Regional students will start the 2021 school year with a range of new classroom technologies as part of the Rural Access Gap package.
The NSW Government’s $365.8 million Rural Access Gap (RAG) investment, will provide rural and regional schools access to the best digital teaching and learning tools.
The package will support over 1000 regional and rural schools in NSW. It will provide new devices in the classroom for students, laptops for teachers and training for staff.
Orana Heights Public School in Dubbo will be one of the first schools to have their classrooms fitted with smart boards, faster internet access, laptops for all teaching staff and additional student devices.
A further 28 schools in the Dubbo region will be equipped in the same way as Orana Heights Public School. After being rolled out in Dubbo, another 81 schools will receive the RAG by Term 2 2021. The remaining schools will receive their upgrade by mid-2023.
Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell said she wants to see all students have access to the same educational facilities and opportunities no matter where they live.
"Students can access subjects previously only available in larger schools, and teachers have additional support and a broad library of professional development options,” Ms Mitchell said.
More than 1,000 students in NSW public schools who are blind or have low vision are benefiting from access to 3D printers that create 3D models to aid their learning.
A public consultation is open to parents, carers, and educators to have their say on the Department of Education’s Parent and Carers Engagement Framework.
