure in place to guide the students in the use of those iPads," a spokesman told AAP.
Front page
RSS Feed