looks like the $1.2b promise was under estimated significantly or all the i's weren't dotted and the t's weren't crossed.
AAP
The federal government's plan to put computers into schools could be delayed in Queensland if more funds aren't provided to pay for their installation, a budget estimates committee hearing has heard.
The $1.2 billion digital education revolution was a key pillar of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's election campaign.
But last month, the NSW government threatened to withdraw its support for the plan unless $245 million in top-up funding was provided to cover costs associated with installing and running the computers.
In a budget estimates committee hearing, Queensland Education Minister Rod Welford said the government was in the process of determining what the plan would cost the state, by finding out the existing computer facilities of each school.
"We estimate, for example, that for this first round, the cost of the additional hardware installation works required will be approximately $4 million," he said.
"Depending on which schools actually succeed in each round of the program, it could be anywhere be from a one-to-one ratio - that is a dollar for dollar - on cost, to a two for one."
Mr Welford said he was in discussions with the federal government about the costs attached to future rounds of the scheme.
"The federal government really do need to acknowledge that there are on-costs inherent in the installation," he said.
"I'm not going to make an ambit claim as did NSW, and ask for everything from teacher professional development to the long-term electricity costs of actually running computers (to be paid for).
"But I do expect that they would respond to ... the legitimate installation costs."
Mr Welford said the government did not wish to pull out of the program, but admitted it could be delayed if top-up funds were not provided.
"It may well be that the roll-out is delayed to some extent, in order to sequence it in accordance with our capacity to meet the costs of installation, if that cost isn't fully met by the federal government," he said.
Federal Shadow Education Minister Tony Smith on Thursday said schools and parents would be left with the tab if the Rudd government did not pay for the installation of the promised computers.
"The digital education revolution was designed as an election campaign slogan, only with no thought as to how it would work in real life," he said.
"These claims from the Queensland government prove what we thought all along - the Rudd government is going to turn up at schools, dump the computers at the door, smile for the photo opportunity and then leave parents and schools to pay for all the costs to make them work."
He said extra costs would include electricity, security, teacher training, software, installation and maintenance.
