Parents Critical Of Primary School Device Requirements

Parents at some Victorian schools are speaking out against school rules that require them to purchase tablets and laptops for their children as a part of Bring Your Own Device policies.

Many parents have rightly raised concerns about the considerable cost involved in having to regularly purchase devices, as well as the longevity of the devices in the possession of primary school-aged kids.

For the schools each can set their own rules about device requirements, particularly how they are sourced. Some schools provide the devices themselves and request an annual levy from parents, while others ask the parents to supply the devices themselves.

For Carol, a mum-of-three attending school in Greensborough in north-east Melbourne, complying with school device requirements has had her shelling out money. This means that her 10-year-old son Red needed to be provided with an iPad Air 2 for school, the cost of which including required apps topped $700.

“I think it’s quite onerous,” she told the ABC.

“I would’ve preferred that the school charge a levy given that the technology is made obsolete so often; we’re just going to have a stack of iPads piling up at home.”

In Red’s case, this will be happening pretty quickly. He’s currently in Year 5, but the secondary school he’ll be attending in two years also requires that he supply his own device. However, unlike his primary school, they have a non-Apple policy, meaning the recently purchased iPad will be entirely redundant.

It’s not just the cost that is making parents cautious. Carol said she was quite nervous about sending her child to school with the expensive device.

“It worries me a fair bit because the school has said that the child takes all responsibility and the school takes no responsibility for the technology,” she said.

“I think it is a bit rough when you consider we’ve been told we must provide it.”

“If he drops it on the first day of school and it’s shattered we just have to go and buy another one; it’s not covered by the school’s insurance.”

ABC Radio Melbourne found that Carol wasn’t the only parent unhappy with the current rules surrounding technology in the classroom. One mother complained about her children’s terrible spelling thanks to the predictive text on the tablet. Another believed that devices should be banned entirely in primary schools, as they’re merely a gateway for obsessive game playing.

Parent Payment Policy Revised By Gov

Victoria’s Department of Education and Training has recently looked over the Parent Payment Policy, working to have a stronger focus on transparency as well as family hardship in the requirements. The revision also included better outlined expectations from schools in talking to parents about device plans.

The executive officer of Parents Victoria, Gail McHardy, who represents the parents of public school children, said the issue had been with each school deciding device requirements.

“In the past there has been some frustrations shared by families over a number of years because of the release of laptops and netbooks,” she said.

“Following on from some Federal Government changes around the funding of programs has meant we’ve resulted in a Bring Your Own Device policy and programs.”

However, Ms McHardy did defend primary school in their decision making process.

“Schools get caught in the middle; they have to meet the demands of a current government but also meet the expectations of a community, but they have budget constraints.”

She was happy with the revisions that had been made to the Parent Payment Policy, but said she felt there could be more done in encouraging schools to maintain open lines of communication with families.

“Issues around equity needed to be amplified and how families needed to be supported, the policy has certainly done a lot more in that space.”