WA schools struggling with outdated tech, slow internet

Western Australian schools are struggling with a shortage of computing devices available for students, as well as outdated technology and slow internet speeds.

These were among the findings of a recent audit into the state of ICT education in Western Australia by the state's auditor general.

The audit found that 28% of all student devices in use by WA schools were over four years old in 2015, compared to 18% in 2012. The Department of Education requires schools to work to a four-year device replacement cycle.

In addition, the department-mandated ratio of devices to students was reduced to 1:5 for secondary students and 1:10 for primary students in 2014.

This marks a significant decline from the previous federal government's planned 1:1 ratio under the One Laptop Per Child initiative, as well as the actual 2008 ratio of 1:2.9 for secondary students and 1:4.5 for primary students.

Secondary schools are hardest hit, with many schools still relying on devices purchased through the National Secondary Schools Computer Fund (NSSCF), which ended in 2012.

The number of devices owned by secondary schools that were older than 4 years old in 2015 increased nearly four-fold from 2012 to 26,589.

The audit also found that the majority of schools report facing problems with slow and unreliable internet speeds, with 74% of respondents to a survey from the auditor's office indicating that this has affected their school's use of ICT.

It notes that the Department of Education does have a number of projects worth around $20.2 million in process to address these issues, including increasing bandwidth capacity at 192 schools and providing additional wireless capability to 551 schools.

But more broadly, the audit found that the department has failed to develop implementation plans and strategies for its vision of improving the use of ICT in the public education system, and provides unclear direction to schools regarding major ICT projects.

The department responded that it mostly accepted the findings of the audit and has initiated action to address its recommendations.

Image courtesy of ajmexico under CC https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/