Minister for Education Norma Foley TD today (Monday 30 November) announced €50 million in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Grants for primary and post-primary schools to be paid in early December, 2020

Of this, €1,696,147 will be paid to Wexford schools. €860,156 will be shared among the 104 primary schools in the county and €835,991 among the 22 second level schools.

This has been welcomed by Senator Malcolm Byrne,

“Technology is playing a greater role in all our lives, particularly in education. These grants are designed to equip schools and young people to make the most of the opportunities technology presents for learning.”

The €50 million payments involve:

• €40m ICT Grant funding issued to all eligible schools in line with previous years, to support the embedding of the use of digital technologies in teaching and learning

• €10m for measures to provide for the continuity of teaching and learning using digital technology

The Department’s capital budget was increased in 2020 to facilitate the payment of these grants in December 2020.  

Minister Foley said:

“This funding, including €10m for Covid-19 specific measures, will allow schools to put in place robust systems to enable the use of digital technologies within the school, and also provide forremote learning. Those measures can include the purchase of digital devices to loan to students and teachers, software, essential learning platforms and other ICT solutions as determined by the needs of the individual school. It will be paid on an automatic basis to every recognised school in the country.”