Good things come to those who wait: about a year later than planned, the federal government’s “digitization offensive” will finally come to an end. In the previous year, students in the fifth and sixth grades were provided with notebooks and tablets. However, a quarter of the children are still waiting for the devices.
Around 1,500 schoolchildren took part in the initiative, which started in autumn 2021. The parents pay a deductible of 25 percent, so the devices then belong to the children. However, it was already clear last summer that there would be delays: the tender had to be repeated, which resulted in functional defects in numerous devices supplied.
Education Minister Martin Polaschek (VP) has now announced a solution in a letter to the schools: the pupils are to receive a different, higher-quality device type in September. However, these types of tablet will only be delivered once in September – if further orders are placed, the schools will have to switch to other devices. Starting in the 2022/2023 school year, fifth-grade students will receive an inexpensive device every year.
Source: Nachrichten
