December 03, 2008
THE head of one of the biggest public high schools in NSW has launched an extraordinary attack on the state government over its plan to spend commonwealth money on giving a mini-laptop or netbook to every senior student.
Ian Parnaby, the principal of Bossley Park High School in Sydney's west, yesterday dismissed the commonwealth-funded netbook scheme as "crazy" and "ill-conceived".
"I see risk (to the students) carrying them and even more in their durability when kids throw them around," he said, challenging Education Minister Verity Firth to canvass public schools to find out whether they really want the netbooks.
He said Bossley Park High, which already has a sophisticated student computer system, wanted flexibility to spend the federal funds on a range of technologies including interactive whiteboards.
He also claimed significant numbers of principals and teachers rejected the netbook handout.
The Daily Telegraph