Pupils v/rite protest letter

Press, 5 August 1983, Page 4

Pupils v/rite protest letter

Pupils at Mairehau High School have written to the Minister of Education, Mr Wellington, protesting against the lack of microcomputers in secondary schools.

Michael James, the school council’s chairman, said the Education Department’s handling of the introduction of microcomputers into schools showed a lack of initiative and foresight.

Almost 90 per cent of

secondary schools had at least one computer, but for most secondary pupils to attain basic “hands-on” working experience a far greater number was needed, he said.

Having two or three microcomputers servicing the needs of 800 to 1000 pupils was not practicable, he said. The council’s letter expressed concern that most school leavers were entering the job market without

experience of computers. “This situation, in a society where computers are playing an ever-increasing role, is an extremely dangerous gamble,” the letter said.

The letter calls on the Education Department to buy back computers bought by schools on the understanding that their purchases would be subsidised by the department, as the Minister had said in 1981.

It also urges the depart-

ment to promote one microcomputer to be adopted by all schools and to make available a reasonable subsidy on these computers and to encourage, through grants and in-service leave, the production of software and courseware. The student council felt that the department’s actions had been inadequate and without consideration for the youth of today and the society of tomorrow, said Michael James.