Rudd defends one PC per student policy

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd

Prime minister Kevin Rudd has defended his Government’s National Secondary School Computer Fund initiative, arguing it is on track to achieving its goal of one PC to every secondary student in years nine to 12 by 2011.

Speaking on ABC Television’s Q&A program last night, Rudd defended the initiative, among others, from accusations that the Government was failing to deliver on election promises which were of significance to 18-25 year old voters.

“We promised to have a computer for every young person at secondary school from year nine and above, from, I seem to recall 2013, or there abouts,” Rudd said. “We are on track to doing that. We have about 260,000 computers out there in schools now… that is a fact.

“But our commitment is not to have it done by this year, It was to be done over a period of time. And that has still a couple of years to elapse.”

The National Secondary School Computer Fund, part of the Australian Government’s $2.2 billion Digital Education Revolution initiative, sees the Government investing $2.1 billion of the Fund to provide for new or upgraded ICT for secondary school students in Years 9 to 12.

According to the Federal Government’s website, the Fund is to achieve a one to one computer to student ratio by 31 December 2011, not 2013 as Rudd said.

Rudd also shied away from committing to legislative change to copyright enforcement in the wake of the AFACT v iiNet decision at the Federal Court of Australia last week.

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