Education minister promises computers for schools

Italian middle and high schools will all have computers in their classrooms this fall, Education Minister Francesco Profumo promised Wednesday. For schools that don't already have computers, "they will be delivered in the coming weeks," Profumo told a news conference where he also wished students and teachers good luck and a "calm" school year. The government will spend about 24 million euros to provide computers to approximately 34,600 middle-school classrooms and 62,600 high-school classes. In a separate program, individual teachers in four southern Italian regions - Puglia, Campania, Sicily and Calabria - are also to be given a tablet computer each, at a total cost of about 32 million euros. Profumo also praised e-books as a sound investment in future knowledge. "If I make an investment in an iPad or a laptop (computer) then I can use a whole series of (digital) content delivered in electronic form that costs much less than the paper (content)," he said.