Dr. Ann Marcus-Quinn:

I have a quote from our Minister for Education. I figured I would probably be using it at some point this morning. Public schools in Ireland are autonomous. In that context, the Minister has stated: "decisions regarding the deployment and use of digital technologies are a matter for the management of schools as they are best placed to determine this according to their own situation and requirements." This stance would have been fitting before technology was embedded across the six key skills of junior cycle. Now that all students are required to use technology to some degree in their classroom activities and when participating in State assessments, it is time to look at the level of autonomy the schools have and to form a more equitable experience for all students who have to use technology across all subjects. I also think that the parent voice is not strong enough. The digital policy is such an important document but very few schools update it as frequently as they should. Many schools have a digital policy that has been in situsince before Covid. We know how much the world has changed in terms of schooling and digital devices since then. When it came to choosing a secondary school for my eldest daughter, the digital policy was certainly foremost in our minds. I do not think schools recognise how important that document is in influencing parental decisions on where they are going to send their children. As the ones paying for the device in many cases, they should have more of a say on what is used in schools.