AUSTRALIA COMPUTER THEFT A HUGE CONCERN FOR SCHOOL SYSTEMNEWS.com.au | One-stop shop for thieves (May 23, 2004)QUEENSLAND state schools have suffered computer thefts worth $3.65 million in the past five years.

Burglars have stolen 2705 computers from classrooms since 1999.

Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg said yesterday that schools had become a "one-stop computer warehouse for thieves" and demanded immediate action from the State Government.

He attributed the thefts in part to the Beattie Government's "failure to provide adequate funding for school security".

"This excessive rate of theft is severely hampering the education of children," Mr Springborg said.

He accused the Government of "refusing to take any meaningful action to boost security measures" at schools across the state.

The Opposition obtained the computer theft figures from a question on notice to the Government this month.

But Education Minister Anna Bligh said there had been a decline in the theft of computers and ICT equipment with the number dropping from 533 in 1998-99 to 265 up to the end of March this financial year.

"While the numbers are still too high – the theft of one computer is too many – I am pleased that fewer of these items are being stolen from our classrooms," Ms Bligh said.

In April, she announced a major security upgrade at schools to protect them from theft, vandalism and arson attacks.

She said an additional $2 million would be spent in 2004-05 on new and upgraded security equipment at state schools, targeting those with the highest need.

"This funding is part of an extra $6 million over three years, on top of the department's recurrent security budget and individual schools' own security measures."

The increased security would include intruder detection devices with 24-hour monitoring, electronic alarms and surveillance.

More than 5000 new computers were delivered to schools last year. More than 1600 classrooms were scheduled to be connected to the Internet by next month.

The Beattie Government planned to reduce the ratio of computers to students from 1:8 to 1:5.

Ms Bligh said the Government had committed to replacing about 20,000 of the oldest existing 77,000 school computers by 2006.

Premier Peter Beattie said yesterday that protecting schools was a major priority.

But he said the Government had to be careful it did not spend more on security than on computers.

"The number of computer thefts is not surprising, given that we have over 1300 schools but it is very disappointing," Mr Beattie said.

"I get very angry about it because parents have to pay through their taxes."

He urged local communities to be the "eyes and ears" around schools after hours in a bid to stop theft and vandalism.