The Computers for Schools inititive is an attempt by SETU Waterford and the local IT industry to address the hardware needs of schools in the Waterford City region by recycling computers into schools.
Sun Life Financial recently recycled 40 of their 3 year-old computers through this scheme into two local schools. This programme seeks to create a sustainable pipeline of computers for schools from industry.
The advent of the new Leaving Cert Computer Science programme, the new Junior Cert Short Course in Coding and the need for students to leave second level with a high degree of computer literacy is increasing the demand for high-quality computing facilities at second level. Many schools cannot afford the investment in hardware that is required to equip computing labs on an ongoing basis. Through the support from Crystal Valley Tech (www.crystalvalley.io) members and others we are seeking to equip schools with enough computers to furnish a computing lab for every 250 students.