Labor: A school computer for every Year 9-12 student

A Rudd Labor Government will invest $1 billion over four years to turn every secondary school in Australia - Government, Catholic and Independent - into a digital school. Under Labor's plan, part of our Education Revolution, 99 per cent of school children will also get access to broadband connections of speeds up to 100 megabits per second and the other one percent will get improved access at school via the best available fixed line, wireless and satellite technologies.

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Right now, high-speed broadband is transforming economies right across the world.

The economic impact of the broadband revolution could be greater than the industrial revolution two centuries ago.

The problem again for Australia is that we are falling behind other nations.

We have one of the most slow, one of the most expensive broadband networks in the developed world.

We must turn the corner now.

It starts with rolling out a genuine, high-speed national broadband network, and it carries on to the next chapter in our education revolution – linking this network to our schools.

I announce today that, if elected, we'll connect Australia's more than 9000 primary and secondary schools to our national broadband network – at speeds of up to 100 megabits per second.

And our most remote schools will be provided with alternative high-speed systems where fibre optic can't physically be delivered.

The next step is to make sure that the students of tomorrow are properly trained in the technology of tomorrow.

Not simply word processing skills, not simply computing skills, but using broadband through individual computer terminals to deliver education programs right across the school curriculum.

Today I announce that, if elected, Federal Labor will undertake a groundbreaking reform by providing for every Australian secondary school student in Years 9 to 12 access to their own computer at school.

This is an education revolution.

I want to turn every secondary school in Australia into a digital school.

I want to provide every secondary school student with the foundations to move into the digital economy of the future.

This will not just be a one-off investment.

We'll fund the replacement of these systems to keep them at the cutting edge.

And, for those schools who have already provided computers for each or most of their students, our plan will enable those schools, government and non-government, to upgrade what they already have.

Our national secondary school computer fund will help students in all subject areas, such as technical students who use computer aided design as a key part of trades projects, including furniture making, carpentry, metals and electronics.

It will turbo charge the effective teaching of foreign languages by providing pronunciation drills online.

And it will deepen and broaden the study of chemistry, physics, biology and the hard sciences.

Mr Howard seems to believe that providing our young people with computers is exotic.

Mr Howard just doesn't get it.

Around the rest of the world, providing young people with computers isn't exotic – it's mainstream.

Mr Howard seems to believe that providing our young people studying the trades with computers is also exotic.

Once again, Mr Howard just doesn't get it.

If you visit one of our country's best tech blocks, or visit automotive workshops, you will see how much computers are now increasingly integrated into what was once called the traditional trades.

I believe that for Australia's future, a trade certificate will be just as important as a university degree.

The final step in the broadband revolution is to link school networks to students at home.

For some students, this happens already, however, for many, it doesn't.

And one of the purposes of Labor's education tax refund is to encourage parents to invest in computers and internet connections at home, because Labor understands that in the 21st Century, information technology is not just a key subject to learn – it is now the key to learning all subjects.

• Federal Labor's Education Revolution - A School Computer For Every Student In Years 9-12