I have previously written a column on the GIGA school concept.

GIGAスクール構想だけでは足りない、「IT×OT×リーガルマインド」のすすめhttps://t.co/DKbAezZbFT pic.twitter.com/hDYOZ70G9a

? EE Times Japan編集部 (@eetimes_jp) November 30, 2021

A news program recently ran a feature on an "IT literacy gap" among elementary schools in Nagoya City.

The causes of the disparity can be summarized as "money (budget)" and "human resources (teachers)" -- the same as in any other world.

The academic achievement gap is also caused by "money (cram schools)" and "human resources (instructors)," so it can be said that it is precisely the same form.

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I, however, have been looking at it wrong.

Yes, there are "money" and "human resources" issues, but we have had three years of historical miracles to overcome -- the "Corona Disaster."

At that time, children and adults were also forbidden to go to school or work and had to study or work at home.

Not for three days or three months, but for three years (well, not the whole three years).

I believed, and even wrote, that "IT literacy among teachers must have exploded in the last three years.

(but I could not find that journal of mine. If anyone finds it, please let me know).

Was I just a fool to believe that all teachers in the field had improved to the point where they could conduct real-time remote classes independently?

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However, if teachers in the field are being asked to "deal with tablet freezes" or "set up wifi" or even "install LAN", then that is a pretty bad situation.

The jobs are essentially that of a janitor, who maintains the school's facilities, including electricity, water, and building repairs.

But it covers the whole gamut of IT equipment, from signal strength, directionality, IT addresses, device drivers, app installation, security measures, AWS cloud settings, and more.

Would there be such an "IT janitor"? Well, I don't think so.

Maybe with those skills, they can work in any company's IT systems management department.

And they would be making more than a public elementary school salary.

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I think the GIGA School concept fundamentally lacks a system that can maintain the IT infrastructure on campus, even before tablets and apps are used.

I hope the system in that area will be a good place for senior IT technicians like myself to receive after retirement.

IT applications have made significant progress, but the IT infrastructure itself, as far as I can tell, has not evolved much since 1970 -- at the level of electrical wiring or water pipe joints.

So, I think the "retired recipients of senior IT technicians" will probably be exemplary until about the time of my death.