Senior secondary students will be given lightweight laptop computers while NSW public schools will receive a $1.1 billion funding boost over the next five years as part of an agreement between the Federal and State governments.

The national education agreement – which covers all states and territories – includes a series of national partnerships for reforms including increased funding for schools in low socioeconomic areas, strategies to attract, train and retain quality teachers and school leaders and approaches to student literacy and numeracy.

The agreement, which came into effect last month, also establishes parity between public primary schools and secondary schools, with primary schools likely to receive an extra $100 per student in funding.

But in exchange for the injection of funds the national agreement calls for a “new era of transparency” to better link school investment to improved education outcomes.

The measures were announced following a Council of Australian Governments meeting in Canberra last term.

At the talks the Federal Government kicked in an extra $807 million for computer installation and ongoing support costs and announced a supplementary round two of applications. NSW public schools received an extra $189 million – the largest share – to rollout laptops to 197,000 Years 9 to 12 students and install wireless networks in all schools with students in those year groups. The rollout will begin later this year, starting with Year 9 students.

NSW education department director-general Michael Coutts-Trotter said the measures would provide “significant, and welcome, new resources for NSW”.

“This is a great result for our students and will support further improvements to teaching and learning for our senior secondary students,” Mr Coutts-Trotter said.

Department chief information officer Stephen Wilson said the laptops had the potential to transform education and gave students a standardised digital learning tool.

“Because of our systemic approach teachers will be free of technical hassles and therefore be able to innovate in the use of this device in the classroom, within schools and school communities,” Mr Wilson said. “We are committed to having trial laptops in the hands of students by Term 2 … with the rollout beginning in Term 3.”

The laptop specifications were set out in the department’s expression of interest which closed last month.

Mr Wilson said the laptops would be locked to the department’s network, so that even if used outside school internet access would be filtered as it would be on a school computer.

He said if a student’s computer was more than four years old when they left school the student would get to keep the device, which would then be unlocked from the department’s network.

Schools would also have increased “on-site technical” assistance to support the program and teachers offered professional development to assist in integrating the laptops into the classroom, Mr Wilson said.

Denison College Bathurst High campus principal Geoff Hastings said the laptop rollout gave educators “an opportunity to fundamentally change the way we teach and the way students learn”.

“I think it’s an opportunity to reduce the divide between country and city students’ learning opportunities,” Mr Hastings said.

NSW Secondary Principals’ Council president Jim McAlpine said the council had worked closely with the department on the proposal as the “most appropriate one for the vast majority of our schools”.

Made to order – the laptops must:

  • Cost about $500 with running costs bringing total per student to approximately $2,245 over four years.
  • Carry a four-year warranty.
  • Weigh less than 1.75kg with battery.
  • Be no bigger than an A4 sheet of paper.
  • Include at least a 22.6cm screen with inbuilt webcam and speakers.
  • Have a web browser and office productivity software (eg word processing) as a minimum.
  • Have a battery that lasts a full school day.