The Campaign for Commercial-Free Education has condemned Tesco’s “Computers for Schools” voucher scheme as exploitative and discriminatory and said it will further widen the gap between rich and poor schools as highlighted on last week’s Prime Time programme.
SuperValu has been forced to defend its exploitative Kids in Action campaign claiming that the scheme is designed to get primary school children more involved in, active play and healthier food options.
The Irish National Teachers Organisation, the largest teachers’ union in Ireland, has encouraged its 34,000 members not to participate in supermarket Voucher collection schemes. General Secretary John Carr said “Schools should be free from proof of purchase incentive schemes. The presence of voucher collection boxes, ‘target charts’, promotional posters and letters of appeal for vouchers is unacceptable advertising in schools.”
See RTE News coverage of Kids in Action launch and INTO criticism.
A NUMBER of newly built schools trying to enforce healthy eating have been forced to pay compensation to developers to remove vending machines, according to the Sunday Independant.
NI schools to receive 20,000 laptops (From SiliconRepublic)
Every school in Northern Ireland will receive brand new laptops before June 2008 under a new programme being rolled out by the Department of Education.
Click here to read the full story. 
Michael Clifford of the Sunday Tribune on the economics of in-school voucher schemes.
Read “Adding Super Value to our Kids Future” (13 Jan 2008)
