Teacher Laptops Should Be Deemed As Essential Tools And Supplied

I wasn't too pleased to read the other day that teachers in Victoria were being forced to enter lease agreements for outdated Apple computers and that the lease would lock them in until 2016. Their students would have far better computers, probably paid for by taxpayer dollars, as opposed to the computers that the teachers would use (and pay for).

I don't fancy being locked into anything especially if I have no choice in the matter. If a laptop is deemed by the government to be an essential tool for all teachers then surely the relevant education department should be responsible for providing them. I don't get this. In this country if a uniform is required then the company has to issue it. If personal protective equipment is necessary then the company has a duty to supply it.

How can we be in a situation whereby the teachers have inferior products to the generation that they are supposed to be teaching? It's like having a university lecturer whose experience is dated and irrelevant. Oh, wait....

Aren't the youth of today supposed to be tomorrow's leaders? What happened to the Education Revolution from the Australian Labor Party? Ha, I like the reference to "in a Rudd Labor Government" throughout the linked document. That didn't last long. I guess now that KRudd is no longer in charge the Labor Party doesn't have to honour those particular promises.

Get your act together, the Australian Government, and provide for education outcomes that are necessary in this country.