Glitches delay Qld school computer program
- 20 August, 2011 15:00
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Education minister Cameron Dick says its unfair to compare glitches in a new computer system used by Queensland schools with last year's Queensland Health payroll debacle.
Half of the state's public schools have been using the OneSchool computer system to control accounts payable and receivable since the June/July holidays.
It was to be introduced across the state next month but the education department backflipped late on Friday after unions labelled the system a disaster.
Alex Scott, from the union representing the public service sector, said the system has mixed up contractors' pay and bills and has loaded staff with higher workloads.
He said 95 per cent of union members who used the system reported issues.
"It has been recording bills as paid — what the computer has been saying is happening and what has actually been happening is out of synch," Scott told AAP.
The roll out to the remaining 600 or so state schools will now be delayed until the second term in 2012 to give the education department time to fix glitches and add support for administrators.
Opposition Liberal National Party's government services spokesman, Ros Bates, said the program had all the hallmarks of the long-running $220 million health payroll debacle.
"Whenever Labor tries to roll out a new computer system, they don't test it properly and they don't have the support services in place," he said in a statement.
Last year, the payroll debacle saw thousands of workers in Queensland's health system underpaid, overpaid or not paid at all for weeks after a new software system went live.
Dick said it was unfair to compare the two.
"They are isolated incidents and overall we are very good at what we do," he told reporters in Brisbane.
The OneSchool system has been successfully used in schools to produce academic reports, create curriculum and record student details since 2008, but it has been the recent third phase, the financial system, that has caused issues.
"This is a more complicate area where it comes to assets management and finance and that's why we need to be deliberate and careful," he said.
He said the main complaints the department had received related to a lack of support and training.
He was confident issues would be ironed out by next year.
"The reality is, the department is doing the right thing, listening to staff and supporting staff by rescheduling the final phase and providing more resources in the support and training area," he said.
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