The Nationalist Party’s proposal to give a tablet computer to schoolchildren is the logical step in the evolution of learning in Maltese schools following other initiatives that have already been taken, PN candidate Claudio Grech said this morning.

It is not the device which is important, it is what the children will learn what to do with it. Those who will just consider it as a gift are missing the wood for the trees, he said at a press conference.

The measure would cost €23.7 million over four years, €8 million of which would be covered by ERDF funds, he said.  More than 50,000 tablets would be given to students and teachers between year three and Form 5 in all schools. Three different types of devices would be procured for the different ages.

It formed part of the government’s strategy for Malta to become one of the digital leaders and continue excelling in the world of ICT. The measure should be introduced in the scholastic year starting 2014 because the tendering process would last seven to nine months.

The investment would cover the installation of the necessary infrastructure, including the electricity points in classrooms and WIFI connectivity.

Parliamentary secretary for Youth Clyde Puli earlier said that the PN’s proposals is linked with other initiatives that were taken over the past years to offer a more qualitative education as well as improve basic skills in technology. This was done through the smart learning strategy that the government introduced a few years ago.

The PN government distributed 4,200 laptops to teachers, 6,000 computers in classrooms and installed 2,600 whiteboards to expand the elearning platform available. All this had been done to widen and improve digital literacy, and the PN will explain more how it intends to build on this sector when it presents the national curriculum programme in the next few days, Mr Puli said.

Mr Grech said that PN governments had invested heavily in education and IT both as separate sectors as well as together. The PN’s proposal is not just to give a gift of a tablet to students, as the Labour Party was suggesting.

It is estimated that 90% of the jobs that will be created from 2015 onwards will be linked to ICT – and this not only in the ICT sector per se, but in other jobs that will require knowledge of ICT from prospective workers.

It must be remembered that wages in IT jobs have doubled in past years, and when one considers that we started off in 1987 with a Labour government which considered computers as taboo, this country has made great strides forward in the last quarter century.

He stressed that the tablet initiative is not a bolt out of the blue but the next step in the direction the government wants to take education. Today, many children had an affinity with technology right from a young age and these initiatives will go a long way to provide them with the right tools which make education more interactive and interesting.

Asked about SmartCity, Mr Grech said that the project is continuing at a steady pace so much so that Labour chose to have a press conference in the area to highlight what had been done. The project continued in spite of the obstacles that the PL had planted. Still, it seems that the PL has been converted to like SmartCity as it had been converted to technology, Mr Grech said.

Replying to a question with regard to the White Rocks sports complex, which is still to materialise, Mr Puli said that all legal, environmental and commercial aspects must be ironed out before the project gets the go-ahead. What the government had said in 2009 was that it had started negotiations. The White Rocks project had not been finalized yet but, among other things, the government had completed 40 football grounds in the last five years and work on another 12 had started.