The millions of euro set to be wasted on the rollout of mobile phone pouches in schools would be better spent tackling education disadvantage, according to Social Democrats TD Jen Cummins.<\/p>\n
Deputy Cummins, who represents Dublin South-Central, made her comments after the Department of Education advertised a tender for the scheme, which is worth \u20ac7.3 million in the first year to the successful provider.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlmost \u20ac9 million was allocated in the last budget for this unnecessary project, which no one had really asked for in the first place.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe initiative was understandably met with concern and puzzlement by many school management bodies. This is hardly surprising as it has since emerged that the only schools consulted in advance by the department were the ones that already had systems in place to store students\u2019 mobile phones during class. No feedback was sought from schools that are successfully managing the issue through their own procedures or student self-regulation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are plenty of other areas where this money could have been better spent, such as tackling education disadvantage. This scheme also ignores the reality that mobile phones are often required to be used in classrooms due to ICT funding deficiencies \u2013 a situation not just confined to DEIS schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe issue of managing mobile phone use in schools is more complex than it appears. The Covid-19 pandemic exposed the difficulties faced by students from poorer socio-economic backgrounds, who often don\u2019t have access to wi-fi or even a suitable study desk at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith many schools around the country struggling to pay their bills due to shortfalls in capitation funding, it is scandalous that millions will be squandered on mobile phone pouches. The new government will need to get its priorities right.\u201d<\/p>\n
January 21, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The millions of euro set to be wasted on the rollout of mobile phone pouches in schools would be better spent tackling education disadvantage, according to Social Democrats TD Jen Cummins. Deputy Cummins, who represents Dublin South-Central, made her comments after the Department of Education advertised a tender for the scheme, which is worth \u20ac7.3 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11232,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[218,581,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-jen-cummins","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n