Govt announces schools broadband programme
The Government has announced a major Internet broadband programme for schools in Ireland.
A joint initiative by the Departments of Education and Communications will provide high-speed online access for more than 4,000 secondary and primary schools.
The project will cost €18m and will connect every school in the country by the end of 2005.
Communications Minister Dermot Ahern is reassuring parents and teachers on the in-built security software to protect pupils from unsafe Internet access.
The Minister has said: “Part of the agreement will be a central network which will provide firewalling to sift out any material that you would want going into schools and a lot of funding for that will come out of the Department of education and communications.
"There is also a help desk, which will facilitate any problem which people will have with the system.“
