Broadband in schools in the subject of political mud slinging, as Liberals accuse Labor of failing to fulfill one of their election promises. Broadband in schools was intended as a compliment to the “one PC per desk” initiative, in which Labor declared that every student in years 9 through 12 would have access to a computer. Government officials have not officially responded to the allegations.

The difficulty in getting the broadband distribution started on schedule could be in logistics. A broadband network of that magnitude that can handle the workload of a school system exists in Australia, but more than just wishful thinking is needed to complete the connection to each school. The government has the funding in place for the approved initiative, but it isn’t as simple as plugging in a few cables and installing a few new PCs.

Not only are there infrastructure issues in connecting schools to the existing broadband network, there are skill level issues with teachers and school staff and safety issues with the kids. It does o good to implement a broadband network in a school where the teachers haven’t been trained in using PCs and the internet as a teaching tool. In addition to that, there is a priority issue.

How do you prioritize installation onto the network? Do you target the schools with the kids who could use the help with their school work the most? Do you target the sites that are closest to the existing network and therefore somewhat cheaper to install? Do you target schools with a higher knowledge curve on technology and related issues? The choices are difficult, and Labor doesn’t seem to have come in to office with a detailed plan, but more of a detailed outline it is now having trouble implementing on schedule.

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