Fine Gael get their sums wrong on Math policy
January 9th, 2008IrishElection.com has just mentioned Fine Gael’s new Math and Science and Education policy. I’ve had a quick look at it, and one thing jumps out at me. I’ve highlighted it in the graphic below (click on it to see a larger version):
Fine Gael want to allocate a laptop to each Secondary School student, which is not necessarily a bad idea in itself (although it would be very difficult to do well). There are 334,000 students in Secondary School, and Fine Gael reckon they can each be allocated a laptop for the total budget of €23million.
€23million divided by 334,000 laptops gives a budget of €68.86 per laptop, which has to cover the machines, all software, training, maintenance and support. As someone who works in IT, this is clearly ridiculous. Even the “One Laptop Per Child” (OLPC) project, which has been working for years to deliver cut-price, reduced functionality laptops to children in developing countries, has only managed to get their costs to the region of $200 per machine.
I’m more disappointed than anything else. The Math and Science sectors clearly need to be rejuvenated, and FG make good points about the low numbers taking Science at University. But the then make simple mistakes like this and call the whole policy into question.
I’ve criticised Fianna Fail before on this blog, in private and in the media. If Fianna Fail did this I’d be equally annoyed. Fine Gael’s reaction to this error will say an alot about their ability to react to mistakes (something FF can be terrible at). FG criticise FF for mistakes made in Government; if they can’t get things like press release right, it doesn’t say much for their ability to govern.
Note: FG may claim that this figure is to represent a cost of E23m per year, with each student getting a laptop in first year. This still isn’t feasible; over five years, this would mean a budget of E345 per laptop, which is still very cheap. It would then mean having Leaving Cert students using laptops and software that where five years old, and which where low-spec even on their first day. They also mention that the E23m is a small proportion of the E252m for IT in schools under the National Development Plan, which runs until 2013, implying that E23m would be enough until then.
PS - I like their ideas on a Summer Lab Fund and Science Clusters for schools. I’d love to see a greater emphasis on getting students to spend their summers on research projects, particularly where those projects could lead to start-up businesses.
Update: The Irish Independent carries reaction from the Education Minister to the plan. Fine Gael are now saying they intend to use the OLPC laptop, as I mentioned above. This is ludicrous; the OLPC laptop is meant to bring basic education to young children, not to allow complex science and technology work. And the sums are still wrong anyway; even if they could buy 334,000 laptops for the money (the OLPC laptops would currently cost twice that), that leaves no money for networking, maintenance, support or to actually develop a curriculum for pupils and teachers. This policy is getting beyond a joke.
The OLPC is a reduced-functionality machine, which serves a very real purpose; bringing communications technology to areas it has not yet reached, and using that technology to bring basic education. It is not a fully functional PC, in the way Irish students are used to. It has internet access, but no CD/DVD drive, and can only run a limited amount of software. Below is a picture of the machine:
The machine is tiny; here’s comparison to an adult’s hand.
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5 Responses to “Fine Gael get their sums wrong on Math policy”
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January 10th, 2008 at 8:07 am
[…] Next Fine Gael might learn to count. […]
January 10th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
[…] main reason is the requirement for software suites and additional cost factors, with support from Damien and SK among others. However I think she did so too […]
January 11th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
The OLPC laptops, while brilliant, are technology for the 3rd world. They are meant to be a stepping stone for educationally impoverished school systems. Last time I checked, we’d managed to do a reasonably good job of moving into the current century. These are absolutely the wrong technology choice for Irish school systems.
The scheme as it stands also locks students into one hardware choice and operating system choice. There is always going to be a technological divide between the haves and the have nots, but I think the best way to bridge that gap might be with a voucher system. It certainly isn’t with technology designed for the developing world.
January 27th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Lots more discussion in the commments here: http://www.irishelection.com/01/hanafin-laughs-off-cheap-laptops-too-quickly/
February 7th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
well, we could probably buy 1 PC a week if someone kept off the makeup..thats a better start than none at all.
In India, computers at school is now compulsary..yet we, Ireland are the so-called leaders in technology?
With such spineless ‘leaders’ who are incapable of taking risks for the right reasons, Ireland will soon be left behind the rest of the world.
btw, i’m not a Fine Gael supporter, but instead of criticising, perhaps you people should try encourage an idea like this to happen, with the right amount of funding.
all you’re interested in is scoring political points against each other, which is childish.